Navtej Johar (Choreographer) trained in Bharatanatyam at Kalakshetra and later studied at the Department of Performances Studies, New York University. With performances at prestigious venues all over the world, an extended tenure in prominent modern dance companies in the USA and several successful international collaboration to his name, Johar is today recognized as a cutting edge performer whose work is sensitive, witty and layered. Johar’s choreography freely traverses from the traditional to the avant-garde, from solos to ensembles, creating classical and contemporary dance works, site specific events, musicals, street-theatre and performance installations. Johar is artistic director of Studio Abhyas, a space dedicated to dance, yoga and physical theatre.


Click here to watch a preview video of Navtej Johar from India

Tyler C. Tingley is Phillips Exeter Academy’s 13th Principal and has kindly agreed to be our Guest of Honor and Speaker for the evening of our Benefit on May 8,2008.

Tingley's great energy and his deep involvement in all areas of Academy life have characterized his leadership.

In 2005 and 2006, Tingley received a six-month sabbatical. During the fall term he was a visiting scholar at Oxford University studying the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. In spring 2007, he returned to the classroom to teach "Fellowship and Fantasy," a senior course that examined the Tolkien-Lewis connection.

He received an A. B. degree cum laude from Harvard College and Ed.M. and Ed.D. degrees from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Prior to joining the Academy, Tingley was the head of school at the Blake School in Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1991 to 1997. He also served as the headmaster of Kingswood-Oxford School in West Hartford, Connecticut from 1986 to 1991. An alumnus of Kingswood-Oxford, he returned there to teach English after graduating from Harvard in 1968.

Tingley has been president of the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools and the Minnesota Association of Independent Schools and a member of the board of directors of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). He has just completed his term as president of the Headmasters Association. He is the author of numerous scholarly papers and has been a presenter at many conferences nationally and internationally.

Exeter has prospered greatly during Tingley's tenure. The school recently completed a $305 million fundraising campaign 20 months ahead of schedule, has seen its endowment top the $1 billion mark and has significantly increased its financial aid to students. Said Tingley, "Our fundraising success, coupled with the growth of the endowment, allowed us to become need-blind two years ago and free, beginning next fall, to students from families that make less than $75,000."