Archana Joglekar - Kathak Dance

Archana Joglekar is a celebrated Kathak Dancer of India. Born a child prodigy, she was schooled in detailed nuances of Lucknow & Jaipur Gharana by her mother and ‘Guru’ Asha Joglekar. This multi-talented dancer was honored with titles “Shringar Mani’ by Sur Singar Samsad and ‘Nritya Bharati’ by Hindi Sahitya Parishad, Prayaag. Her perfection, capacity to perform intricate footwork with unbelievable ease, Abhinaya of par excellence, uncanny ability to move from one character to another within a flicker of an eye has won over the pundits, critics as well as masses at home and abroad. She is the first Kathak dancer to perform at The Elephanta Festival, Mumbai, the first and perhaps the only Indian classical dancer to perform at the Reikjawik Art Festival in Iceland. Besides, various prestigious art festivals in India she has won over applause around the world.

She is an accomplished choreographer in the field of live stage shows, feature films and Television. Her choreography like “Ritu Rag Dershan”- the ballet, “Saura - Sukta”: based on the Sanskrit verses(Richas) from Rig-Veda, “Ganapathy Atharvasheersha”- Sanskrit Shlokaas praising Lord Ganesha, “Ardha-nari Nateshwar”- the half woman-half man form of Lord Shiva, have been highly acclaimed by the critics.

Archana is a well known film actress and has featured in no. of Hindi films as well as other Indian language films. She has won many awards such as ‘Best Actress Award’ for her performances in feature films as well as TV serials. Behind the camera, she is a successful director, and a producer of TV serials.

Out of seven, Kathak is one of the most popular Indian classical dance style. The word ‘Kathak’ means a story teller. It is said that Lord Krishna is the originator of the style and the major part of Abhinaya i.e. expression aspect of Kathak revolves around various stories based on the life of Lord Krishna.

Kathak, originally a temple dance, based on devotional songs to honor the Gods, was performed to entertain the Emperors during the mughal era. As a result, more and more gimmicks were added and consequently, the rhythmic aspect of this style became one the most intricate and well developed as compared with any other Indian classical dance style. Today, the intricate foot work, speedy circles / spins and extremely well developed rhythmic aspect mark the speciality of Kathak.

For Indian film lovers, Kathak dominated the Hindi films also. Kathak based film dance choreographies became very popular through films like Zhanak Zhanak Payal Baje, Mughal E Azam, Pakiza and Umrao Jaan . Kathak spelled its own charm on the viewers through delicate nuances, extremely graceful movements and its majestic stance.

This event is part of Chhandayan's 2018 Concert.  To go to that event, click the button below:

This event is partially sponsored by the New York Council on the Arts: