Rooted In Tradition
I began my dance journey in undergrad under Joanna D'Souza, a senior disciple of Pandit Chitresh Das. It was Joanna di, who cultivated my love for Kathak, and developed my form and style. When I moved to India, Seema Mehta, another disciple of Guruji's continued to be a bridge for my education and exposed me to another facet of Guruji - his evolution in the last 2 decades.
When I moved to New York, I was lucky to have Rachna Nivas, fortuitously relocate from San Francisco to New York, where I was able to build on my prior foundation and study this Gharana's dynamic style, technique and wisdom. During this time, I have also received a lot of love from Rukhmani Mehta, who trained me for readiness to be an apprentice dancer in the company, and from Seibi Lee, who transmitted knowledge during the covid years.
No other student in this lineage has been the product of so many elders, who have graciously poured their knowledge into me and have shaped me to become the dancer I am today. I am simply a product of their immense investments into me.