Uma Dogra

Uma Dogra (born 23 April 1957) is an Indian exponent of Kathak,[1] an Indian Classical Dance form. She is the senior most disciple of Pt. Durga Lal,[2] the Kathak Maestro from Jaipur Gharana. She is a Kathak soloist, a choreographer and a teacher. [1][3] She has been performing in India and abroad for more than 40 years.

Uma Dogra
Background information
Born (1957-04-23) 23 April 1957
New Delhi, India
GenresIndian Classical Dance
Occupation(s)Kathak Dancer, Teacher, Choreographer, Promoter, Oragnizer
Years active1972
Associated actsDurga Lal, Raghavan Nair, Amjad Ali Khan, Hema Malini, Asha Parikh, Saroja Vidyanathan, Ranjana Gauhar, Daksha Mashruwal, Vaibhav Arekar
Websiteumadogra.com

Early life

She was born to Motiram and Shakuntala Sharma in Malviya Nagar in New Delhi. Uma began to dance at the age of 7. She initially trained under Guru Bansilal and then Reba Vidyarthi at Kathak Kendra new Delhi. Later she joined Jaipur Gharana, Pt. Durga Lal.[4] She was trained in Hindustani Classical Vocal under her father Pt. Motiram Sharma who was a sitar player and a disciple of Pt. Ravi Shankar.

Career

Uma Dogra is a ganda bandh shagird of Pt. Durga Lal.[5] She learned Kathak under Reba Vidyarthi and Pt. Birju Maharaj from 1969 to 1972. From 1972 to 1984 she learned Kathak under guru Pt. Durga Lal[4] and danced in productions SBKK, Ramleela, Surdaas, Shah-ne-Mughal. She moved to Bombay in 1984 and worked with Hema Malini in Nritya Bharati, Nupur serial and Ballet Meera. She worked with Asha Parekh in serial Jhankaar.

After the death of her guru, Uma Dogra established the Sam Ved Society for Performing Arts in 1990 [3] and promote Indian performing arts. Under its banner, for the last 25 years[5][6][7] she has been organizing two festivals in Mumbai’s cultural calendar.[6] The first one, the Pt. Durga Lal Festival, takes place in the first half of the year.[5] It has seen the who’s who from the field of music, dance and theater perform.[3] In the year 2020, the Festival completed 30 years.[8] The second, the Raindrops Festival of Indian Classical Dance[5] is held in July with the aim to give a platform to the upcoming soloists. She has participated in many other festivals such as Khajuraho Dance Festival, Margazhi festival.[9] She conducts classes in Kathak at the Uma Dogra School of Kathak in Mumbai. She has trained several students, including Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor,[10] and television actress Rachana Parulkar.

When the dancers goes on stage, they are not portraying Hinduism or Islam, this thing or that thing. It's an expression of your own life, your own thinking and your own wisdom.[11]

— Uma Dogra

She has won several local, regional and national awards, including Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2014.[12][13][14]

On 18 May 2016, Uma performed with her disciples Sarita Kalele and Geetanjali Sharma[15] in a monthlong cultural festival Ujjain Simhastha.[16]

Recipient of Honorary Doctorate

Uma Dogra was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts by ITM University, Raipur on 12 December 2016. She received the Doctorate from Dr. P.V. Ramana, the Founder & Chairman of ITM Group and Chancellor of ITM University.

Personal life

Uma Dogra is married to National Award-winning filmmaker Chitrartha Singh. They have one daughter, Suhani Singh writer & journalist in India Today and a son Manas Singh an actor. Uma is settled in Mumbai, where she had a dispute with the society for alleged illegal use of her house for commercial purpose without society's permission. "The neighbours are disturbed because of the noise and have given us written complaints," said the society chairman.[17]

Books

She has written a book "In Praise of Kathak" about her journey as a dancer and the techniques of Kathak.[18] This book was released by Member of Parliament Hema Malini on 30 January 2015 at Samved's Rajat Jayanti Mahotsav.[19]

Discography

Nirvana Through Dance - A film which was produced to celebrate the life and achievements of Uma's Guru Pt. Durga Lal.[20]

School of Kathak

Uma Dogra's School of Kathak is run by Uma Dogra in Mumbai.[15] Its activities include classroom teaching, workshops, master classes, performances, seminars and festivals.

References
  1. Sridharan, Divya (28 May 2009). "A Katha on Kathak". The Hindu. The Hindu.
  2. "Remembering the Legend - Times of India". The Times of India. The Times of India. 8 February 2008.
  3. Modi, Chintan Girish (5 March 2016). "Remembering a maestro". The Hindu. The Hindu.
  4. "Repose in rhythm". The Hindu. The Hindu. 11 February 2011.
  5. Kothari, Sunil (6 August 2015). "Young, able and willing". The Hindu. The Hindu.
  6. Kothari, Sunil (8 October 2015). "In memory of a dance guru". The Hindu. The Hindu.
  7. Ghosh, Tanushree (6 February 2014). "A dance tribute". Mint (newspaper).
  8. "Prominent dancers perform at the 30th Pandit Durgalal Festival". 31 March 2020.
  9. Subramanian, Mahalakshmi. "Dancers like Uma Dogra and Vaibhav Arekar, drew an overwhelming crowd". DNA. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  10. "The restless actor". The Hindu. The Hindu. 19 February 2016.
  11. Yang, Melissah. "Kathak Dance Puts Hinduism And Islam In The Same Circle". www.neontommy.com.
  12. Sarkar, Gaurav (12 June 2015). "Danseuse Uma Dogra to get National Award for Kathak". dna. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  13. "Prez Confers Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards". 23 October 2015. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016.
  14. "Sangeet Natak Akademi delegation meets PM Modi". HT. 24 October 2015.
  15. Denishua, HPA. "School of Kathak | Uma Dogra". www.umadogra.com.
  16. Sinha, Manjari (26 May 2016). "Joy sheer joy…". The Hindu. The Hindu.
  17. "Mumbai: Kathak dancer takes on Goregaon society over feeding stray dogs". mid-day. 24 March 2019.
  18. Denishua, HPA. "Book | Uma Dogra". www.umadogra.com.
  19. "Book Review - In praise of Kathak - Shyamhari Chakra". www.narthaki.com. Samved Society.
  20. "Moving Stories - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. 26 April 2012.
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