15-Mar-2021 12:00 AM
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Shivani Varma is an Indian classical dancer trained in the classical dance form Kathak. She is a disciple of Pt. Birju Maharaj and Guru Shovana Narayan, mentored by danseuse Sharmistha Mukherjee.
Her early training was with Guru Manish Gangani and Guru Tirath Ajmani.
In 2020, she has been awarded the Kalakriti Fellowship by the Sanskriti Foundation. She has been awarded the ‘Swayamsiddha Shikhar Samman’ in April 2019 and previously been awarded by the India Harmony Foundation in 2017 for promoting harmony through dance, and the NavKiran Award in 2013.
An empanelled ICCR artist, she has been performing professionally for about a decade.
Most recent recitals include those at the SaMaPa Sangeet Sammelan and the New York Kathak Festival Homestages series.
She has played leading roles in many classical projects directed by acclaimed film maker Muzaffar Ali including the Sufi festival, Jahan-e-Khusrau and, the Wajid Ali Shah Festival. Shivani has given recitals at diverse venues like the traditional classical dance festivals like Hampi Utsava, Delhi International Arts Festival; mainstream fashion events like the India Couture Week, the Lakme Fashion Week; at art installations of artists; and at government level cultural events like India-Russia@70 for the Ministry of External Affairs and several literature festivals.
She has also featured in promotional campaigns of mainstream brands like Good Earth, Ekaya, Delhi Vintage Co. and Befikr.in.
Apart from performance work and choreographic work, and in her quest for making Kathak more accessible to the general audience, she has created original conceptual works of which recent ones include - ‘Devaki’- the forgotten mother, ‘Champaran se Bapu', an ode to Mahatma Gandhi, 'Yeh Sheher Nahin Mehfil Hai' - Delhi through the eyes of the Yamuna; among others.
For her endeavours, she has been very favourably featured in exclusive write-ups by eminent dance critics such as Shanta Sarbjeet Singh, Arshiya Sethi, Manjari Sinha, Ravindra Mishra, to name a few.
A lawyer by qualification, Shivani has been actively pursuing the life of a dancer.