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The Dance School
"The journey of learning continues for ever..."
Founder - Shami Srivastava
Shami Srivastava is a Kathak and Bharatnatyam dancer. She started learning Kathak dance at the young age of 5. By the age of 10, she started choreographing and leading several Folk Group Dances in various interschool and interstate performances and competitions and won several awards. She learnt Kathak from two different Gurus - Guru Jagannath Bhatt ji and Mrs. Vanita Rajput, the legendary Kathak dancers. She learnt Bharatnatyam from Sir Hritesh Babu, a renowned Bharatnatyam and Kathak Guru. She has done workshops in Kathak with Padmashri Pandit Birju Maharaj ji, Pandit Chitresh Das ji and Guru Shaswati Sen ji. She has gone under training in with Shiamak Davar and Terence Lewis. She also attended workshops in Odyssey and Kuchipudi with different renowned masters.
Shami's dances have been admired around the globe. She has performed in France, India, Brazil, Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom and the US - including cities such as Paris, Menchester, Hague, Brusells, London, Dubai, Reo De Janeiro and Amsterdam.
After pursuing her degree in Interior Designing, Shami completed Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Applications. She began her career as a computer professional but quickly moved over to Interior Designing profession and set up Versatile Interiors in 1992. Dance being her passion, she continued teaching and choreographing various different forms of Folk and classical dancing. Her creative nature pulled her to the rural art and culture. She did Research in Folk Arts of India learning Folk Music, dances, arts and crafts. This reflects in her creations both in Interior Designing as well as Dancing.
After moving over to US, she set up Ratanpur Tarana Dance School. Her passion for innovation and creativity prompted her to experiment with fusion of Kathak, Bharatnatyam, Folk and contemporary Dance styles.
Shami is an inordinate performer and learner. She has performed several dances with dancers from 9 different countries from North america, South America, Europe and Africa. She mixes dance and costume styles of different countries in her creations.
"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...
it's about learning to dance in the rain!"
