Connection, Curiosity, Collaboration and Culture
Tara's performance career has spanned nearly two decades. She has reached tens of thousands of people in 40 countries around the world, creating socially-engaged dance pieces, installations and lecture demonstrations which evoke beauty, magical surrealism and wonder, inviting creative and critical thinking through art.
Tara has a very personal and profound message to share with the world. Her talks are relatable and actionable. Delivered in an energetic, informed, deeply researched and passionate format!
She brings a wealth of real-life experience as a professional dance artist, independent dance scholar, creative director and choreographer to her unique talks. She has given talks for major universities such as Cambridge and University of London; presenting
on the cultural implications of artistic practice and a variety of other topics ranging from ‘how to keep a daily creative habit’ to ‘disorienting the orient’ to ‘how apply a dancer discipline to the business world’ with an emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion through the vehicle of the performing arts. She tailors her talks for clients ranging from the corporate world to higher education and artistic institutions in the capacity of:
- A principal dancer- one of only two Americans selected to perform on a 5 year tour with Cirque du Soleil, with artists cast from 19 countries, performing 1,500 shows worldwide.
-An 18-year dance career dancing across stages from renowned opera houses to football stadiums, museums and academic institutes to creating new works through art installations & educational dance programing in rural village settings.
-A choreographer and creative director working the on artistic direction teams with critically acclaimed shows such as Cirque du Soleil, the EU-sponsored Forecast Festival, for UNESCO, the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival and for the Bauhaus Festival.
-An awarded Fulbright scholar conducting historical dance research at London's Roehampton University
-A published writer and featured guest featured on BBC, in the New York Times and in Dance Magazine.
Voices on Central Asia (a platform for scholars, authors and journalists interested in Central Asia), Dancer's Group and OCA Magazine.
-A teacher for 10 years creating arts education curriculum for public schools in California as well as 3 years teaching in the university system for St. Mary's College of Moraga and for Line's Ballet BFA at Dominican University of California. She has led numerous teaching seminars and workshops engaging young artists and graduate students internationally including: the University of Panama, at Cambridge University, the Royal Holloway University, at London University, Western Norway University, Swarthmore College and Tashkent University of Journalism and Mass Communications.
-A social outreach liaison creating culturally-sensitive movement therapy workshops with Cirque du Soliel's 'Dralion' for marginalized groups on 5 continents with Cirque du Monde non-profit, with women through Narika, a non-profit for Abuse South Asian women and anti-human trafficking advocates, for the U.S. embassy in the most rural and conservative regions of Tajikistan for an gender equality initiative. and with recent refugees from Afghanistan in London for the Afghanistan and Central Asia Association.
-Qualitative researcher- steered and co-created work for Lones Consulting firm and as well as project-based research as an independent dance scholar
- A milestone- working as the first foreigner to perform as a member of The National Dance Ensemble of Tajikistan