Media and Testimonials
FEATURED PRESS
ONE DANCE UK MAGAZINE · SUMMER 2026
Evolving Traditions: Wellbeing, Pedagogy, and the Future of South
Asian Dance - By Cameron Ball
Karma Dance CIC is featured in One Dance UK’s Summer 2026 magazine. The article explores South Asian dance as a practice for wellbeing, connection and resilience.
It highlights Karma Dance CIC’s Leeds-based work with refugees, the D/deaf community and holistic dance programmes that support positive mental health. Founder Zoobin Surty’s practice goes beyond teaching steps, creating emotionally supportive spaces where participants can feel seen and heard.
“Creating a safe space where they feel seen and heard.” — Zoobin Surty, as quoted by One Dance UK.
"The wide range benefits of dance in arts-for-health contexts is increasingly being researched with creative projects being implemented around the country. I recently met with Kathak artist and educator Balbir Singh, founder of Balbir Singh Company, who was awarded an MBE for services to dance and has long held ‘creative health’ as a cornerstone of his work. He reflects on the particular fusion of Kathak and contemporary dance that defines his personal style, and how he has successfully implemented this into a range of healthcare settings with longterm partnerships: “An initial R&D with a community or partner often grows into a longer collaboration, then into a performance, and then into a public conversation. By returning to NHS wards, regional theatres and care homes, trust deepens, and the ambition expands. Each project builds on the last, and that continuity keeps the work and the enquiry moving forward.”
Through movement, storytelling, and artistic collaboration the company nurtures the creative self as a vital counterpart to physical and emotional wellbeing. “Over eighteen years, I’ve seen Kathak shift from being presented as heritage to being understood as a living practice… the grammar remains rigorous, but the questions it asks have widened.” This widening, embraced by Singh and other leaders in the field, has enabled South Asian dance to move beyond preservation into active dialogue with health sectors, education systems and the lived realities of participants today.
At the centre of this evolution is a growing body of evidence linking traditional dance forms with improved health outcomes. Akademi’s Reach Out and Reveal (ROaR) project offers one of the most compelling examples, with its research presented at the ROaR Conference in March 2026. Over three years, the project, led by Claire Farmer and Dr Ashley Brain, embedded South Asian dance in SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) settings, demonstrating measurable benefits for autistic young people. Findings showed perceived improvements in emotional regulation, communication and social interaction, alongside enhanced motor skills and increased engagement in learning. Participants developed in their ability to complete a wider range of actions independently gaining confidence with their motor skills.
The ROaR research highlights the unique value of culturally rooted, embodied practices. Through
breathwork, mudras and rhythmic patterning, South Asian dance provides non-verbal pathways for expression, particularly important for neurodivergent participants. These forms create spaces where movement becomes a language of emotion, identity, and connection, reinforcing dance as both a personal and collective wellbeing practice.
"The 3-year study with ROaR is a unique and important addition to research in the Dance for Health sector with a focus on South Asian dance for autistic children. The work highlights the necessity for an individualised approach to teaching and researching dance in this context.”
Claire Farmer and Dr Ashley Brain, lead researchers, ROaR
This focus on well-being is reshaping how South Asian dance is taught. Traditional hierarchical models are giving way to more inclusive, responsive approaches that prioritise the individual, says Kuchipudi artist Arunima Kumar BEM, who was the 2026 recipient of the One Dance UK Young People’s Dance Champion Award.
Arunima Kumar Dance Company is an inclusive intergenerational organisation that uses Kuchipudi to open access to South Asian dance in hospitals, prisons, disability centres and rural areas. Kumar describes this shift: “I try to reverse traditional hierarchies… connecting with workshop participants not only as a guru, or mentor, but also as a student… nurturing them as individuals rather than technically perfect 'clones.'"
Karma Dance CIC is a Leeds-based company working with refugees, the D/deaf community, and other holistic dance programs aimed at enhancing positive mental health. Its founder, Zoobin Surty, emphasises the importance of creating emotionally supportive environments: “It is less about ‘teaching steps’ and more about creating a safe space where they feel seen and heard.” His approach reflects a broader pedagogical shift that integrates open discussion, creative exploration, and themes such as mental health, identity and social issues into dance practice."
Read One Magazine Summer 2026:
https://www.calameo.com/books/0079610768ac4d42d6a18
Zoobin Surty at Yorkshire Movement and Dance
Sunday 14th June at NSCD
"I liked the mix of choreographed pieces and self-directed work. I enjoyed trying the moves with different music and being encouraged to move in our own time. The integration of yoga helped me to reconnect to something I’d left behind some years ago. "
Laura
"Zoobins technique is challenging and thorough. He gives you time to tackle it ... full of quality. His sequences always have varied dynamics accompanied by interesting music choices.
His creative sessions are always layered with meaning and a sense of theatre.
He makes demands in terms of memory. His teaching is sensitive...and there is always a spark of humour ...."
Deb
"Gosh it’s hard to sum up in a few sentences. This was my first experience of a class with Zoobin. It was deeply moving and inspiring- I liked how he talked of the connection between internal and external. It felt very disciplined as well as creative. I came away wishing for more!
PS I’m aching today!! But still inspired!!"
Jane
"I loved our day with Zoobin. He always challenges us physically but amidst the ‘serious work’ he maintains a warmth and sense of fun. We worked a lot on balance and using focus as well as core muscles to help us improve - and, over the morning, we did!
The creative work in the afternoon was inspiring and, like magic, Zoobin helped us to create a ‘finished’ piece. His wonderful yoga teacher, Pradeep Singh joined us, despite nursing an injury, and led a beautiful, affirming meditation to send us home calm and peaceful. Thank you both."
Julie