Roshan Ara Bokhari is a Pakistani dancer and dance

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

. She was born in

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capita ...

in 1934. Bokhari's mother is Main Abdul Aziz and she inherited a love for dance and music from her family.

Early life

Bokhari started her early education at Queens Mary College in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

. She currently lives in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

. She studied classical and field dancing from the classical dancers Tara Chaudhry and Rafi Anwar from the age of 11.

Career

Bokhari worked for 47 years in the field of dancing and choreography, from 1965 until 2012. She was a member of the Pakistan Cultural Delegation that went to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in 1965. She also taught at the National Performing Arts Group (NPAG) along with former actress Zarin Panna and dance master Zafar Dilawar. Her students perform every year on 14 August and on

International Dance Day the performing arts of UNESCO. The event takes place every year on 29 April, which is the anniversary of the birth of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727–1810), who is considered to be the "father" or creator of modern ballet (ie. classical or romanti ...

. It has represented Pakistan in other countries and even won prizes in the United States, China, India, and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. They even performed to represent the sufferings of flood victims. Her contributions towards dance have been recognized by institutions such as ''Art Now Pakistan'', the National Performance Arts Group, and

Lahore Grammar School Lahore Grammar School (LGS) is a group of private education institutions based in the city of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, with branches spread throughout the country. The system was established in 1979 at its 55 Main Gulberg campus. Today, LG ...

Performances

Bokhari has choreographed several thematic dances and field shows for the

South Asian Federation games The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic C ...

in 1988 and 2005. She also led a team of dancers that visited China in 1965.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bokhari, Roshan Ara 1934 births People from Aligarh Pakistani female dancers Living people