Rajesh Gangani & Saumya Shukla: Kathak tánc

Kathak is a classical dance form from the Northern part of India. ‘Katha’ means a story and Kathak means story telling. It was born around 2500 years ago, when men & women would sing & dance to recite stories of Gods, Goddesses and other legends. It’s main aspects are telling stories of various Gods like Radha-Krishna, Shiva, Ganesh etc and expressing emotions such as love, anger, peace, happiness etc through body movements & hands gestures. Complicated footwork, pirouettes (spins / Chakkars) are also part of Kathak dance, which were developed during the Mughal rule in India.

Today, we present Kathak Dance by Miss Saumya Shukla, a disciple of Nrityashri Alaknanda, and Kathak teacher at Amrita Sher-Gil Culture Centre, Embassy of India.

Pandit Rajesh Gangani ji, disciple of Guru Pandit Madarlal Gangani, a renowned  Tabla artist from an ancient school of Indian Classical Music & Dance, the Jaipur Gharana's Gangani clan. He is also the table teacher at the amrita Shergil Culture Centre. Rajesh ji will then give a solo Tabla performance playing complicated yet brilliant beats on the Tabla.