Creating Intelligent Dancers: Saberi Misra

Saberi Misra is a kathak dancer based in London and was born in Kolkata into a family of traditional musicians and dancers of the Jaipur Gharana; she is the great Granddaughter of Pt Jailal Maharaj ji, the Granddaughter of Pt Ramgopal Misra and Smt Guru Susmita Misra and daughter of Pandit Rajkumar Misra, a renowned tabla player and Smt Chandrima Misra an established and acclaimed Hindustani Vocalist. Saberi has done her schooling in one of the most elite schools in London, St James Senior girls' school. Growing up amidst an atmosphere of dance and music Saberi was naturally pulled towards them from a very early age, like a moth to a flame. She started her dance training at the age of three under the able and distinguished guidance of her grandmother, Smt Guru Susmita Misra, a celebrated Kathak Guru. She gave her first stage performance at the age of four, in Kolkata and received a standing ovation. In London, her first performance came at the age of six at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, where she also received a standing ovation in the presence of the High Commissioner of India at the time.

Besides dance, Saberi is also receiving laya taalim through learning tabla from her father and vocal training from her mother respectively. Saberi has also given solo performances as a tabla player and a singer. She has already established herself as a fine Kathak dancer.Episode Notes

Show Highlights

(0:03:37) Learning from Saberi's Grandmother: Guru Susmita Misra

(0:06:03) Retention for dance: The relevance of writing things down

(0:09:05) When should Kathak students start to learn Tabla/Vocals?

(0:13:57) The mindset of a dancer improvising on Stage

(0:17:45) How accompanying a dancer should change with the composition

(0:20:38) The baseline tabla skills a kathak dancer should know

(0:26:28) Transitioning from UK to India

(0:30:39) How has Kathak changedf (or hasn't) for Saberi after coming to India

(0:32:52) Social media presence for a kathak dancer

(0:40:29) Kathak and Atheism

(0:44:01) On the topic of belief

(0:52:09) How does Saberi teach differently than how she was taught

(0:55:12) How to create more thinking Kathak Dancers