Par Excellence

Pratap Pawar is a performance artist and choreographer, whose works range from classical Kathak to contemporary fusion; from solo performance to group dance drama. With a well grounded training in Kathak from one of India’s leading dance gurus and a versatile performance career, Pratap Pawar has emerged as a compelling and sensitive performer and a very innovative choreographer.

He has a personal style that is unique, unostentatious, serene and characterized by an impeccable technique that blends precision in footwork with aesthetics and imagery (bhav).

Not many male dancers have the stamina and strength of Pratap Pawar and he is therefore a rare commodity.
  – Dancing Times (Dec 1997)

Pratap’s touching interpretation of a well known poem by Zafar brought tears to the eyes of many... earlier his electrifying display of footwork to an eleven beat time cycle brought the house down.
  – Dancing Times (Sep 2005)

Biography

Pratap Pawar, ‘India’s divine dancer’ and choreographer, is the first disciple (gandabandh Shagrid) of Shri Birju Majaraji, the head of the Lucknow tradition of Kathak.

To Pratap Pawar, dancing has no limitations of region or boundaries. After having established himself in India as a celebrated dancer, he taught and performed in Trinidad and Guyana for about 8 years and has now lived and worked in the UK for the past 20 years. He is the founder and artistic director of the Triveni Dance Company.

Works and Performances

With a rare combination of artistic dexterity and creativity, Pratap Pawar combines personal charm and grace with technical brilliance. The secret of his magic lies perhaps in his ability to completely transform the dance with the use of expression of feeling (abhinaya) into an aesthetic experience that bears personal resonance for each and every viewer.

Pratap Pawar’s choreography, ventures and works include:

• ‘Sur Jhankar’ — a dance drama
• ‘Mowgli’ based on Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
• ‘Rains through Rhythm’ features use of non-Indian drums with Kathak.
• ‘Triveni’, a combination of Indian, Afro-Caribbean and Flamenco dances.
• His dance drama ‘Diyva Drishti’ has been presented all over England, Scotland and India.
• ‘Echoes of the Valley’ — With world-renowned Santoor player Pandit Bhajan Sopori.
• ‘Legacy of Tradition’ and ‘Kathak Shringar’ — With the great Kathak maestro Pandit Birju Maharaj. Featuring three generations of Kathak dancers.

Pratap Pawar’s recent tours and achievements include his extensive performance tours with the famous star singer Asha Bhosle in the USA and Canada. His closing performances on this tour were in Madison Square Gardens in New York and at the O’Keefe Center in Toronto as a Choreographer/Dancer. Toronto has seen some great shows by Pratap Pawar at the Caravan Festival and the Harbor Front Festival. More recently, he has undertaken choreography and artistic direction for ‘Padmini – the dance-drama’ in Toronto.

Pratap Pawar’s most accomplished addition to his profile was the introduction of Jugalbandi — a unique feature combining the grace of the Indian art of Kathak with Flamenco from Spain. While experimenting to maintain an equilibrium between conventional style and contemporary demand, he has successfully maintained the purity of the dance. He toured India extensively giving several performances of Jugalbandi.Ê This event received world acclaim and feature coverage by the World News channel CNN Television, USA.

So far as Indian dance in Britain is concerned, the evening marked a point of maturity and Pratap Pawar’s Triveni Dance Company is to be congratulated for celebrating it so fittingly
  – Dancing Times (Sep 2001) reporting on Legacy of Tradition

Exhilarating Kathak Flamenco Jugal bandi
  – Hindustan Times, New Delhi.

Worldwide impact

In addition, Pratap Pawar has performed for prestigious television shows around the world including the Ed Sullivan Show in New York. His performance at the Presidential House in Delhi has won him great name and fame. In addition he has had the honour to perform before visiting dignitaries from around the world such as President J.F. Kennedy, President Kaounda, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, and president Khruschev of the forme USSR, to mention a few.

Pratap Pawar has performed in the USSR, Switzerland, Italy, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines, Thailand, Burma, Laos, Indonesia, Singapore, Ceylon, Caribbean countries, West Indies, East and West Africa, South America, Europe, Canada and the United States of America.

Pratap Pawar has received support from the Greater London Arts Association, the Greater London Council, the Arts Council of Great Britain and the Scottish Arts Council. He has been the deserving recipient of several awards, tours and grants. Recently, he has been awarded the prestigious Greater London Arts Award by the UK’s Minister for the Arts. At present, Pratap Pawar is in receipt of a grant award from the Arts Council of Great Britain as an associate of David Bintley of The Royal Ballet.

He has trained over 700 students over the past three decades in the West Indies and in the UK. Currently he conducts bi-annual workshops in Toronto, Canada, where a very large number of students are undertaking training. Pratap has undertaken a lot of work in bringing together different cultures by blending Indian dance with Flamenco, Caribbean, modern dance, etc. For this he has received great acclaim worldwide.

In an article written for The Attendance, entitled ‘Guyana, Trinidad and UK.’ Pratap Pawar ended with the words: ‘I am glad I was given the opportunity to serve the art of my great gurus and to continue their work. I feel fulfilled.’