Padma Khanna Sidana

As the founder and principal of Indianica Academy, Mrs. Padma Khanna Sidana continues her pursuit of reaching out to the youth and members of the Indian community in the United States and beyond. Every year since its inception Indianica Academy presents their annual cultural show titled Chamakte Sitaaray (Shining Stars) where the students showcase their knowledge of Kathak and folk dances of India. Her history making endeavors have been fruitful and reaped benefits for everyone involved.

Hailing from the cultural city of Varanasi (Banaras) Mrs. Padma Khanna Sidana began her journey as a student of Kathak at the tender age of 7. As an exponent of Kathak at a very young age she performed on stage as one of the youngest known stage artists of her time. Her mother once revealed that in her deep sleep PADMA’S feet used to tap and keep moving in dance rhythm. She learnt Advanced KATHAK DANCE from Padmashri Gopi Krishna, whose talent of KATHAK is acclaimed and appreciated like Pundit Ravi Shankar’s in Sitar. Padmaji’s arrival to Mumbai (Bombay) she was welcomed with open arms by Indian Movie Industry (Bollywood). For more than one decade, she was known as “Dancing Queen Of Indian Cinema”. She acted in more than 300 movies in all regional languages of India. Few to mention are “‘Saaz Aur Awaaz, Biwi Aur Makaan, Johnny Mera Naam, Raahgeer, Baharon Ke Sapne, Anhonee, Dastan, Rampur Ka Lakshman, Saudagar, Maaie, Hamaar-Bhauji’ and many more. One of her most popular TV series is ‘RAMAYAN”, in which she played the pivotal, outstanding and memorable role of “Kaikeyi”. It is a matter of great pleasure for us today to have a versatile and veteran artist like Padmaji among us.

Show Highlights

(0:04:19) Learning with Pt Gopi Krishna

(0:11:06) Beginnings of Indianica Academy in the US

(0:18:33) Support systems in the US

(0:22:27) Teaching at Indianica Academy

(0:26:18) When do students start taking dance seriously

(0:30:33) The mindset of a dancer

(0:31:40) The sequence of Riyaz

(0:35:36) Adding variations to Tatkaar for longer riyaz sessions

(0:39:12) Memorable performances

(0:43:31) Story of how a student stayed in touch

(0:45:43) Portrayal of kathak in bollywood over the years

(0:48:52) Padmja ji's take on what is Kathak and what is semi-classical

(0:50:42) On stage vs on screen personalities

(0:53:23) Acting in Movies, and Kathak Abhinaya

(0:55:19) Future projects