Rani Karnaa Nayak interview

No barriers in dance from The Hindu

Rani Karnaa Nayak was born in Hyderabad (Sind), grew up in Delhi, married in Orissa, lived in many parts of India, danced all over the world and has established her academy for Kathak in Kolkata.
Dancing her way to glory with commitment for 60 years, Rani has learnt Bharatanatyam, Manipuri, Kathak and Odissi under masters of each genre, but her métier is Kathak. A recipient of the Order of the Queen of Laos, she plans to establish a chapter of her Academy soon in Orissa.

"So, what is the range of your language as a dancer?
Kathak embraces poetry and music from Sanskrit, Brijbhasha, Khariboli, Urdu, Persian and now Bangla. I have danced to Wajid Ali Shah, Ghalib and even Bahadur Shah Zafar's ghazals. I want to design a dance to Guru Nanak's Arati in Sukhmani and hope I'll be allowed to do that.
It is a flowing, rolling delightful experience. As I said, dance recognises no barriers."