Shovana Narayan

Some Lesser Known Facts About Shovana Narayan

• Shovana started learning Kathak when she was 2.5 or 3 years old. Her first dance trainer was Indian dancer and actress Sadhana Bose, and she gave her first stage performance when she was just 4 years old.

  

• Her parents were also Kathak dancers. They exposed Shovana in her infant years to music, dance, literature, and chanting of Sanskrit Shloks. Her mother used to play the esraj, and her father used to play the flute.

• From 1964 onwards, she was trained for over 8 years under the famous Kathak maestro late Pandit Birju Maharaj, who used to visit her residence daily to give her Kathak lessons and charged no penny. On weekdays, the practice would continue for 4 hours in the late evening, and on holidays, she would practice the entire day, until Shovana’s back gave up.

  

• Pandit Birju Maharaj used to do Shovana Narayan’s makeup before her stage performances. She once had to get permission from the Miranda College’s authorities to allow him to enter the women’s hostel to do her makeup.

  

• Shovana Narayan stood out as a Kathak star for collaborating classical Kathak with Westernized dance forms like Classical Ballet, Western Flamenco, and American tap dance.

  

• Shovana Narayan is fighting serious health problems. A brain stroke attacked her in the 90s, leading to the loss of 50% of her vision. She also has a hole in her heart and is going through serious skin, shoulders, and knee illnesses.

• In an interview, Shovana Narayan said that her health problems are the only challenges in her life, and Kathak gives her the strength to fight them. She said,
  

  It was dance and total immersion in it that gave me strength, courage and a nonchalant approach to face life on my terms. For me Kathak dance is yoga; it is total meditation; it is bhakti-yoga and bhakti marg to elevate the inner self.

• Shovana holds a strong belief in the importance of the Gurukul-Parampara tradition.

  

• Her dance performances and choreographies are based on social, environmental, and women issues.

  

• For Kathak, Shovana has received more than 40 national and international awards.

• Shovana Narayan is a writer and researcher. She has many research papers and books published under her name.

• Her book ‘Kathak Lok: Temples, Traditions & History’ (in collaboration with Geetika Kalha) has been converted into a dance film titled ‘Kathak Log of Kathak Villages” – A Living Brahmanical Tradition of Kanta Sammit Updesh.’

• Shovana Narayan tried to explore her acting skills in the Hindi documentary ‘Akbar’s Bridge’ (1996) in which she played the lead actress.

• Two other documentary films, ‘Born to Dance’ (2016) and ‘Das Geheimnis des Indisches Tanzhave’ (1987) have been made on Shovana Narayan’s life. The former is directed by Beenu Rajput while the latter by a German film director, Jorn Thiel. Robert Gottlieb, an American film director, also made a film on Shovana Narayan.

• Being an exceptional organiser, she creates and directs festivals promoting Kathak in the country. For example, ‘Rhythm & Joy’ and ‘Lalit Arpan Festival.’

• Shovana is also a social worker and participates in many fundraising events. She was a part of the project for raising funds for families affected by calamities like the Tsunami and wars like the Kargil War.

• Shovana is environmentally sensitive and supports ‘The Climate Reality Project India.’ She once remarked,
  

  She says, “I’ve always felt that dance and the environment are one. We get connected to the environment through dance and I’ve always been a supporter.”

• She has also tried opera singing. Her opera pieces are ‘Ghalib ki Dilli’ and ‘Wicchare Pani.’

• She is a casual alcoholic person, who is often spotted drinking wine.

  

• She also worked for a Ph.D. in solid-state physics; however, she had to leave it midway as she cleared the Civil Services examination.

• Shovana made a dance video on the legend and philosophy of the immortal Khajuraho temples, entitled ‘Dance of the Temples.’ She is the first dancer to do this.

• She established the ASAVRI institution in 1979. It is a centre of learning that gives training in Kathak, vocal and instrumental music.

  

• Shovana Narayan also set the trend of introducing lights to emphasize the sounds of footwork unique to the Kathak for the viewers. Her choreography titled ‘Dhwani-Pratidhwani’ (1986-87) is based on this.

• She is also the first to choreograph the Indian classical dance on  personalities like Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, and Mahatma Gandhi.

• She is the first Indian classical dancer to collaborate with Spanish Flamenco, Western Classical ballet, and American tap dance.

• The soliloquy tradition of the North Indian dance form has been revived by Shovana Narayan with her performances on Yashodha and Shakuntala.

• In 1975, Shovana Narayan performed in front of the U.K. King Prince Charles III.