Growing in and with Kathak
My journey with Kathak began at a very young age of about seven years old. After being coerced into watching my dance performance every evening to the sounds of All India Radio, my parents decided to enroll me in a dance school. Unbeknownst to me, it gradually became an integral part of my identity, traveling with me all the way from Calcutta to New York. With time, my sensibilities of the dance form developed in unexpected ways. I came to see the form as something that could be transformative, personally and politically.
The influences on my style are many – starting with Ruby Banerjee to Janaki Patrik to Satya Narayan Charka to Pallabi Chakravorty. Through my association with Pallabi Chakravorty and Courtyard Dancers, I have had the good fortune to meet Guru Bandana Sen in Calcutta, trained with Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan Kumudini Lakhia, Prashant Shah in New York City and with Pallabi’s gurubhai Sanjay Bhattacharya in Calcutta.
Today, I continue to train with Sanjay Bhattacharya (in Calcutta) and also teach Kathak privately. The slideshow at the top of this page captures some treasured moments from my life-long involvement with Kathak in various forms.