Maleni Chaitoo

Maleni Chaitoo is a native Chelsea, New Yorker who has a long-standing passion for performing arts. Her parents are immigrants of Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies - accustoming her to Indian and British-Caribbean cultures. When she was 2 and half years old, she was captivated by a ballet performance at her older sister's recital. It was then that she fell in love with dance - finding the physical movement and facial expressions akin to that of signing. She was enthusiastic to take dance classes despite the skepticism of her mother who felt that her deafness was a hindrance to learning how to dance ballet. Fortunately, a ballet teacher encouraged her to pursue dancing and put her in the front row of her class. After a few weeks of rehearsals, she was ready to perform on stage. To her mother's surprise, the audience cheered with great enthusiasm and commended her performance. This was the beginning of a life-long passion for the arts. At the age of 3, she became involved in numerous theatrical plays and dance performances facilitated by her school. She studied various dance styles such as tap, modern, and jazz at The Hudson Guid Theater Arts After School Program and National Institute of Dance. At age 8, she played the leading role, Dorothy, in her in school's production of the Wizard of Oz. A year later she played Tinkerbell in Peter Pan. At age 11, she wrote her first script, and single-handedly directed her 6th grade school's production of Pee Wee Goes to the Head of Class. Her foray into the performing arts was expanding as she explored directing, acting and production. In high school, her involvement and passion for the arts persisted spending a summer at Gallaudet University where she studied performing arts and Native American Culture in the Young Scholars Program. She was the second runner up and gained accolade for her talent performance "The Root of Hate Will Melt Away" in the National Association of the Deaf Miss Junior Pageant. In her senior year at Lexington School for the Deaf she played the leading role, Lucy, in her school's production of the "The Invisible Friend.' - and received the high school senior theatre arts award. In college, she received a special recognition award for her role of the Minstrel in her university's production of "The Price and the Pauper" from the theatre arts department. She continued to pursue and excel in performing arts throughout her time at Gallaudet where she ultimately earned her Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration. In addition to her avid involvement in theatre, Maleni has explored many professional contexts including business, technology, media, art and political sectors. Her versatile experiences have lended themselves well to her ability to play different characters and embrace a myriad of fulfilling opportunities in the performing arts.