About

Mandate:
Shvas Dance Company creates, produces, and presents contemporary South Asian dance while nurturing community connection through inclusive programming.

Mission:
We cultivate collaborative and inclusive spaces for South Asian dance to be explored as a living, evolving practice.

Vision:
We envision South Asian dance thriving across Canada as a recognized, sustainable, and ever-evolving art form within the diaspora.

Values:
Artistic Integrity & Excellence | Community | Sustainability | Care

Shvas Dance Company is a non-profit organization based in Toronto, Canada that supports artists working with and in relation to South Asian dance practices.

Founded and led by Purawai Vyas, the company is artistically rooted in a history of Bharatanatyam and Garba and informed by contemporary and diasporic practices. Shvas explores how stories are carried through body, rhythm, space, time both individually and collectively in the diaspora.

The company creates space for artists to engage deeply with both tradition and innovation, bringing classical and community art forms into dialogue with contemporary narratives and lived experiences.

Through performance, collaboration, and community programming, Shvas is committed to cultivating work that is virtuosic, expressive, and deeply human.

Our Team

  • Close-up photo of a woman with long black hair, light skin, and a hoop nose ring, wearing a gray top and smiling, against a plain light background.

    Purawai Vyas

    FOUNDER | AD

  • A young woman with long dark hair, wearing a white sleeveless top, jewelry, and smiling against a beige background.

    Anisha Manyal

    BOARD (Chair)

  • A man with medium skin tone, dark hair, and a beard, wearing a navy blue button-up shirt, standing in an office with a blurred background, smiling at the camera.

    Jay Dipak Patel

    BOARD (Secretary)

  • A woman dressed in a bright pink saree with gold earrings, smiling and looking at the camera, with a beige background.

    Swati Shah

    BOARD (Treasurer)