Barkha Patel Kathak Dancer

Barkha Patel is a Kathak dancer whose passion and inherent talent for the art form has been evident from a very young age. She is a student of Guru Rachna Sarang, who has been trained by great Gurus such as Pandit Sunderprashadji (Jaipur Gharana), Pandit Lacchu Maharajji and Padma Vibhushan Pandit Birju Maharajji (Lucknow Gharana). Along with performing, Barkha currently teaches classes and trains young dancers in Kathak both in New York, USA and Mumbai, India. Concurrently, to appreciate and understand nuances of other dance forms, Barkha is studying Bharatanatyam under the guidance of Guru Deepak Mazumdar. Along with Bharatanatyam, Barkha is enhancing her knowledge in music and training in Hindustani classical vocal under Guru Rattan Mohan Sharma of the Mewati Gharana. Barkha, recently completed her Masters in Performing Arts (concentrating in Kathak) from the Kavikulguru Kalidas Sanskrit University. Barkha teaches Kathak dance classes in New York and New Jersey. She is also a guest choreographer for the Dance Repertory Company at Herricks High School. Barkha has also been invited to teach workshops at Bergen Performing Arts Center, the Village Community School and soon at the Dalton School in New York City. Barkha has performed at several prestigious venues, many of them with the great virtuosos like Rakesh Chaurasia, Mandolin U. Rajesh, Ghatam Udupa, Roop Kumar Rathod and for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pandit Jasrajji. She has performed in some of the leading venues in New York and Mumbai such as Town Hall, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Jamshed Bhabha at NCPA.