TEAM MEMBERS
Creatives

Elly Wel Photography
Zoobin Surty
Artistic Director
Zoobin Surty, a hybrid Indian classical dance artist from Bombay, India, has spent his career travelling, performing, and collaborating across diverse dance traditions. His journey has deepened his passion for using dance as a way to explore mental health, healing, and human connection.
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Driven by a desire to educate, enrich, and inspire, Zoobin founded Karma Dance CIC — a platform where new collaborations and creative productions can flourish, bringing powerful stories to life and reaching new audiences with compassion and artistry.
Company
Xiaoyi Tong
Company Dancer | Education Manager
Tong has 7 years of classical ballet experience and completed her contemporary choreography dance training at Beijing Dance Academy. She attended 4 china national commission dance theatre works. She has choreographed for Opera HEARD THE SUOMA (2021) and Musicals.


Jacob Gale
Company Dancer
Originally from Leeds Jacob Gale is a dancer who was raised in lanzarote. He found dance at High school where he joined Phoenix dance academy. After Phoenix Academy he joined the NSCD foundation diploma before successfully auditioning for The Rambert School where he graduated in 2020. He has since done a variety of dance and theatre projects around the north and has worked with choreographers such as Christopher Bruce, Arielle Smith and Gary Clarke. His practise includes a diverse range of dance styles as well experience in TV and theatre.
Elise Clason
Company Dancer
Elise started dance in her home country of Norway at an early age, she studied at St.Hallvard Videregående Skole, and then Trøndertun Folkehøgskole before moving to the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds.
She has since worked with choreographers such as Amaury Lebrun, Kassichana Okene - Jameson and Mathieu Geffré - Gardiner. She recently featured in Sharon Watson’s “Windrush” with Phoneix Dance Theatre at their 40th anniversary gala performance. She also works in a range of Contemporary styles as well as Latin and Ballroom dance practices.

Elly Wel Photography

Arianne Morgan
Company Dancer
Arianne graduated Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in 2018 and after graduating, began working with Matthew Bourne New Adventures in ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Arianne went on to perform at the Dubai World Expo with The Welsh National Opera. She debuted her first soloist role with Grange Park Opera in ‘Otello’ in 2022 and then joined Kamea Dance Company in 2022. Alongside Tamir Ginz’s pieces, Arianne also had the honour of performing ‘Rain Dogs’ by Johan Inger in the duo piece special ‘LEGENDS’.
Pietro
Company Dancer
Originally from Lecce, Italy, Pietro began studying ballet and contemporary dance at the age of 16. He later moved to England and graduated from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2022, where he had the opportunity to work with choreographers Phil Sanger, Thick&Tight, and Mathieu Geffré. During his final year, Pietro worked with Akram Khan and performed with Phoenix Dance Theatre and Vocab Dance works by Sharon Watson and Alessandra Seutin. The following year, Pietro joined the postgraduate company VERVE, led by Matteo Marfoglia, and toured nationally and internationally, showcasing new works by Jamaal Burman, Faye Tan, and Kor’sia.


Elly Wel Photography
Amber Zamora
Workshop Leader
Amber is a dancer, choreographer and producer based in Leeds. She completed her BA at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and then went on to complete her MA from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance . Amber has worked with with the BBC, the Backstreet Boys and House of Suarez at venues such as the Echo Arena, Saint Georges Hall and the Cunard Building.
Tak Kei Wong (Kev)
Musician
Graduated with a Master in Music(composition) from Royal Northern College of Music, Tak Kei Wong is a Hong Kong composer, violinist and graphic designer currently based in Manchester. He has been actively participating in the performing art industry in all three roles.


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Luke Reddin-Williams
Musician
Luke Reddin-Williams is an award-winning drummer and percussionist based in Leeds.
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He has toured extensively all over the world with a number of different projects such as the Mercury Prize nominated Roller Trio and WorldService Project, during which he discovered a passion for Indian culture and music especially; for the last 3 years he has studied Tabla under Gurdain Singh Rayatt and Sitar under Roopa Panesar and Ustad Dharambir Singh MBE, aiming to incorporate the South Asian musical language and ethos into his own compositions in a fresh and exciting way, whilst still respecting the rich heritage and tradition that Indian classical music is renowned for."
Nirdesh Jandu
Community Relations Director
Nirdesh Jandu, a former Deputy Head in Adult Education at Leeds City College has worked with the most vulnerable communities, supporting people from diverse social and cultural backgrounds and people with mental health. Following redundancy, her driving factor was to make a difference to people’s lives and she transitioned into
working at the charity; Association of Blind Asians in Leeds. Her motivation and commitment to mental health and related issues led her to join Zoobin Surty Karma Dance CIC , where she creatively engages communities in arts, culture, and issue-based projects and events that engage and inspire local communities, enhancing both physical and mental well-being.

Directors

Zoobin Surty
Artistic Director
Elly Wel Photography
The passing of my mother, coupled with the profound loss of my hearing, emptied me completely. My mental health collapsed into a quiet void, and loneliness wrapped itself around me like a second skin. Silent and unseen, suicidal thoughts began to seep into the stillness, pulling me deeper into a place where even sorrow had no sound.
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In that stillness, however, something stirred. I realised that the source of my anguish lay tangled within my memories, my emotions — stored not just in my mind, but deeply etched into the wisdom of my body. Slowly, with trembling patience, I embraced the stillness, listening to its quiet lessons. In doing so, I found a hybrid movement. From dead silence, dance was born — fragile at first, but alive. Dance became my language, my bridge from despair to existence, my way to speak when words deserted me.
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Movement awakened my being. Each gesture became a memory revisited, each step an emotion released. The body, once frozen in grief, began to breathe, to speak, to hope. Movement reconnected me with the world beyond myself. In reaching out, I discovered that healing begins when one soul meets another — when we are heard, seen, and sensed without judgment.
This profound journey has shaped the new vision for Karma Dance CIC.
Through dance, we now create spaces where loneliness transforms into hope, and stillness gives birth to mindfulness. We work with individuals, organisations, communities, and groups — guiding them to explore their own stories through movement. Together, we weave connections, nurture friendships, and honour the resilience that lies quietly within us all.
Our work is a celebration of healing, a dance from despair to light, moving gently and powerfully across all realms of human experience.
Phil Sanger
Trustee
Narendra Rao
Trustee
Producers
Callum Holt
Callum Holt is an independent Producer based in Leeds but working across the UK. He supports a number of independent artists including Northern Rascals, Daniel Lukehurst’s Various Creations, Company K, & Excessive Human Collective, and has managed projects for organisations such as the British Library, Leeds Dance Partnership, and Leeds City Council (Leeds Light Night). He also runs artist development programmes, particularly programmes which aim to give early career artists the basic knowledge and skills they need to kickstart a freelance career in the arts.


Elly Wel Photography
Amber Zamora
Amber Zamora is an independent Producer based in Leeds. Amber studied project management and producing at the Northern School of Contemporary dance. Amber has produced her own work as well as producing and project managing for NSCD DaCe's '9 Moments' and Devika Dance Theatre. She passionate about promoting positive mental health.
Friends of Karma Dance
Carmen Thompson
Poet
Azizi Cole
Musician
Gabrielle Cresswell-Porter
GCP Strategies
Mental Health & Wellbeing