Lucknow: Rivayat Lucknow Gharana Dance and Music Academy organised a cultural evening titled ‘Nritya Naad’ at the Kalka-Bindadin Deorhi in Kaiserbagh, Lucknow, celebrating the city’s rich Kathak tradition and the enduring guru-shishya parampara.
The programme was organised by Ekta Mishra, a disciple of the late Pandit Arjun Mishra. It began with a felicitation honouring senior guru Rameshwari Mishra, popularly known as Munni Mishra, daughter of the late Pandit Shambhu Maharaj.
The opening performance featured Pandit Ram Mohan Maharaj alongside his daughters, Ekta and Ankita Mishra, presenting the Shiva stuti ‘Angikam’ and ‘Karpur Gauram Karunavataram’. The sisters subsequently performed traditional Kathak in Teentaal, incorporating upaj, tripalli, makhan chori and Durga paran. They also portrayed the emotions of the Abhisarika nayika through the thumri ‘Mohe Chhedo Na Nand Ke, Sunahu Chhail’. The performance concluded with traditional compositions, tihai patterns, parans and an energetic jugalbandi in fast tempo.
Guru Surabhi Singh conducted the rhythmic recitation, while Mohammad Arif Khan accompanied the dancers on vocals and harmonium, Pandit Vikas Mishra on tabla and Manish Mishra on sarangi.
Guest artist Manish Mishra presented Raga Bhimpalasi, featuring an alap and the composition ‘Ja Ja Re Apne Mandirva’. The evening concluded with ‘Bhavani Dayani’, a devotional invocation to Goddess Durga in Raga Bhairavi, accompanied by Alok Mishra on tabla.
The academy honoured several senior gurus and artists for their contributions to the classical arts. The awardees included Pandit Rameshwar Prasad Mishra, the late Shringar Mani Kumkum Adarsh, Pandit Ram Mohan Maharaj, Guru Surabhi Singh, Pandit Anuj Mishra and Pandit Vikas Mishra.
The academy’s young students—Prakriti, Shanaya Gupta, Ayushi, Manasvi and Pradnya—opened their presentation with a guru vandana before performing tukras and tihai patterns in Teentaal. Senior students Aaradhya, Anishka and Shanaya Agarwal presented a Krishna vandana, followed by Teentaal compositions featuring paran, upaj, kavitta and sequences of 11 spins.
The presence of senior gurus and the students’ performances underscored the importance of preserving the guru-shishya tradition. Through ‘Nritya Naad’, the academy sought to provide a platform for traditional Kathak, encourage younger generations to appreciate Indian classical arts and strengthen respect for the gurus who sustain the country’s cultural heritage.
