Manjari Chaturvedi the reknowned Kathak exponent is the chief Sufi Kathak maestro.

She has performed in more than 200 concerts across the world during the last decade.

Recent Australia Tour 2005 at venues: Sydney Opera House, Brisbane, Melbourne, Byron Bay, Gold Coast, Castlemaine, Daylesford etc

FESTIVALS

International Sufi Festival - ICCR, New Delhi, 2005
Taj Mahal Celebrations - Fatehpur Sikri, Agra, 2004
Viraasat Music Festival - Jaipur, Rajasthan 2004
Leo Burnett - Mumbai, 2004
Natya Ballet, 2004, New Delhi
Mudra Festival - Kerala Cultural Centre Trivandrum, 2004
Ganga Mahotsav - Benares, 2004
Jahan-e-Khusrau - New Delhi, 2001, 2002, 2003
Lucknow Mahotsav - Lucknow, 2003
Maheshwar Music Festival - Ahilya Fort, Maheshwar,
2000, 2002
Qutub Festival - New Delhi, 2001
Yoga Mahotsav - Haridwar, 1999
Taj mahotsav - Agra, 1995, 1998
Kathak Mahotsav - New Delhi, 1995
Kathak Samaroh - Lucknow, 1995

CONCERTS

President’s House - Rashtrapati Bhawan,
New Delhi, 2004
Fund Raiser - MSSI, India - The Park, New Delhi, 2005
Neemrana Fort Palace - 2000, Rajasthan
Embassy of Greece - New Delhi, 2000
Embassy of Turkey - New Delhi, 2004
Natya Ballet Centre - New Delhi, 2004
Neemrana Fort Palace - Rajasthan, 2003
Devigarh - Rajasthan, 2003
Sufi Kathak - Calcutta, 2004

INTERNATIONAL

Sydney Opera House - Sydney, 2005
Melbourne Art Gallery - Melbourne, 2005
Judith Wright Centre for Performing Arts - Brisbane, 2005
Belgais, Portugal - 2004
Castelo Branco, Portugal - 2004
Elphinston Theatre, Colombo - 2001
Indian Cultural Centre, Colombo - 2001
Bethlodan, Kuwait - 2000
Festival of India, Tashkent - 2000
Osh Festival For Peace And Respect - Krygztan, 2000
Festival of India, Ashgabad - Turkmenistan, 2000

On Kathak & Sufi Kathak

Kathak is a glorious legacy of Avadhi culture representing the rich heritage of poetry, literature, mythology, philosophy and emotional thoughts. Kathak is unique as it blends two distinctive styles – the devotional Temple Kathak and the exotic Darbari Kathak.

Initiated and nurtured in the temples Kathak evolved as story telling form used as a medium for communication with the Almighty. Muslim cultural ethos transformed Kathak with elaborate costumes and Persian influences into a medium for entertainment. The Lucknow school of Kathak is famous for its delicate nuances of expressiveness with alluring grace in movements and unique expressions to the accompaniment of lilting poetry sung as thumri, ghazal and holi.

The Indian concept of Nirvana is similar to the Sufi thought of Fana and the concept of merging of individual souls with the universal soul is common amongst both the Hindu mystics and the Sufi’s. Raas Lila tradition of Kathak is based on the divine love of Radha and Lord Krishna, which symbolizes the torment of separation and ecstasy of union of Man from God. Manjari incorporates the mystique of Sufism through the dance of the moving meditation.

‘In Sufi Kathak, the concept of the beauty of the image-less Beloved becomes the guiding factor for me. The image becomes the act itself, the creative form. The state of love finds an image in the Beloved...the image acquires dimension...dimensions acquire reality. Human body outlives its form and the surrender becomes dance.’

Sufi Kathak draws inspiration from sensitive expressions of the poetry by Sufi saints of the subcontinent. These expressions have their own maze of thoughts and interpretation of music, poetry and surrender which are portrayed by Manjari through her dance.