Lata Pada

Lata Pada is the founder and artistic director of Sampradaya Dance Creations, a dance company that performs South Asian Dance routines. She is also the academy director and principal instructor of Sampradaya Dance Academy, a premier dance training institution for South Asian Dance. Since moving from Bangalore, India to Mississauga, Ontario in 1964, Lata has established herself as a leading figure in South Asian Dance for Canada. She earned a Master of Fine Arts at York University, where she then went on to teach as an Adjunct Professor. In 2008, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada as the first South Asian dancer to receive the honour. Most recently, Dancing Damsels awarded her with the Lifetime Achievement Award on International Women’s Day in 2021.