KAVITA THAKUR, an accomplished artiste, performer, scholar, art educator, teacher and art promoter, is known as a highly regarded Kathak dancer pan India and has toured internationally for performances and workshops, adding nearly all of the classical repertory to her resume. Her forte Lucknow’s nazakat and nafasat compiled with lyrical movements, illustrious expressions, certain use of limbs, controlled torso movements and artistically-designed abhinaya (expressional acting) takes her dancing style to a greater heights. She has a great ability to emote infinite shades of emotions in compositions. The artiste also masters various nuances of the form such as profound and soulful footwork, and at the end, her audience is compelled to mesmerize the whole edifice of dance.
Kavita has given hundreds of solo performances in India and abroad. She has performed as solo Kathak dancer in Germany, France, Switzerland and China, especially at the International Tourism and Culture Festival in Beijing. In India, she has danced solos at different national festivals held in Shimla, Nashik, Kolkata, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Delhi, Jalandhar, Khajuraho, Udaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi, Lucknow and Patna.
Kavita began learning Kathak as a child from Smt. Ila Pandey in Shimla. From there, she never looked back and polished herself with each day. Her starting lessons sparked a lifelong interest in her in sharing India’s rich, diverse culture through her dance and art. In 1994, she joined the National Institute of Kathak Dance in New Delhi and continued learning under the guru-shishya parampara (teacher-disciple lineage) from prominent guru Shri Munna Shukla Ji of the Lucknow gharana. She has done doctorate in dance and is counted among rare artistes who is performer and a fine scholar as well. She regularly conducts workshops through Spic Macay, a not-for-profit arts organization, in Dehradun, Mumbai, Ranchi, Shimla, etc. The dancer was also an inevitable part of India’s one of the oldest dance institutions, Shri Ram Bharatiya Kala Kendra, New Delhi where she has imparted training to aspiring kathak dancers for four years. She has also been teaching M. Phil., M.A. and B.A. students in Shimla, Punjabi University in Punjab and Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya (I.K.S.V) in Khairagarh.
Like every other Kathak dancer, Kavita had dreamed of getting training from none other than the world-renowned Kathak maestro Pt. Birju Maharaj Ji and she was lucky enough to take numerous workshops under him.
Besides, Kavita has also founded an organisation, Kalashree, in East Delhi and NCR where she teaches Kathak and all its shades and discipline to singing, tabla playing, costume designing, stage décor, tricks of make-up and its theoretical knowledge. For honing the skills of her students she also organises workshops of eminent artistes. She has been in teaching for past 12 years and many of her students have won scholarships from Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) and the Ministry of Culture.
As a choreographer, she has choreographed an array of ballets and performances for several schools and organizations, including the Shri Ram Bhharatiya Kala Kendra. She has joined hands with the youth and choreographed performances for the Delhi Young Choreographers Festival, organized by the Delhi government in December, 2013. Her artistic skills makes her stand as one of the finest classical dancers. She has been in the panel of juries for youth festivals, held by various universities. One of her unforgettable moments were when she choreographed a song based on the Indian classical dance for NDMC students, which was later performed at the Republic Day, 2011. Apart from dancing, she also marvels in the field of yoga and had taught yoga at Kathak Kendra from 2002 to 2009.
Kavita is awarded with National Scholarship by the Department of Culture under the aegis of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. She was also conferred with Junior Fellowship for ‘Dance and Dance Music (Kathak)’ for consecutive two years, from March 2004 to February 2006, by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture. She has recently also been awarded the Senior Fellowship in the field of Dance (Kathak). She is counted among empanelled artistes of the Spic Macay and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) as a teacher and a performer as well. She is announced an ‘A’ grade artiste by the Delhi Doordarshan and her performances have been telecast by the Doordarshan (National TV Channel of India) from time to time.
Kavita’s aim is to spread awareness about the Indian classical dance technique so that people from all walks of life can learn the form without any restriction of finances, gurus and reach.
Photo Credit: Sangeeta Banerjee | One Frame Story
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