Kathak! - An exploration of 3 different kathak styles

Drive East 2018, in association with Battery Dance present KATHAK!: performances featuring three kathak groups: Sandip Mallick and Group, Anuj Mishra and group, and Preeti and Piyush DRIVE EAST: Drive East (driveeastnyc.org) is an expansive Indian dance and music festival that features 30+ concerts in just two week. In its sixth year, our week long festival will be in New York from August 13 - 19 and San Francisco from August 22 - 26. It is a festival that regularly features some of the best artists of the year from all over the globe(last year The New York Times mentioned two Drive East artists as the top 10 of 2017) and is an immersive experience into the world of Indian classical arts. Whether you are a seasoned patron or interested in learning more, there is an experience for everyone in this extraordinary festival. Explore 3 different kathak groups in three different styles of kathak! Anuj Mishra, belongs to the famous traditional family of musicians Gharana of Varanasi, and has worked with many dance companies and renowned choreographers such as Karine Saporta, Mallika Sarabhai, Kumudini Lakhia , Rukmini Chaterjee, Lata Pada and more. He has won several national and international dance competitions, is a national gold medalist, and won one of the biggest awards for young Indian Artists, “Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar.” He has travelled globally, performing in festivals like Sawai Gandharva , Lucknow Mohatsava , Taj Mohatsava , Kathak Mahotsava, Taj Mahotsava , Konark Dance Festival, Kalaghoda Festival and countries including USA, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Belgium, Norway, England, Canada, Israel, Lebanon ,Tunisia, Dubai, Martinique, and Guadalupe. Having gotten his Masters in Kathak from Khairagarh University, he is now perusing his PhD in Kathak . Anuj is presently Artistic Director of Kathak Academy and president of Anuj Arjun Mishra Dance Company (AMC) , an established artist in the ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations), and a main member of CID (International Dance Council) —-Neha Singh Mishra is an Indian dancer. She was born in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. Mishra participated in the dance reality show, High Fever – Dance Ka Naya Tevar, in 2018 with her sister-in-law Kantika Mishra. ———Kantika Mishra is an Indian Kathak dancer and the daughter of Arjun Mishra. In 2018, she performed in the dance reality show, High Fever – Dance Ka Naya Tevar, with her sister-in-law, Neha Singh. She has performed all over the globe, in countries such as Italy, Spain, Poland, France, and Switzerland. Piyush and Preeti: Piyush’s love (Preeti)for Kathak. { Preeti in English means love, attachment} Thanks to Piyush and Preeti for getting the Indian classical dance form to the glamorous works of Bollywood. The country would never be able to forget the performance that they saw on screen. Now they have been making an initiative to promote and popularise Indian classical dance amongst youth. As they share, in their dance journey of 11 years they have learnt a lot from each other and kept challenging each other to fulfill their urge to improve. They have had an opportunity of working with great exponents of their field which includes their performances with Pt. Birju Maharaj, Jaikishan Maharaj, Ram Mohan Maharaj, Geetanjali Lal Ji. Sandip Mallick, an internationally acclaimed Kathak exponent, started training under Guru Smt. Sreelekha Mukherjee at the tender age of four. Continuing the talim under her he also has got associated with Pt.Birju Maharaj ji,Pt. Chitreash Das, Guru Bela Arnab, Guru Bandana Sen,Pt. Ram mohan Maharaj,Pt. Vijay Shankar,Smt. Saswati Sen. He has undergone his rewaz (practice) with Pt. Kumar Bose on tabla since 1997. An M. A from Rabindra Bharati University, Sandip is an auditioned artiste of Doordarshan and empanelled artiste of ICCR. He is a Junior fellowship holder of Govt of India. He is a regular performer in various prestigious festival like Khajuraho, Chidambarahm, Konark, Kathak Mahotsav, SNA Swarna Samaraho ,Udayshankar and many more in India and in USA, Canada, UK, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, Italy, Singapore and Bangladesh. Sandip is the founder director of Nadam .The students of Nadam are working across the globe with a remarkable reputation.