Kathak portfolio

Portfolio of the artist:

Radhika Kotwal has been a performing Kathak artist for the past 20 years.

She started learning Kathak from her Guru, Smt Smruti Vora, at the age of 9. Dance has been her passion ever since. She completed her graduation in Kathak and is a “Nritya Vishaarad”.

Some of her Kathak recitals/tours as part of her association with Noopur Nritya Academy in India, include “Rhythm India” – depicting various elements of Kathak, “Dharaa Gurjari” – a dance creation performed during a festival season, “Roop Garvita” – a dance drama based on a lady proud of her beauty, and “Rutu Sanhaar” – a dance drama based on Kalidas’ writings, showing seasonal changes during the year.

She has also had the privilege of attending workshops and symposiums under exponents such as Pt. Birju Maharaj (Detroit, MI and San Fran, CA) and Pt.Chitresh Das (Kathak at the Crossroads, San Francisco, CA).

For the past 7 years, Radhika has been training students in the US (previously, Michigan and now Arizona) and has organized and performed in various cultural shows. Some of her performances include “Traditional Kathak – from Vandana to tatkaar”, “North meets south” theme at Utah and various other jugalbandi’s with other Indian style forms as well as fusion pieces with the Ballet. She and her students have performed at several festivals and fundraiser events in the valley.

In the summer of ’09, Radhika organized a Kathak workshop hosted by Kalaa Kendra, the first of its kind in the valley. Ever since, she has continued to include workshops and student recitals as part of her annual institute activity.

In addition to her regular teaching, Radhika has also delivered Kathak presentations and lecture demonstrations to a wide audience. She has served as a judge for various competitions and also as a national level Kathak examiner.

To specialize even further and focus on her technical nuances in Kathak, Radhika has been continuing to get guidance from several gurus through intense series of rehearsal sessions during her India tours.

Radhika is presently continuing to collaborate with other artists to explore different dance forms and create unique choreography.

Apart from her formal education in Kathak, she has also received training in other Indian folk dances. She is a classical Hindustani vocal music artist as well and has obtained an “Upaantya Vishaarad”. By profession, Radhika is an Electrical Engineer and is presently working in Phoenix.