Congratulations to guitarist Ant Law (MPhil), dancer Jessica Baynes (MFA Dance Performance) and dancer Mandeep Raikhy (MPhil), who have been named this year’s Satyam Kalon Scholars at Trinity Laban. Satyam Kalon is a collaboration between Trinity Laban, Shiv Nadar University (New Delhi), Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, and KM Music Conservatory.
Ant Law is a leading guitarist who was listed in Downbeat magazine’s 2025 and 2026 Critics Polls as a “rising star” and has been described as “a game changer” and “an innovator” in The Guardian. His recently released tenth album House Of Light was Jazzwise magazine’s Editor’s Choice. Focusing on the art of rhythm, Ant will explore the links between Indian classical music and jazz while developing new ways to bring the two traditions together. Ant is the “L” in Trio HLK who are touring with Varijashree Venugopal in 2027.
Ant said: “I am so delighted to be enrolling as a student and diving very deep into one of my favourite areas of music!”
Born in San Diego, California, Jessica Baynes is a Filipino-Irish contemporary dancer whose work spans performance, choreography, and education. Baynes holds degrees from Harvard University (EdM) and the University of Utah (BFA). Her movement background includes modern dance, contemporary, Flamenco, and Irish dance.
Baynes has taught and performed internationally and choreographed over 40 works to date. She is the founder of Healing in Motion Dance and was the first non-ballet artist to hold a full-time faculty position at the national American ballet company, Ballet West, in its 60-year history. Baynes’ work in dance education has been highlighted and sponsored by organisations including National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), TED, and the Project Zero Research Institute at Harvard. Jessica’s research at Trinity Laban explores the relationship between contemporary dance choreography and Western body politics.
Jessica said: “I am deeply honoured to have been awarded the Satyam Kalon Scholarship for international arts research. It has made my career goal of attaining an MFA in Dance possible, and it is the reason I was able to pursue my dream of moving to Europe and attending Trinity Laban. I am immensely grateful to be in community with other talented Satyam Kalon scholars around the world, and to have the opportunity to apply this award towards my studies, artistic practice, and research. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to the people who have made this award possible.”
Mandeep Raikhy is a dance practitioner with a particular interest in exploring the intersections between performance, research, pedagogy and activism. He completed a BA (Hons) in Dance Theatre at Laban in 2002 and then toured with Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company, London, between 2005 and 2009. Since 2010, Mandeep has created several dance works, notably Queen-size (2016) and Hallucinations of an Artifact (2023). Over the last few decades, Raikhy has been preoccupied with exploring the relationship between choreographic practice and political resistance. Confronting issues like Section 377 of the Indian penal code which criminalised homosexuality up until 2018, religious nationalism, secularism and the nuanced performance of masculinity, Raikhy’s dance is a reflection on contemporary lives. Since 2008, Mandeep has worked to develop a supportive environment for contemporary dance in India through several initiatives such as Gati Dance Forum, Khuli Khirkee and the MA Performance Practice (Dance) at Ambedkar University, Delhi. He currently teaches on MA Dance: Participation Communities Participation at The Place, London.
Mandeep said: “I am delighted to be back studying at Trinity Laban after several decades, thanks to the Satyam Kalon Fellowship. It feels like home already! I am looking forward to the next few years, digging deeply into what it means to investigate solidarity through the moving body.”