Vaswati Misra
Vaswati’s love for dance began as a young
child of 7, she received training first under the tutelage of Smt Reba
Vidyarthi and then had the good fortune to be groomed by the great kathak
maestro Pandit Birju Maharaj. An immensely talented dancer by the age
of ten Vaswati was already dancing on stage. Performing both as a soloist
as well as with her husband, dancer Krishan Mohan Misra she was acclaimed
both for her command over the technique of the dance form as well as her
expressieve qualities.
A successful choreographer and a soloist of repute Vaswati performed in
prestigious festivals like Baba Allaudin Khan Samaroh, Bindadin Kathak
Mahotsav, Khajuraho, Orchha Mahotsava, Nishagandhi Festival, Sangeet Natak
Akademi’s 50th celebration, Qutub Festival and travelled to U.S.A,
Japan, South Africa, latin America, the Middle East, Mexico and entire
Europe.
In 1979 Vaswati joined the Sriram Bhartiya Kala Kendra as a teacher and
was there for eight years, in 1989 she held the post of Kathak Guru at
the Kathak Kendra, New Delhi was there again for eight years, in 1997
she resigned from Kathak Kendra and two years later, combining her passion
for performance and education she set up an arts education centre the
Pandit Shambhu Maharaj Kathak Academy as the educational wing of Dhwani,
continued to grow with additions of a repertory and Zaroorat, a school
for the underprivileged.
Dhwani Group
Dhwani is a cultural organization founded by leading proponents of Kathak, Shri Krishan Mohan Misra and Vaswati Misra in 1984.
It seeks to preserve and promote the performing
and fine arts traditions of India by organizing choreographed dance, theatrical
and musical performances of the highest caliber.
Trained under the auspices of the maestro- Pt Birju Maharaj himself, Vaswati
Misra has perfected the technique and grammar of Kathak through her career
spanning 40 years. Her choreographed pieces have been widely acclaimed
by audiences and connoisseurs across the globe. Over the years, Vaswati
Misra and Dhwani has built a reputation for collaborating with a diverse
profile of artists and performers- from indigenous and folk artists to
children from challenging backgrounds, from the greatest maestros, writers
and actors of our times to young debutants- many of whom have been nurtured
into accomplished performers in their own right.
Each performance by Dhwani is crafted to perfect the interpretation of sound and beat, the balance of strong yet lyrical body movements, powerful foot-work and subtle expressions. They are unique in their highly contemporary and aesthetic interpretation of a very traditional form.
Dhwani is empanelled with the Indian Council for
Cultural Relations, the Ministry of Culture and CID UNESCO.
Founded by dancer and choreographer, Vaswati Misra, The DHwani Repertory is made up of dancers whose versatility, virtuosity and dynamic movement quality, owes itself to the training imparted by Vaswati Misra. Their performances resonate with a long history of cultural traditions and are the result of explorations into elements that make Kathak the dance form that it is. Herself, an accomplished artiste of the Lucknow Gharana of Kathak, Vaswati finds inspiration for her choreography within the structural boundaries of Kathak as it has grown and developed over the countries.
Concepts like Bhaav bataana (the expression of a mood, seated on stage) Padhant, (where the mood and feeling inherent in mnemonic syllables are explored) or forms based on traditional musical genres like gats, taraaanaas and kavits are recreated in a matter that often fuse the perceived boundaries between dance and music, the traditional and the contemporary.
At the Ananya Dance Festival, The Dhwani Repertory will present an eclectic
selection of some of its shorter works as well as some excerpts from production
like Jeevan and Kalpataru.
