Kavita Thakur

🪔 About

Dr. Kavita Thakur is a highly regarded Indian classical Kathak dancer, performer, scholar, art educator, teacher, and art promoter, known across India and internationally. She began her Kathak training as a child under Smt. Ila Pandey in Shimla. In 1994, she joined the National Institute of Kathak Dance in New Delhi, where she continued her learning under the guru-shishya parampara from prominent guru Shri Munna Shukla Ji of the Lucknow gharana. She also had the opportunity to take numerous workshops under the world-renowned Kathak maestro Pt. Birju Maharaj Ji. Dr. Thakur holds a doctorate in dance, a Post Diploma from Kathak Kendra, and an M.A. in Kathak. Her dance style is characterized by the Lucknow gharana's nazakat and nafasat, lyrical movements, illustrative expressions, precise limb usage, controlled torso movements, and artistically designed abhinaya. She is also noted for her profound and soulful footwork. Throughout her career, Kavita Thakur has given hundreds of solo performances in India and abroad, including in Germany, France, Switzerland, and China, notably at the International Tourism and Culture Festival in Beijing. In India, she has performed at various national festivals in cities like Shimla, Nashik, Kolkata, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Delhi, Jalandhar, Khajuraho, Udaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi, Lucknow, and Patna. She is an 'A' grade artiste by Delhi Doordarshan, with her performances telecast on the national channel. Dr. Thakur is also an empanelled artiste of Spic Macay and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) as both a teacher and a performer. She founded Kalashree, an organization in East Delhi and NCR, in 2008, dedicated to teaching Kathak and other related arts. She has also taught at prestigious institutions such as Shri Ram Bharatiya Kala Kendra in New Delhi for four years, and has imparted training to M.Phil., M.A., and B.A. students in Shimla, Punjabi University, and Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya (I.K.S.V) in Khairagarh. Additionally, she taught yoga at Kathak Kendra from 2002 to 2009. Awards & Honours: National Scholarship, Junior Fellowship for 'Dance and Dance Music (Kathak)' (2004), Senior Fellowship in the field of Dance (Kathak).