Pali Chandra
Pali Chandra is a dancer, choreographer, educationist, social activist and the Artistic Director of Gurukul, Dubai. An internationally acclaimed, well renowned exponent of the Indian classical dance form of Kathak, she is highly trained in classical Kathak by late Guru Vikram Singhe, Pandit Ram Mohan Maharaj and Mrs. Kapila Raj of Lucknow and Delhi Gharanas.
She is an ex-committee member of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing – U.K. and a graded member of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. Pali has acted as an ambassador of Indian culture spreading awareness about the heritage through performances around the world. She was awarded the ‘Woman Of Excellence In The UAE 2013’. The Queen of England personally appreciated Pali’s performance at the Westminster Abbey in London. She has also been honoured at the House of Commons in London as the Best Art Director for her production called ‘In the Shadow of the Hills’.
Innovation and international collaboration is trademark of Pali Chandra. Her vivid imagination, stellar sense of rhythm and sound knowledge of tradition allows her to seamlessly fuse Kathak with international dance styles whilst still maintaining its core ethos.
An educator par excellence she has designed workshops for prestigious institutions like the Oxford University, the Seattle University and the London School of Contemporary Dance, to name a few. In short, Pali Chandra is an artistic force to reckon with.
As a performing artist of classical and contemporary Kathak, she was recognized for her outstanding performance and was awarded the prestigious Lachhu Maharaj Award significantly given to artists who acquire the skill and expertise of ‘Abhinaya’ – Art of expression.
Besides being a distinguished and respected performer in the field of dance, Pali is a radical thinker and a revolutionary and has been an educationalist of the art form of Kathak since 1992. Pali Chandra has 5 focus pillars which she concentrates and preaches at Gurukul through Kathak:
1 – Confidence Building
2 – Team Orientation
3 – Fitness
4 – Multi-tasking
5 – Joy through appreciation
Pali, in her creative journey, blends Kathak with diverse cross cultural art forms through inspiring and interesting collaborations, hence, creating an extensive repertoire of fusion dance and art forms. Her collaborative work extends and fuses with dance forms like Flamenco, Tap, Western Contemporary, Ballet and Bharatnatyam.
