India Dance Festival This concert is in part sponsered by the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD)
India Dance Festival will present several fine dance performances by some of the leading artists featuring Kathak styles. Kathak, the dance style from north India has the charm and subtlety associated with miniature paintings. Nurtured in the holy precincts of the Hindu temples Kathak was further enhanced with Persian influence during the Mogul reign in India. Over the centuries, it has attained refinement and enriched itself by the establishment of distinct styles and gharanas.
Madhu Natraj is a performer, choreographer, educator and leading arts entrepreneur in Kathak and contemporary Indian dances. Madhu was chosen as one of India’s 50 young achiever’s by ‘ India Today’. She has received several awards, recent amongst which are the ‘Bismillah Khan Yuva puraskar’ from the central Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Mohan Khokar award for excellence in dance. She studied Kathak from her mother Dr Maya Rao and from Smt. Chitra Venugopal. Although she trained in contemporary dance in New York, Madhu returned to India with a vision to create a unique dance company with its own distinctive contemporary Indian dance identity – the Natya STEM Dance Kampni. A graduate of commerce, journalism & choreography, She has also trained in Indian martial arts, ritualistic/folk dance traditions, pedagogy and Yoga. She believes dance is a potent medium for change in the public domain. Ranging from education, social issues, creativity, documentation to healing, her projects aim to materialize this philosophy. Madhu has created over 75 choreographic works (short pieces & productions) in the 16 years of the Kampni’s existence. She is also a Panellist at important Design, Cultural and Academic institutions and is often invited to perform, design programs and Choreographic works for prestigious cultural institutions and festivals.
Rita Mitra Mustaphi has been teaching and performing dance in the Twin Cities since 1978. A graduate of Rabindra Bharati University of Performing Arts in Calcutta, India she is a disciple of the living legend Pandit Birju Maharaj in Kathak style of Indian classical dance. Mustaphi, in her 27 years of professional dance, has choreographed more than 50 new works and performed locally, nationally and internationally. Her selected awards include two McKnight Fellowships for choreography, dancer fellowships, and cultural collaboration awards from Minnesota State Arts Board and leadership award from the Council of Asian Pacific Minnesotans, 2011 Lifetime achievement award from the India Association of Minnesota and 2012 Education Award from the Ordway Center of Performing Arts in the category of Excellence in Vision. In 1997, Mustaphi has performed as a troupe member of Pandit Birju Maharaj at Carnegie Hall, New York. She performed at the prestigious international Kathak Dance Festival, New Delhi, India in 2003 organized by the Kathak Kendra, the National Institute of Kathak dance in India. Her presentation of Sudha’s Story, a poetry enactment was reviewed by India Today, the newsmagazine as ‘poetry in motion – the piece de resistance’. Hindustan Times in India writes ‘From Minnesota with magic in her steps she creates a spirit that sets her apart at the festival’. Mustaphi is also a roster artist for Minnesota State Arts Board and COMPAS, the organizations that promote global education of multicultural arts.
Anurag Sharma has a passion for dance that inspired him to start learning from Rita Mustaphi in September of 2004. Anurag attended International Kathak Festival at Chicago in October 2004 and attended Kathak workshops from Pandit Birju Maharaj, Saswati Sen, Pandit Chitresh Das, Smt Anjani Ambegaokar and Smt. Kumudini Lakhia. His performance credits with Katha Dance Theater include The Ramayana Project, Black Candle, Sadhana to Sufism, Dots & Feathers, Katha – The Story, Soul to Sole, and Retrospect. He also performed as a lead male dancer for Anila Sinha Foundation in th production of Raj-Nartaki.