Joti Singh has been dancing bhangra all her life. Her father, a musician who plays many instruments, sings and writes songs, instilled in her the appreciation of all things musical at a very young age, by taking her to dance class with other Punjabi kids in the GreaterAtlanta area. No one had any clue these were the beginnings of a practice that would one day take over her life. Every year, the groupperformed at the Vaisakhi festival in Atlanta (Harvest festival) to thunderous applause and rave reviews. Joti also studied the drums as a child and thus inherently finds herself always drawn towards the rhythm, in whatever shape it takes.

In 1998, Joti began studying West African dance from Guinea. After finishing college, Joti's only goal was to get to Guinea and see where these dances really come from. Her first trip was in 2003, and there she studied with Master Dancer, Choreographer and 22-year veteran of Les Ballets Africains, Moustapha Bangoura. After finishing her thesis on Bhangra and receiving her M.A. from UC Berkeley, Joti Joti traveled again to Guinea, Senegal, and Gambia from December 2006 to March 2007 to study with Moustapha Bangoura, Alseny Soumah, and several members of Les Ballets Africains and Le Ballet Nationale de Senegal.

Joti recently received the Master/Apprentice Award from the California Alliance for Traditional Arts (ACTA) to study with her teacher and master dancer, Alseny Soumah, of Les Merveilles d'Afrique, a company founded by the late and great Mohamed Kemoko Sano. Joti has performed all over Portland, Oregon and in the Bay Area, including performances at Zellerbach Auditorium with Ricardo Lemvo and Makina Loca, the Berkeley Art Museum with Ahalya Satkunaratnam for the opening of "The Edge of Desire Exhibit" and the 2006 San Francisco Carnaval Parade. Joti founded Duniya Dance Company in 2007, and she teaches several classes in the Bay Area. She loves the dedication, hard work and silliness of her company members!