International Dancer Zaman is an Indo-Caribbean Gay and Muslim Kathak, Orissi, Bollywood, Bhangra and Chutney dancer. He is a native of Guyana, who currently calls Far Rockaway, Queens, home. Zaman studied dance with the Ghungroos Dance Academy for five years under the instructions of Dheeraj. To further his passion for interdisciplinary performing arts, he took Caribbean & South Asian cultural workshops with the Raj Kumari Cultural Center and Nirvana Humanitarian Foundation in New York, the Jaya Devi Arts in Florida, and the Leela Dance Collective, led by Rachna Nivas, a renowned Kathak dancer, educator, and arts activist in California.

In June of 2013, Zaman was hospitalized after he survived a vicious attack in an anti-LGBTQ hate violence incident in Richmond Hill, Queens. The violence mobilized local LGBTQ activists and allies to organize a Peace Rally and eventually led to the formation of the Caribbean Equality Project in 2015. Zaman is the first openly gay Indo-Caribbean dance artist in New York City. He is also an International-drag artist, where Zaman goes by the name of “Sundari – The Indian Goddess.” Both Zaman and Sundari utilizes performing arts to promote Indo-Caribbean Arts & Culture and the multiple, intersectional identities of LGBTQ Caribbean immigrants in the diaspora. As an arts and LGBTQ rights activist, he has pioneered several historic initiatives leading to queer and drag-centric performance pieces in faith-based institutions and at religious & cultural parades and festivals under both of his ionic personalities. Zaman is one of the founding members and the lead choreographer of the Taranng Dance Troupe (Waves of the Future), a group of diverse trained dancers amplifying visibility and unity within the Caribbean performing arts community in the New York metropolitan tri-state area.

To learn more about International Dancer Zaman, connect with him on, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and on Twitter @dancerzaman.