The KINGHT of KATHAK....

Once upon a time, a simpleton from the lands of EPICS (India) traveled seven shores to the lands of Vodka (oops) (Russia) and caused a storm. The simpleton, loved for his grace and talent in his homeland, partnered with an ice princess (Indian origin Russian) to create magic. Together they danced to the tunes of LOVE ‘Jag Ghumiya Thare Jaisa Na Koi’ (a beautiful Kathak performance on Russia’s got talent) and the rest is History.

Mohe pangat pe Naand Laal Ched Gayo RE!!!

I chose to be a part of this fairy tale. Fortunately, the simpleton belongs to my homeland and is one of the few torchbearers of the Indian classical dance style ‘Kathak’. Kathak a name derived from the word ‘Katha’ (story) is an art of storytelling through a dance recital. This dance form is majorly famous for its intricate foot movements and the larger than life turns/swivels.

Kumar Sharma, the simpleton, is an aficionado in his Dance style. A disciple of Late Shri Sita Ram Ji of Jaipur Gharana, Kumar, has pursued music and dance for over a decade, Not many are aware, Kumar is a professional singer himself. He has actually sung the kathak taals' in our final song edit.

Kumar’s professional accomplishments are huge with him being a regular in the reality TV dance segment. From Dance India Dance to India's got talent, you name it and he's been there, done that. He has also choreographed for grand music concerts (A.R.Rehman live Music Concert). 

Knight of Kathak- the honor does suit him, doesn’t it…(wink)

Julliard a world-renowned School of performing arts has an interesting concept of partnering as a part of their Dance credits. What is partnering? Is it two people dancing together or probably a group of people forming a unison and performing an ACT? Interestingly, it is blending two different dance styles into one.

My forte is Bharatanatyam. For many years, I have been toying with the idea to blend these two dramatically different dance styles into one. Kumar was game for the idea (thankfully).

I coined the term “TAAL se TAAL MILA...” for our beautiful rendezvous (dance piece).

Fun times while Partnering (wink).

One memorable dance performance of yours: Of course 'Russia's Got Talent' with Svetlana.

Favorite dancer: Mrs Vidha Lal

Is the Knight in search of his Princess: YES (all the single ladies, put your hands up-lol)

Favorite dance style apart from Katahk: Bollywood

Kumar the singer or Kumar the Dancer: A dancer who wants to dance on his Songs (hai mein mar jawan ;-)

I hope to see him perform on grander scales and achieve great success. My prophecy we get to see him in Dance+ season 3 (fingers crossed).

TAAL pe TANZ...

His EYES can SEE the BEYOND!!!

JORDAN MATTER

Financial Guru’s (Dad) quest to make me good at multiple things has often led me to taste the waters of different lands. Fortunately, I chose to master two things thoroughly viz, Dance and Finance. However, one of the art forms that was on Financial Guru’s wish list was Photography. And, while I have not explored this art more, it is very intriguing.

There is an age old saying ‘Beauty lies in the eyes of the Beholder’. Yet there a few blessed souls who have an eye to capture beauty. Truth be told only an insightful entity could possibly tell a story through lenses (Camera). Dance being my forte and not photography, I decided to blend the 2 and write about dance photography (interesting).

In the age of smart phones, we all are masters of the art of “self-clicking” Selfie (lol). But capturing an object in motion requires the Midas touch. One of the very famous names, in the world of Dance Photography, that I came across was Jordan Matter. Thanks to technology we could connect on a Skype call and I had the opportunity to know his journey.

Jordan (I love the name) has been in the profession of Photography for over 15 years. Born to a set of talented parents, his father- Alex Matter an established director and his mother- Paula Feiten was a model, being a cameras baby came naturally to him. Also to mention he probably got his craft right from his grandfather, Herbert Matter, was a renowned photographer.

3 IDIOTS (wink)

He says, professional photography happened to him by chance. He was a baseball player in his formative years (somehow, I have always confused baseball as being the American version of Cricket (wink)). He then went on to pursue acting. Just imagine a person used to being in the Lime Light later chooses to be behind the arc light- I call that Nirvana.

FLY AWAY!!!

Excerpts from the interview...

What inspired you to take up Dance Photography?

My choices, an athlete and an actor later, have always lured me towards the unpredictable. Photography as an art is very unpredictable. You never know what is going to happen. I started off as just helping my friend with her modelling photo shoot. I was so hooked to the art that I made a career out of it (laughs). I went on to work with Tyra Banks, the Today show, and many other broadcast networks. I later transcended to Dance Photography. Again the mercurial movements of a dancer attract me to capture their art.

BALLET

A dance style you love to capture…

It’s easier to capture Ballet and Gymnastics as opposed to other dance forms like Tap or Ballroom. (In my New York diaries I will make sure I have “A day in Jordan’s life” story and make him capture my dance style Indian Classical-wink)

Your favourite dancer…

It might come as a surprise but I am not a dance enthusiasts. I just the telling the stories of dancers through my pictures.

Tell us more about your latest project “Tiny Dancers Among Us”.

A few years ago, I did a book titled “Dancers Among Us”. This book is a follow up to the series showcasing the creativity of kids in terms to their day to day chores like doing their homework, or playing in the park or simply travelling through dance in a humorous and fun way. Interestingly my daughter was the inspiration behind this project. On a particularly snowy day my daughter was not in her best moods, we had to go out and we had to shovel the snow outside my house. She came out and started doing just the same, I went back inside got my camera and clicked a few shots of her. That’s how “Tiny Dancers” happened.

TINY DANCERS AMONG US...

The Dancers/ Dance Company’s you love to work with…

I do have some favouites they being: Michaela DePrince (a Ballerina and the author of the book – Taking Flight- From war orphan to Star Ballerina), Paul Taylor and Alvin Ailey Dance Company (modern dance company based in New York).

A Dancestastic Party!!!

Well we wish Jordan humongous success for his upcoming book “Tiny Dancers Among Us” and hopefully I get to see him in the near future.