Picture Credit : Kanika Nadkarni
The Troupe
When a dancer dances for civilization she dons her make-up… puts on her Costume, enigmatic jewels. She tells a beautiful katha- a story that delicately & intricately unfurls with every anklet clad step every gesture of the ornamented hand with every glance of beautiful black expressive kaajal laden eyes that demand and command, capture… and emancipate with every glance and take the audience through the most aesthetic, most pure, most potent and powerful form of human expression- DANCE.
With immense respect for Indian culture, the founder, Shoma Kaikini – Singh , innovated a unique style of dance that intelligently used Kathak in soulful choreographic works. Essentially, the dance style uses Kathak in relevant music without disturbing its grandeur and integrity. In the year 2006, exactly a year after Nrityanidhi was born, the reputed news channel NDTV 24X7 affirmed that Shoma Kaikini – Singh ‘had invented her own ingenious style of dance in order to take Kathak to a larger audience’.
Over the years, the Nrityanidhi troupe has received significant acclaim from audiences all over the world for their soul-stirring performances.
Nrityanidhi uses music from varied genres like bhajan, sufi, ghazal, contemporary, classical, fusion and folk. Fascinating choreography, moving music and exceptional staging result in performances that are elevating for an audience!
Nrityanidhi celebrates dance with an annual festival called the ‘Pratibimb’ that takes place in Mumbai. Each year, Pratibimb presents a new, innovative theme in pure Kathak or in the Nrityanidhi style of dance. Gradually, the theme travels to Bangalore with ‘Dhwani’ and to other venues in India.
Nrityanidhi aims at spreading joy and spiritual oneness through its performances and the heartfelt accolades have simply fuelled the divine purpose!!
THE NRITYANIDHI STYLE OF DANCE
Shoma Kaikini-Singh has created an ingenious style of choreography. The heavy influence of an emotional expression sets this style apart.
The Nrityanidhi Style is a choreographic experience that surfaces the heart of a musical composition, enhancing the underlying aspects of emotional intent. It cannot be classified as pure Kathak, and it certainly isn’t “fusion”. Therefore, we term it as the ‘Nrityanidhi Style’ – A whole new style which has been consciously developed over two decades, through creative themes and choreographic presentations.
Our foundation is pure KATHAK; primarily influenced by the Lucknow Gharana under Pandit Birju Maharaj Ji. Decades of learning, training and practice gives rise to quality performances whilst maintaining the freedom of true emotional expression.
The Nrityanidhi style of Dance is a class apart. We work on creating quality works of art that provide a respectable platform to Indian traditional dance forms, and represent them with honour and dignity.
The purpose of Nrityanidhi is to fill joy in the hearts of people; bringing hope, making space for goodness to prosper. A world away from negativity – one that brings happiness, contentment, and a spiritual elation.
We have been successfully doing that in more ways than one; with people we meet, every student we teach, and every performance on stage.
Nrityanidhi has limited uploads on online platforms, since the best way to experience the NRITYANIDHI Style of Dance is by watching a live performance. The soulful embrace that is experienced can never be defined otherwise.
– Ashwini Kaikini
Vice President
Nrityanidhi
