Uma Dogra

Uma Dogra, a leading Kathak exponent, is one of the most powerful and compelling dancers of India. Honoured as “Pandita”, Uma Dogra is the senior-most Ganda Bandh Shahgird of Late Pt. Durga Lal ji, a renowned dancer of the Jaipur school.

Endowed with a dynamic personality and a highly imaginative mind, she brings to Kathak not only a mastery of technique that is a fruit of meticulous training, but a total involvement in dance, a profound confidence and a joyous spontaneity that infuses her performance with rare intensity and authority. She has been enthralling audiences all over India and abroad for 40 years now.

For her great contribution as a dancer, teacher and choreographer, the Government of Maharashtra conferred her with the “Maharashtra Sanskriti State Award” in 2009.

Born in a distinguished family with a rich cultural heritage, Uma was initiated into the field of Kathak when she was barely seven years old. She had her early training in the Lucknow school of Kathak under Smt. Reba Vidyarthi at Kathak Kendra, New Delhi. Her quest of enriching her art with the dynamic technique of the Jaipur School led her to the leading light of the Jaipur Gharana, Pt. Durga Lal.

Dogra has made a film in memory of her guru, “Nirvana Through Dance”.

 She has also written and published a book, In Praise of Kathak.

Uma Dogra is the founder and Managing Trustee of Samved Society for Performing Arts. To promote Indian classical dance and music, she founded the Samved Society for Performing Arts in 1990. Every February, the society holds Pt. Durgalal Festival of dance and music featuring eminent artists, and later in monsoons it gives a platform to young, talented dancers at the Raindrops Festival of Indian Classical Dance. For the last 25 years, these programmes have served art lovers in Mumbai and various cities of India.

Uma Dogra follows her mentor Dr. Daisaku Ikeda's mission of promoting peace and happiness through art and culture.