A three-year dance animateur post in Bedford from 1991-1994 laid the ground for a dance development agency, Kadam, to emerge in Bedford, serving the county with a regional commitment for the East of England. Kadam Asian Dance and Music was incorporated in 1995 with charitable status.
Sanjeevini Dutta and Sujata Banerjee were joint directors of Kadam from 1995-2000, when Banerjee left to work for her independent Company. Dutta was assisted by Anita Srivastava until 2007. Kadam became known nationally for the summer intensive, the Kadam Dance Camp, held at the University of Bedfordshire, in Bedford. This ground-breaking initiative put forward the proposition of cross-training, alongside technique classes; it came to set a standard which others have followed (Dance India, Ananda Odissi Summer School). It transformed into the International Summer School in partnership with Milapfest from 2006 until 2008, when it was taken over by Milapfest entirely and became Dance India.
On the production side, Mahabharata in 1997, marking the Arts Council designated Year of Opera and Musical theatre, was a high point for Kadam. Directed by Nona Shephard, with music direction provided by Nitin Sawhney, the cast included Shobna Gulati (Dinner Ladies) and Ajay Chhabra (founder of Nutkhut).
In 2000 Kadam produced and toured At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers based on a short story of Salman Rushdie. Dance and music theatre productions with professional and community casts became a trade mark for Kadam that continued in subsequent productions.
Kadam moved to the Hat Factory in 2007 and Sanjeevini was invited by Director Andy Grays to help with programming the South Asian dance offer at the theatre. This gave her valuable experience of curation, and one of the most satisfying promotions was the programme of Unlocking Creativity Shorts, featuring artists such as Veena Bhasavaraja (Bengaluru) and Kalpana Raghuraman (Den Haag), along with UK dancers Kali Chandrasegaram and Khavita Kaur. Companies such as Angika, Shane Shambhu Dance and Sonia Sabri performed at the Hat Factory over the next few years.
From 2008-2010 Kadam led Unlocking Creativity summer courses on choreography with tutors such as Hari Krishnan, Eva Recacha and Shobana Jeyasingh. These popular courses were attended by dancers from all over the UK, Europe and the US..
Kadam started producing and touring work on a more consistent basis: My Soul is Alight in 2016 (kathak and odissi duet) with Parbati Chaudhury and Katie Ryan; Gods and Mortals in 2017 with the Odissi Ensemble and musicians Ranjana Ghatak, Gurdain Rayatt, May Robertson and Parvati Rajamani; The Rose and the Bulbul, a promenade piece for gardens in 2016 and 2017; Sacred Shapes in 2018 with the Odissi Ensemble, choreographed by Katie Ryan.