Kalavarnam

Tara Sharma

Tara sharma is one of the femas dancer from rajasthan She started learning Rajasthani Folk dance in Jaipur under Lt. Shri Ganpat Lal and Meena Chaudhary. She also learnt Kathak in Udaipur from Shri Badri Prasad. She joined Kaushal Bhargavjis troupe where she picked up Gujrati Folk Dances as well. She learnt a lot when she was in his troupe. She has performed all over the country. She recently went to Japan. She has also performed at the World Gypsy Festival in Germany in 1993, Dubai Shopping Festival in 1995 and 2001. The “Films Division of India” has created a documentary film on her. She is continuously giving valuable training to large number of indian and intrenatniol students at Kalavarnam and she has taken numerous workshops.

• Folk Dances of India

Kalavarnam teaching and representing the folk dances, India with its diversity of races,ethnic types ,religions ,linguistic groups and varied social structures is the repository of an amazing wealth of folk traditions.Art forms that date from ancient times still survive while newer forms have evolved assimilating influences ,to provide a range and richness that has few parallels.

Dance has been an essential part of folk culture since the earliest of times- a spontaneous expression of joy in times of celebration ,the instrument for propitiating the gods in bad times, a part of rites and ritual punctuating the passage of life & events.

Sharmila Sharma

Born in Jaipur, Sharmila Sharma belongs to a family of artists. Her father is a folk musician and singer and her mother is a Kathak dancer, as well as a folk dancer.
Her first stage experience, at the age of three, coincided with her first dance contest : her performance captivated the audience and she won the first prize.

After an initial training in folk dances of Northern India as well as in Kathak from her mother Tara Sharma, Sharmila joined the renowned Kathak Kendra in New Delhi where she also learnt Hindustani classical singing and tabla.
Her talent blossomed under the tutelage of Pandit Rajendra Kumar Gangani (Jaipur style) and of famous Pandit Birju Maharaj (Lucknow style).
In an art form which is technically rigorous with a lot of virtuosity, Sharmila is constantly on the look out to find new ways of developing her creativity in beauty, with her intelligence and delicate sensitivity. Quoting her: “I like to paint new pictures and sculpt new figures in space with my dance”.

Sharmila cannot imagine her life without dance, an art that she considers as her “life partner” and the essence of her existence.
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• Classical Dances of India

Art forms that form the embodiment of a whole gamut of Indian expression in all its richness and subtlety ,in all its extraordinary fantasy and yogic discipline.
Kathak-Bequeathed by the nautch girls,born of the Muslim milieu.The feet rap out a language of their own ,the body whirls and spins.Neat mimetic vignettes retell pranks of the child Krishna,pampered and adored.Of Lord Krishna,in love with gopis especially Radha

Kathakali -This dance form of Kerala is known for its elaborate makeup,grand costumes and intricate and & eye movements.It makes tales of mythology come alive.

Bharatnatyam – The dance nurtured by the devdaasi temple dancers finds it origin in South India.

Manipuri - Dreamy, languorous .Maidens in stiff billowy skirts, their innocence hidden behind gossamer veils ,their eyes pining for their beloved Krishna.

Odissi - Dance of love and passion, originally a temple dance throbs with motifs reflecting sculptural design .Its poses are statuesque yet vibrant ,casting an everlasting spell