Kamalini Asthana and Nalini Asthana are a sister duo from

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

known for their great performances of the

Benaras Gharana Benares gharānā (Hindi: बनारस घराना) is one of the six most common styles of playing of the Indian tabla. History The Benares tabla gharana was developed a little over 200 years ago by Pandit Ram Sahai (1780–1826). At ...

style of

Kathak Kathak ( hi, कथक; ur, کتھک) is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. It is the classical dance from of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern Ind ...

. They are also known for their contributions to the popularisation of the Benaras Gharana style of Kathak both in India and abroad. Both Kamalini and Nalini were born in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. Their father, B P Asthana, was in the service of the Royal Air Force and their mother, Shyama Kumari Asthana was a Hindustani vocalist. Though they were born in Agra, they were brought up in Delhi. They had their education in Delhi Kannada School run by the Mysore Government and in Venkateswara College. It was a chance meeting with Guru Jitendra Maharaj of Benares Gharana that brought Kamalini and Nalini to the world of dance and of Kathak in particular. Nalini and Kamalini began learning Kathak in 1973 and the duo's ''arangetram'' (first performance) happened in

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

while they were traveling with their guru. The sister duo set up the Sangeetka Institute of Performing Arts in Delhi in 1975 which is an institute to give training in Kathak and classical music. The first overseas trip of Kamalini and Nalini was in 1983 to attend the UFTAA Conference in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

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. Even though the tour was planned for only two weeks, they continued their tour and performances for nearly two years and a half. During this extended trip, the duo performed in Torremolinos and Madrid in Spain, in Dublin, Ireland and in the ISKCON in London. One of their important performances was for BBC's Eastern Eye hosted by Karan Thapar. They have also made a film titled "Voyage of Kathak" for The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA). They also gave lecture demonstrations in many educational institutions in London. They have set a record by dancing at the height of 18,000-ft at Kailash Mansarovar and Badri Nath.

Recognition

*In the year 2022, Govt of India conferred the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

award, the third highest award in the Padma series of awards, on Kamalini Asthana and Nalini Asthana for their distinguished service in the field of art. The award is in recognition of his service as an "Acclaimed Kathak Dancer Duo from Agra known for teaching and propagating it globally".

External links

References

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Art Culture of Uttar Pradesh Kathak exponents Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts