Episode Notes

I’m Meher Kriti Nigam, a Kathak artist and a final year student of engineering. I study Electronics and Communication with a specialization in Biomedical field. Apart from my technical education, I’ve also attended 2 diplomas, in Kathak and Hindustani Vocals. I’ve fortunate enough to get trained under Smt. Leena Malakar (Jaipur Gharana) and Guru Pandit Divyang Vakil ji. My journey with Kathak when I was just 3-years-old. Over the years I’ve performed at various events across the country, from Indywood Film Festival in Hyderabad to performing for MNCs like NIIT Technologies Ltd. I’ve also won a number of competitions at both school and college level. The world has been nice to me and in the past 2 years I’ve got the opportunity to hold fundraising dance workshops for NGOs. I’ve also been a dance instructor at various NGOs and taught their children for free. I wish to pursue Arts and Cultural Management for my masters. With the world progressing, I believe Art, Technology and Commerce are no longer separate fields. We can advance so much by attaining knowledge in all fields and create masterpieces.

Show Highlights (0:04:21) Working with Spicmacay

(0:09:28) Running a Kathak club in VIT University

(0:16:02) Auditioning process for the Dance Club

(0:19:10) Brinigng about uniformity in movements

(0:21:03) how a choregraphy comes together*-

(0:26:03) What audiences like?

(0:27:34) Performing in college fests/competitions

(0:29:43) how Meher started dancing?

(0:30:35) earliest memory

(0:32:32) Kathak Training Smt Leena Malakar ji

(0:34:43) Cultivating a habit of Riyaz

(0:40:25) What is Meher leanring in Kathak at the moment

(0:44:35) Taalvidya Classess

(0:49:19) Getting over fear

(0:51:24) Kathak on Reels

(0:53:37) Gender Expression in Kathak

(0:57:31) Future plans

Title Track Audio Credit: Doug Maxwell | Bansure Raga