Thumri and Kathak Performance

Thumri, a light vocal classical music genre is said to have evolved in North India in the mid-19th century court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Lucknow to accompany the kathak dance form, one of the eight major classical dance forms of India. This program presented by Pandit Rai and Sinha evokes the court ambience of 19th-century and early 20th-century India with a fully choreographed performance of dance, music, and storytelling, depicting the close interaction between these two major art forms.

About the Artists

Dhanashree Pandit Rai is one of the leading exponents of the thumri form of music. A graduate of Hindustani Classical Music from the University of Bombay, and visiting faculty at SNDT University, Mumbai, she trained under the stalwart of the Kirana gharana, Firoz Dastur and Thumri legend Shobha Gurtu. Keka Sinha is a leading kathak exponent in India trained in the Lucknow gharana. She is a disciple of Guru Bandana Sen and Reba Vidyarthi.

This program was co-presented and co-sponsored by the Society for Art and Cultural Heritage of India.