Manjari Chaturvedi - Sufi Kathak (India)

Date: Saturday, 6th December, 2014
Venue: Sansara
Time: 8:00pm

Manjari Chaturvedi, classical Kathak danseuse and a performing artist for over a decade, is an extraordinary young dancer, adding subtle innovations to the Kathak repertoire while preserving the tenets of the classical style. With her enchanting stage presence, she is known for her intense, sensitive and graceful Kathak dance presentations.

A danseuse representing Lucknow gharana of Kathak and postgraduate in Environmental Sciences, Manjari embodies the Awadhi ethos, bridging the gap between tradition and modernity. Her performances preserve the doctrine of classical temple and darbari forms, yet they are accessible to audiences across the world. Manjari is trained in classical Kathak by Guru Pandit Arjun Mishra. She has developed the detailing of abhinaya (expressions) under Smt. Kalanidhi Narayan and Smt. Priyadarshini Govind, and has worked at Nrityagaram in association with Guru Protima Bedi and Guru Kumudini Lakhia. Manjari is an empanelled artist with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

Manjari Chaturvedi is the creator and the only performing artist of Sufi Kathak. Conceptualised and created by Manjari, Sufi Kathak has taken 16 years of her intense work in Sufi music and classical dance. Introducing the mystique of Sufism in dance, she traveled to countries like Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan and worked with artists from Iran, Turkey and Morocco to study the music and dance forms related with Sufi thought. Bred of Manjari’s knowledge and experience, Sufi Kathak melds the philosophical depth of Sufi poetry with the narrative beauty and grace of classical Indian dance forms to evolve a new school of performance that uses classical dance to narrate and interpret Sufi poetry.