From left Chautauqua County Chamber President Dan Heitzenrater, state Assemblyman Andrew Goodell R-Jamestown, Lisa Vanstrom from the office of State Sen. George Borello R- Sunset Bay, SBD Executive Director Daryl Simons Jr. , SBD Artistic Director and choreographer, Sukanya Burman, Mayor Eddie Sundquist, and County Executive PJ Wendel help with cutting the ribbon Thursday at Sukanya Burman Dance at 106 E. Second St. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

Sukanya Burman is adding to the already thriving arts community in Jamestown.

Specifically, she wants to make modern dance more visible.

With that goal in mind, she opened Sukanya Burman Dance at 106 E. Second St. A ribbon cutting celebration hosted by The Chautauqua Chamber of Commerce was held Thursday to let residents in the region know that SBD is deeply invested in providing a world-class dance education based on Indian Classical and modern dance forms.

“We use the vocabularies of modern dance and Indian Classical dance forms of Bharatanatyam and Kathak to tell stories that are relevant to the world today. … We are looking to interact with community members more (and) bring them into this space and make dance a thing in this community. I am very excited for this new venture,” Burman said during the ceremony.

Burman added that she thinks there is a huge interest in the commnity to take part and learn about dance, and to have a professional presence.

“We are focusing on having a professional dance company that brings in jobs for dancers in this community — dancers who are graduating from universities like SUNY Fredonia, (and) University of Buffalo. We want to retain those talents within our region. We want to make sure these dancers are paid equitably.

Area officials on hand to welcome SBD to Jamestown were Chamber President Daniel Heitzenrater, New York State Assemblyman Andrew Goodell R-Jamestown, Lisa Vanstrom from the offfice of State Sen. George Borello R- Sunset Bay, Mayor Eddie Sundquist, and County Executive PJ Wendel.

“We have an absolutely incredible arts community and the more I get to see the rebound happening after the pandemic, the more I get to meet the people that now call Jamestown their home and have made the arts part of their life,” Sundquist said.

The mayor said he is ready to take a dance class.

Wendel said it is important for Burman to share the cultural background of Indian Classical dance as well as the other forms.

“Professional dancers are an amazing group of individuals — both men and women. … watching dance and how it transforms cultures, peoples, and generations, I couldn’t be more excited about this,” Wendel added.

Burman, the founder and Artistic Director, is a New York State Council on the Arts award winner for 2023 and is a current member of the New York State DanceForce a program funded by NYSCA.

For more information about SBD visit sukanyaburman.com or email info@sukanyaburman.com.