Twitter/FB/Instagram is @aninditaneogykathak Website: www.sargamcreativeservices.com www.aninditaneogy.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AninditaNeogykathak

Anindita is the first Indian Classical Dancer to be chosen as Secretary, Wisconsin Dance Council Board and actively participating in propagating the dance education in the state.

Anindita is a disciple of doyens of Jaipur and Lucknow schools of Kathak, Pandit Rajendra Gangani and Pandit Jai Kishan Maharaj.

Her dance is a blend of both the schools of Kathak.

She has performed in major festivals of India, Germany and USA including Delhi International Arts Festival, Jayadev Samaroh, Devdasi International Dance Festival, International Dance and Music Festival Cuttack, Kultur Nacht, Bremen Durga Puja, Logging and Heritage Festival, Rhythms of the world, Nritya Samarpana, BAGC Chicago to name a few.

She is also a North American Indian Raga Fellow. Anindita has been covered by major national dailies of USA and India including Times of India, the Hindu, Indian Express, the Statesman, HT, Dainik Jagran, Amar Ujala, Nav Bharat Times, Asian Age, Telegraph, Chicago Tribune, GreenBay Channel 5, Eagle Herald and so on.

Timestamps: 0:00:41 How to Make it in Kathak 0:01:39 Marketing Oneself in Kathak 0:03:38 Example of working with an interviewer 0:06:01 Tips on offering feedback to journalists 0:07:04 Relevant education degrees for Kathak 0:08:25 Awareness of Kathak in Wisconsin 0:10:40 Marketing Kathak to Rural America 0:14:02 Future of Kathak in Wisconsin 0:15:20 Urging Kathakars to Step out of comfort 0:17:18 Current Issues in Making Kathak Mainstream 0:19:00 Brand Promotion 0:20:09 New York Kathak Festival 0:22:17 Experience performing at the NYKF 0:24:08 Performing in front of Maharaj ji 0:25:30 Behind the scenes of Anindita Di's Performance 0:27:38 How was the performance received? 0:28:55 Performing in a big auditorium when facial expresssions cannot be seen. 0:30:44 Performances over the years 0:32:38 Indian Raga 0:34:24 What do performers like from their audiences/organizer/city? 0:37:27 How Anindita Neogy started charging for your art 0:38:42 Talking to Organizers 0:40:46 Excercise for Kathak 0:43:29 Diet 0:45:44 Injury Prevention 0:49:12 Teaching Pracitce 0:50:12 Challenges faced in Teaching Kathak Here 0:52:44 Adapting to Pandemic 0:54:00 Positive Reinforcement 0:59:03 Activism through Kathak 1:02:43 Body Shaming 1:09:02 Confronting your guru about body shaming 1:11:02 How parents deal with issues 1:13:17 Finding the right Guru 1:16:17 Future Projects 1:18:41 Legacy and Impact of Anindita Neogy

Links to Social media:

Insta : payel_kathak.36 Fb page : @payel.kathak639

Payel Das is the lead faculty member at Gurukul Dubai, an organization led by Guru Pali Chandra, who is the artistic director, and it's based in Dubai. Over there she trains and harnesses the skills of hundreds of students and aligns them to the art form with great dedication.

Besides learning in Kolkata and Lucknow from prestigious institutes, she has a master's degree holder in Kathak. from Banaras Hindu University and a well-established recognized performer. She has earned the blessings ,love and respect of her gurus.Shrimat Saswati Mukherjee, Professor Ranjana Srivastava and Dr Vidhi Nagar. and is presently mentored by Guru Pali Chandra

Show Notes

0:00:29 Intro

0:02:11 How Payel Das Got into Kathak

0:02:50 Going to Lucknow and BHU

0:04:22 Learning from Pali Ji

0:04:31 Promotion

0:14:59 Enforcing Discipline

0:15:42 Connections

0:19:12 First Workshop with Pt Birju Maharaj

0:24:34 Getting Noticed

0:28:54 Performances in India/Dubai Pt 1

0:31:50 Dancing in front of the camera

0:32:25 Perception of the audience to dance

0:33:22 Pali Ji's contribution

0:34:20 Adapting to the Pandemic

0:34:51 Bringing people together

0:35:31 Teaching Methodology

0:35:55 Safe Dancing Methods

0:36:54 Innovation and Creation

0:38:45 Example of Teaching Hastak

0:44:35 Upcoming projects

Links to Socials Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatdancerboi/

Twitter is @thatdanceboii (yes 2 i's)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityasharma17/

Email: [email protected]

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcx2iEFl3ej-WKdarPlAKYQ

Bio

Aditya Sharma began his dancing career at the age of 4. He is a versatile dancer, trained in Kathak, Bharatanatyam, Contemporary and Ballet disciplines and Bollywood, Hip Hop and Jazz with years of experience under the professional guidance of various dance faculties of the art. He is an active performer and has performed in various locations in India and Internationally. Initially trained under the guidance of late Smt. Arpita Rao, Aditya presently focuses on kathak and has trained in the Lucknow and Jaipur Gharana vocabulary. He now trains as a student of Samarpan Association for Culture and Education (SpACE) under Smt. Anjana Gupta's tutelage. He has launched his own performance unit in Bangalore India called Yatra Dance Productions which currently specialises in the Indian Classical Dance form of Bharatanatyam with is premier showcase 25th January 2019, Yatra – The Journey of a Dancer. The show explored the avenues of classical dancer’s mind with a view to answer the everlasting question of why dancers have become what they are today in an intimate performance experience. Aditya has also been a part of Shiamak Davar's Institute of Performing Arts in Bangalore, India since 2012 and performed both nationally and Internationally with the troupe for various shows and corporate events at locations including Bangalore, Mumbai, Bangkok to name a few.

Show Notes 0:04:55 Dealing with Bullying

0:06:30 Advice for Male Dancers

0:08:03 Snide Remarks

0:09:35 Training and Lineage

0:10:40 Transition between Gharanas

0:12:10 SpACE Academy, Bangalore

0:13:08 Anjana Tai's teaching style

0:14:30 The value of Riyaaz

0:16:07 Riyaaz Rituals

0:19:46 Teaching

0:20:45 Transition to Teaching

0:21:50 Workshops

0:41:27 Learning about costumes

0:43:34 Makeup

0:45:45 Eyeliner Tips

0:47:31 Marketing in Kathak

0:48:48 Social media in Kathak

0:49:42 which platform to choose

0:52:43 Spiritual Readiness

0:54:30 Conclusion

Episode Notes

Links to Social Media and Website https://www.instagram.com/tarikanath/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/shivanginiclasses https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbBdQuYTEj0 https://www.linkedin.com/in/tarika-nath/

Tarika Nath is a 23-year old dancer from Houston, Texas. She is a financial planner by day is an assistant instructor to her own mother and Guru, Smt. Shiva Mathur for the past 17 years. Smt. Shiva Mathur founded her own school for Kathak, dholak, and tabla 20 years ago called the Shivangini Academy of Perfoming Arts. Known for her unique style of teaching with an emphasis on bhaav nritya, she has trained over 300 students in the Houston area. In addition to learning with her mother, Tarika frequently travels to India to train with the esteemed Padma Vibhushan Pt. Birju Maharaj and Vidushi Saswati Sen to further her knowledge and dedication in Kathak.

In this episode, Tarika ji talks about Dancing privilege, the importance of warmups and physical therapy and the importance of being kind to yourself when it comes to Riyaz. She was also gracious enough to edit her own epsiode and I am immensely grateful to her for being one of my first guests.

Timestamps 0:00:46 Story of Meeting 0:01:34 Warmups and Jumping jacks 0:03:15 Taking breaks in Riyaaz 0:04:11 Pandemic Effects on Riyaaz 0:04:58 Effects of Social Media on Riyaaz practice 0:06:13 Dealing with mental stress 0:08:09 Giving the power to yourself 0:09:15 Contemplation 0:11:00 Physical Barriers 0:11:13 Effects of Femoral Antiversoin 0:15:28 Overcoming Physical Conditions 0:18:03 Influences 0:20:04 Differences in Training 0:22:17 Language, religious barriers 0:23:41 The Kathak Meetup 0:26:42 NYKF Performance 0:28:57 End of Rupak and Dhamar 0:30:52 Dancing in front of Kathakars 0:33:36 Shivangani Academy of Performing Arts 0:37:34 Smt Shiva Mathur (Tarika's Mother) 0:41:48 Dancing Privilege 0:59:35 The value of patience

Links to Social Media https://www.instagram.com/kathakwithalainaroy/ linkedin.com/in/alaina-roy-3a6990194 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiD5uPZWCNs https://www.mangobaaz.com/pakistani-kathak-dancer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR921xYtqtM

Alaina Roy has been a Kathakar for 14 years and has performed all over the world. Based out of the UK and Pakistan, she has performed all over the world and she focuses on spreading the art form in Pakistan.

Timestamps 0:01:10 Kathak is Not Like any other art form 0:02:55 Kathak is an expression 0:04:56 Kathak Misconceptions 0:07:32 Creating awareness in Pakistan 0:10:00 Accessibility of Kathak 0:10:20 Community outreach in Pakistan (T2F ) 0:11:25 Social Media 0:11:25 Increasing engagement through video content 0:12:32 DesiDotCo 0:14:48 Training and Background 0:17:31 Performing with an Injured Foot 0:19:11 The importance of Warming up 0:21:16 Teaching Methodology 0:23:15 Encouraging Riyaaz in Students 0:26:14 Mood Board 0:27:36 Mood and Movement Vocabulary 0:33:14 O2 arena 0:35:47 Rang manch pravesh 0:36:30 Marketing in Kathak 0:36:30 Social Media for marketing in Kathak 0:37:08 Dubai, UAE 0:37:49 How to increase the value of your artform 0:39:58 The length of Kathak Performances 0:41:49 Collaborations with Darvesh 0:44:12 Giving Musicians their credit 0:44:52 Accompanying artists

With over 40 years of Kathak, Rachna ji is the epitome of a life dedicated to the arts. In this podcast we talk about her training, establishing herself on her own in conneticut in 1988, her comprhensive Kathak book written in English and dive into current issues she sees in Kathak. Link to website and book http://kathakusa.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Kathak-Dance-Storytellers-Rachna-Ramya/dp/9386906880/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&qid=1604778992&refinements=p_27%3ARachna+Ramya&s=books&sr=1-1&text=Rachna+Ramya

Timestamps 00:55 Beginnings and Early Days 03:10 Early Days of Sumbhaav 19:47 Markers of Progress 24:14 The need for a book in Kathak 26:25 Favorite Sections of the book 27:57 Writing about the History of Kathak 28:49 The other Indian Classical Dances 30:42 Connecticut and Rachna ji 33:04 12 day program for Kathak Education 33:48 Social Issues through Kathak 35:05 Ted Harshey Dance Marathon 36:11 Responsibilities as Dance Marathon Coordinator 37:57 Progress of Kathak in USA since 1988 38:42 Future Hopes for Kathak in the US 44:35 Future Projects 48:35 A day in the Life of Rachna ji

Dr Pallabi Chakravorty is a noted Kathakar, dance artist, choreographer and anthropologist. She's also the author of "Bells of Change" , "This Is How We Dance", and the Chair of Dance at Swarthmore college. We discuss th

Show Notes and Timestamps

18:12 Doing Fieldwork as a Shy person 20:30 Being True to your convictions 24:20 Courtyard Dancers 25:12 Beginning of courtyard 33:00 Culture of the courtyard dancers 44: Riyaaz and the Twilight zone 46:34 Kathak and Dance History 49:40 Line 52:18: Kathak as A syncretic dance form 52:30 Can you "define" Kathak? 54:44 The multiplicity of voices in Kathak 55:55 Sufi Kathak, Hindu Kathak, Contemporary Kathak 56:21 Why are you doing a "foreign" dance? The othering of Kathak 59:00 Subhashgram 1:05:00 Unsung Arrival with courtyard dancers, and subhashgram 1:06:00 The feeling on seeing them 1:08:00 Future Projects 1:11:00 Legacy

Rafia Bon Has been a Kathakar for 20 years and has her own academy in Lyon France. She's had a fascinating journey in Kathak and incorporates a large variety of styles into her reportoire. In this conversation we talk about Kathak in Pakistan, dancing in the cold, her inspirations, collaborations with other dance artists.

Links:- https://rafiabon.wixsite.com/rafiabon https://www.instagram.com/rafiabon/

Welcome to The Kathak Podcast, Kathak Ka Chakkar! My Name is Pramit and I'll be bringing you conversations with Kathakars Across The Globe!

With her first performance at the age of 3, and turning professional at the age of 14, Smt Sharmila Sharma has been a life long Kathakar. She is widely renowned for bringing Kathak to Paris where she has been since 1993. She's been a disciple of both Pt Birju Maharaj and Pt Rajendra Gangani. In this episode, we learn about her journey, fluency in French and Tamil, and her infectious positive attitude which has been one of the reasons behind her enormous success.

Timestamps 16:00 Gharanas 22:25 Kavit 24:15 Pandit Rajendra Gangani ji 32 : Pandit Birju Maharaj ji teaching style 35: Kathak kendra environment 38: Conversations between Sharmila ji and Pt Birju Maharaj 43: Humble Beginnings in France 47:30 Teaching Kathak abroad 52:30 Promoting Kathak in France 55:00 Book on Songs 56:30 Competition with other dance forms 1:03:00: Tatkaar with Ustad Zakir Hussain 1:05:00 Sharmila Sharma Ji's Vision For Kathak 1:07:00 School Systems 1:08:30 Teaching Style 1:14:00 Solo Performances 1:15:45 Performing in India vs Abroad

Links https://www.instagram.com/sharmilasharmakathak/ http://sharmilasharma.com/