Producer & Stage Manager

Temple Of Desire

Toronto Fringe Festival 2025 , Native Earth Aki Studio

“Pillai’s breathtaking and intricate choreography –  with unison mudras, seamless formations, and shifts from disciplined nrittya to Bollywood-esque abandon – shapes emotionally charged sequences. Max Woods’s lighting design casts dramatic silhouettes and envelops the dancers in gauzy pinks, blues, and golds..”- Sesaya Arts 2025

“In a time where trans rights are being attacked, Temple of Desire is an unapologetic celebration of diversity and a glorious middle finger to transphobia and bigotry. ”- The Grind Toronto 2025

“Temple of Desire is an exceptional creation that deserves that a much larger room is interested in welcoming it in the future.”- CBC Toronto 2025

“This ground-breaking production addresses the historical acceptance of same-sex  relationships in pre-colonial times, juxtaposed with the impact of post-colonial-era stigma.  Temple of Desire aims to captivate and challenge audiences - particularly engaging those  interested in well-produced art, provocative ideas and subversive expression. ”

DESCRIPTION

– 4 out of 5 SOLD OUT shows at Toronto Fringe Festival 2025

– Cast of 16 Dancers from Canada and Australia whose traditional training and stagecraft in (bharatanātyam)

– “A celebration of spirituality and sensuality, through the beauty of classical Indian dance!”

Temple of Desire- Cast and Crew

Director and Choreographer: Govind Pillai

Producer & Stage Manager: Manjusha Manjusha

Lighting: Max Woods (Melbourne)

Media and Multimedia

  • Adrian van Raay (audio engineering)

  • Shelly O’Meara (graphic design)

  • Solo Captures (trailer videography)

Community Engagement Support

  • Queer South Asians (Toronto)

  • Brown Out Collective (Toronto)

Copy Consultants (web copy)

  • Michael Aleisi

  • Piera Dennerstein

  • Raina Peterson

Studio Partners

  • Studio J Dance, Melbourne

  • Native Earth, Toronto

Costumes and Props

  • Bradley Clayton& Thingiverse user

  • Dmawzx (trident)

  • Divya Shreejit Kumar (costumes)

  • Warrick Mackrill (trident)

  • Manjusha Manjusha (all)

Performed by:

  • Adisri Preeti Devaraj (Toronto)

  • Anisha Manyal (Toronto)

  • Ashmita Roy (Toronto)

  • Divya Shreejit Kumar (Melbourne)

  • Govind Pillai (Melbourne)

  • Megha Subramanian (Toronto)

  • Neptune Henriksen (Melbourne)

  • Pooja Murali (Toronto)

  • Prathyusha Dwibhashi (Toronto)

  • Rachana Joshi (Toronto)

  • Ramya Raghavan (Melbourne)

  • Sangeeta Sathyanath (Melbourne)

  • Sanskruti Marathe (Toronto)

  • Shivani Joshi (Toronto)

  • Veena Kadayaprath (Melbourne)

  • Vrunda Upadhyay (Toronto)

PROUDLY FUNDED BY:

This project was developed with the support of the Melbourne Fringe ‘Cash to Create’ grants program.

Our Toronto tour is supported by the Australian Government and the Victorian State Government creative project grants:

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Temple of Desire