Shruti Patki

🪔 About

Shruti Patki is an accomplished Indian classical Kathak dancer, educator, and choreographer, primarily based in Pune, India. Her journey in Kathak began in 1997 at the age of seven, driven by her fascination with the dance form's elegance and rhythmic brilliance. She received her formative training under the esteemed gurus Pandita Maneesha Sathe and Shambhavi Dandekar, stalwarts of the Benaras and Lucknow gharanas. Patki furthered her training under Pandit Rajendra Gangani, an eminent maestro of the Jaipur gharana, and continues to train under Guru Swati Sinha. Academically, Shruti Patki has achieved significant milestones. She secured an All India Rank 1 in Nritya Alankar in 2012 from Gandharva Mahavidyalaya and was awarded the prestigious Pandita Rohini Bhate Gold Medal in 2014 for her Master's degree in Performing Arts from Lalit Kala Kendra, Pune University. In 2014, Patki founded SKILS (School of Kathak and Interdisciplinary Learning with Shruti), an institution dedicated to making Kathak accessible across borders and generations. SKILS, with its main branch in Pune, also has additional branches in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, and Johannesburg, South Africa, and offers online training to students in 14 countries across six continents. She is also the founder of SKILS USA, a non-profit organization promoting Kathak in the United States. As a passionate performer and choreographer, Shruti Patki has curated and produced seven editions of “Avant Garde,” the annual production of SKILS, which blends traditional Kathak with contemporary themes. She is also a registered teacher of the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Mumbai, and trains her students for their examinations. Awards & Honours: Lt. Pt. Lachchu Maharaj Award (2010), Pandita Rohini Bhate Gold Medal (2014), Rabindra Puraskar, Kathak Navonmesh Nritya Sadhana Puraskar (2019), Pt. Ranganath Bendre Award.