Roshan Kumari | |
|---|---|
| Born | 24 December 1937 [1] |
| Occupation(s) | Classical dancer Actor Choreographer |
| Known for | Kathak |
| Parent(s) | Fakir Mohammed Zohrabai Ambalewali |
| Awards | Padma Shri Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Nritya Shiromani Nritya Vilas Vishwa Unnyyan Samsad Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar Kathak Kendra Man Patra All India Bhuwalka Award Hanumant Award Hafiz Ali Khan Award Latest |
Roshan Kumari Fakir Mohammad is an Indian classical dancer, actor and choreographer, considered by many as one of the foremost exponents of the Indian classical dance form of Kathak. [2] [3] She follows the Jaipur Gharana and is the founder of Nritya Kala Kendra, Mumbai, an academy promoting Kathak. [4] A recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1975, [5] she received the fourth highest Indian civilian honour of Padma Shri from the Government of India in 1984. [6]
Roshan Kumari was born on Christmas Eve (year of birth uncertain) at Ambala in the north Indian state of Haryana (erstwhile Punjab) to Choudhury Fakir Mohammed, a noted Tabla player and Zohrabai Ambalewali, renowned classical and playback singer. [7] She learnt the basics of Kathak from K. S. Moray and continued her studies at Maharaj Bindaddin School of Kathak, Mumbai under Sunder Prasad ji and learnt the jaipur gharana. [8] Later, she also trained under Ghulam Hussain Khan and Hanuman Prasad and learnt Bharat Natyam from Govindraj Pillai and Mahalingam Pilai.
Roshan Kumari has performed in many places in India including a special performance at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan. [3] She has also performed in front of personalities such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Nikita Khrushchev, Milton Obote, Hussein of Jordan and the King of Nepal. [7] In 1971, she founded the Nritya Kala Kendra, at Bandra in Mumbai, where she tutors several students. [3] Mukta Joshi, Aditi Bhagwat, [9] Nandita Puri, Nigaar Bano, Shelina Virani, Sehajpreet Singh, Himani, Sangeeta, [10] Anonna Guha [11] and Shailla Aurora [12] are some of her notable students. Roshan Kumari Ji, who remains unmarried, lives in Mumbai.
In 1953, Bimal Roy invited Kumari to perform a Kathak number in his film, Parineeta . The next year, she performed in Waris of Nitin Bose and a Hindi / Urdu bilingual, Mirza Ghalib , directed by Sohrab Modi. Her next appearance was in Basant Bahar , a 1956 film by Raja Nawathe. Satyajit Ray, the renowned Indian filmmaker used a dance sequence performed by her in his 1958 film, Jalsaghar . In 1970, Films Division of the Government of India released a documentary on the history and practice of Kathak, which features performances by notable Kathak exponents like Damayanti Joshi, Uma Sharma, Sudarshan Dheer and Shambhu Maharaj, besides Roshan Kumari. [13] Later she also worked as a choreographer in Hindi feature films such as Gopi , Lekin... (1990), Chaitali (1975) and Sardari Begum (1996).
Kumari received the Nritya Shiromani title from the Prayag Sangeet Samiti at the Twelfth All India Music Conference of 1963 [3] and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1976. [5] A year later, Sur Singer Samsad awarded her the Nritya Vilas honour. [7] The Government of India honoured her with the civilian award of Padma Shri in 1984 [6] and the Government of Bengal awarded her the Vishwa Unnyyan Samsad in 1989. [3] She received the Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar from the Government of Maharashtra in 1990 and the Man Patra honour from Kathak Kendra, Jaipur in 1993. [3] Kumari, an Emeritus fellow of the Government of India, is also a recipient of the All India Bhuwalka Award (2005) and the Hanumant Award (2008). [3]
Pandit Birju Maharaj was an Indian dancer, composer, singer, and exponent of the Lucknow "Kalka-Bindadin" Gharana of Kathak dance in India. He was a descendant of the Maharaj family of Kathak dancers, which includes his two uncles, Shambhu Maharaj and Lachhu Maharaj, and his father and guru, Acchan Maharaj. He also practised Hindustani classical music and was a vocalist. After working along with his uncle, Shambhu Maharaj at Bhartiya Kala Kendra, later the Kathak Kendra, New Delhi, he remained head of the latter, for several years, until his retirement in 1998 when he opened his own dance school, Kalashram, also in Delhi.
Kumudini Lakhia is an Indian Kathak dancer and choreographer based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, where she founded Kadamb School of Dance and Music, an institute of Indian dance and music in 1967.
Munna Shukla was a Kathak guru and choreographer of Lucknow Gharana based in New Delhi, India. Born to a family who has been involved in dance for generations, Munna Shukla specialized in Kathak, a classical dance form of North India. He was a grandson of the noted Kathak Maestro, Late Achhan Maharaj, and a nephew of Birju Maharaj.
Pandit Bajinath Prasad also known as Pandit Lachhu Maharaj (1901–1978) was an Indian classical dancer and choreographer of Kathak dance. He came from a family of illustrious Kathak exponents in Lucknow, and also worked as film choreographer, Hindi cinema, most notably Mughal-e-Azam (1960) and Pakeezah (1972). He was awarded the 1957 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the highest award for performing artists, conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama. He was paternal uncle of Pandit Birju Maharaj.
Damayanti Joshi was a noted renowned exponent of the Kathak dance form. She believed Kathak is the art of storytelling. She began in the 1930s dancing in Madame Menaka's troupe, which travelled to many parts of the world. She learnt Kathak from Sitaram Prasad of Jaipur Gharana and became an adept dancer at a very young age, and later trained under from Acchan Maharaj, Lacchu Maharaj and Shambhu Maharaj of Lucknow gharana, thus imbibing nuances from both the traditions. She became independent in the 1950s and achieved prominence in the 1960s, before turning into a guru at her dance school in Mumbai.
Uma Sharma is a kathak dancer, choreographer and teacher. She is also runs the Bharatiya Sangeet Sadan, Delhi, a classical dance and music academy, situated in New Delhi, founded by her father in 1946. She is most known for reviving the old classical dance form of Natwari Nritya or the Raslila of Brindavan, which later evolved into the Kathak.
Rajkumar Singhajit Singh, is a leading exponent, choreographer and a guru of Indian classical dance form of Manipuri, including the Pung cholom and Raslila. He was awarded with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1984 and the Padma Shri in 1986 for his contribution to the Manipuri dance. In the year 2011, Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's The National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama, awarded him with its highest award, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for his contribution to Indian Dance. In 2014 he was also conferred with the Tagore Award.
Shashi Sankhla,, is an exponent of the Jaipur gharana of Kathak dance in India. She is a Senior Disciple of Guru Pt. Kundan Lal Gangani Ji. She has been awarded by Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards 2008 in Kathak dance. She was the principal of Jaipur Kathak Kendra. She founded Geetanjali music Society an institute devoted to Kathak.
Aditi Mangaldas is a Kathak dancer and choreographer, who is known for her classical Kathak as well as 'contemporary dance based on kathak" repertoire. Mangaldas is hailed as one of the leading dancers in the field of Kathak in India as well as across the world.
Zohrabai Ambalewali was an Indian classical singer and playback singer in Hindi cinema in the 1930s and 1940s. She was considered one of the most popular female playback singers of early and mid 1940s.
Maya Rao was an Indian classical dancer, choreographer and educator, in Kathak dance. She is known for her pioneering work in Kathak choreography, especially in dance ballets, and is credited for bringing Kathak, a North Indian-dance style to South India, when she opened her dance school, Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography (NIKC) in Malleswaram, Bangalore in 1987. She was also the founder director of her dance company, "Natya and Stem Dance Kampni", an amalgam of NIKC and the STEM Dance Kampni based in Bangalore. After her early training under Guru Sohanlal of Jaipur Gharana, followed by Guru Sunder Prasad also of the Jaipur Gharana, and went to train under Guru Shambhu Maharaj of Lucknow Gharana at National Institute of Kathak Dance in Delhi.
Hari Uppal (1926–2011) was an Indian classical dancer and the founder of a classical dance academy by name, Bhartiya Nritya Kala Mandir, known for his expertise in the dance forms of Kathakali and Manipuri. He was honored by the Government of India, in 2010, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.
Aditi Bhagwat is an internationally renowned kathak and lavani expert, actress, dance tutor and choreographer. She travels all around the world participating in stage shows performing solo as well as in collaboration with many other Indian music artists.
Jatin Goswami is an Indian dancer and choreographer, known as one of the prominent exponents of the classical dance form of Sattriya. He is the founder director of Sattriya Akademi, Guwahati, a sitting member of its Advisory Committee, and a former member of the General Council of the Sangeet Natak Akademi. He is also the founder of Alok Shilpi Sangha, a dance academy and Pragjyoti Kala Parishad, a cultural organization, and is a recipient of the 2004 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2008, for his contributions to Sattriya dance.
Uma Dogra is an Indian exponent of Kathak, an Indian Classical Dance form. She is the senior most disciple of Pt. Durga Lal, the Kathak Maestro from Jaipur Gharana. She is a Kathak soloist, a choreographer and a teacher. She has been performing in India and abroad for more than 40 years.
Pandit Sunder Prasad was a guru (teacher) of - Jaipur Gharana of the Indian classical dance form, Kathak. He received his training from his father Pandit Chunnilal of Jaipur Gharana. He also trained under Bindadin Maharaj of Lucknow Gharana. Sunder Prasad performed all over the country. Sunder Prasad was not just an artist, he is also a teacher. He taught Kathak Dance for almost 30 years in Mumbai and then shifted to Chennai. He was honoured by Natak Academy of Delhi in the year 1958.
Puru Dadheech is a Kathak dancer. He is a choreographer and educator of Indian classical dance, and is known for his pioneering work in the field of Kathak. At the oldest Kathak department which was formed in 1956 at Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya Public University located in Khairagarh, Puru Dadheech instated the first Kathak syllabus in 1961. He is the holder of the first Doctorate in Kathak Classical Dance and emphasizes the relevance of Shastras in the Kathak repertoire. He was awarded Padma Shri, the 4th highest civilian award of India He is currently serving as the Director of the world's first dedicated Kathak research Centre at the Sri Sri University, Cuttack called Sri Sri Centre for Advanced Research in Kathak.
Vibha Dadheech is an Indian classical dancer in the Kathak dance form. She began learning Kathak from Raigarh Court dancer Pt. Firtu Maharaj, and later in Guru Shishya Parampara from Pt. Shambhu Maharaj as a ganda bandh shagird, living and learning at her guru’s home. She is also the senior-most disciple and wife of Puru Dadheech. Together they founded the Natavari Kathak Nritya Academy, Indore. Currently, Vibha Dadheech is serving as Professor Emeritus at world’s first dedicated Kathak Research centre at the Sri Sri University, The Sri Sri Centre for Advanced Research in Kathak.
Shobha Koser is an Indian Kathak dancer, writer and teacher. Koser hails from the Jaipur Gharana. Koser is the recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2019) She taught various actors including Poonam Dhillon.
Geetanjali Lal is an Indian Kathak dancer and choreographer.
