Geetanjali Sharma (born 3 September 1984) is an Indian Folk exponent and a

Kathak Kathak ( hi, कथक; ur, کتھک) is one of the eight major forms of Classical Indian dance, Indian classical dance. It is the classical dance from of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards ...

dancer. She is the disciple of

Uma Dogra Uma Dogra (born 23 April 1957) is an Indian exponent of Kathak, an Indian Classical Dance form. She is the senior most disciple of Pt. Durga Lal, the Kathak Maestro from Jaipur Gharana. She is a Kathak soloist, a choreographer and a teacher. ...

, the senior disciple of Pt.

Durga Lal Pandit Durga Lal (1948 - 21 January 1990) was a renowned Kathak dancer of the Jaipur Gharana. He was born in Mahendragarh, Rajasthan. He is known for playing the main role in the 1989 dance drama ''Ghanashyam'', the music of which was composed b ...

who was the

maestro from Jaipur Gharana. She has been performing dance in India and abroad for more than 24 years. She is the recipient of National Youth Award (2010), Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar of

Sangeet Natak Academy Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and ...

(2011),

Yash Bharti Award Yash Bharati Award is the highest civilian award of the Government of Uttar Pradesh. Instituted in 1994, it is awarded to those personalities whose contribution is remarkable in the field of literature, social work, medicine, film, science, journa ...

, the highest award of

Government of Uttar Pradesh The Government of Uttar Pradesh ( ISO: Uttar Pradesh Sarkār; often abbreviated as GoUP) is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the governor as its appointed constitutional head of the state by the President of ...

(2015) and several many other regional and national level awards.

Early life

Geetanjali was born to Nirmal Acharya and Dr P R Sharma in

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the to ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

on 3 September 1984. She had her primary education from Saraswati Vidhya Mandir at Govardhan. No one from her family had artistic background. She did not get much guidance and support from the family. In the beginning stage of her career she started performing at school level without any formal training. Her first abroad performance was in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. Later on, she performed in China, Mexico, London, America and many other countries.

Career

Geetanjali Sharma started her dancing career at the very tender age. She herself established as a

Brij Braj, also known as Vraj, Vraja, Brij or Brijbhoomi, is a region in India on both sides of the Yamuna river with its centre at Mathura-Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh state encompassing the area which also includes Palwal and Ballabhgarh in Haryana ...

Folk dancer by performing at local and regional level. In 1997, she established an academy named GIFT "Geetanjali International Folk Tang" for promoting

Folk and traditional arts. In 2008, she started learning

under the guidance of

Rajendra Gangani Rajendra Gangani is an Indian Kathak dancer known for his innovative style and technical wizardry. Gangani is one of the leading exponents of the Jaipur Gharana style of Kathak. For his contributions to the field of Kathak, Gangani received the ...

Kathak Kendra Kathak ( hi, कथक; ur, کتھک) is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. It is the classical dance from of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern Ind ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

and later she joined

in 2010. She completed her Prabhakar Degree from

Prayag Sangeet Samiti Prayag Sangeet Samiti is an institute imparting education in Hindustani Classical music, in Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The othe ...

, Allahabad. She is the first trained

artist from

. She plays the role of

Radha Radha ( sa, राधा, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is worshiped as the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. She is the avatar of goddess Lakshmi and is also d ...

in her performances. she has been preserving the heritage of

, the birthplace of

Lord Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

and

Vrindavan Vrindavan (; ), also spelt Vrindaban and Brindaban, is a historical city in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located in the Braj Bhoomi region and holds religious importance in Hinduism as Krishna spent most of his childhoo ...

, the place where

spent his childhood. Her performances of

Rasa lila The rasalila (), also rendered the raslila or the ras dance, is part of the traditional story of Krishna described in Hindu scriptures such as the Bhagavata Purana and literature such as the Gita Govinda, where he dances with Radha and the gop ...

constitute of Mayur Nritya, Lath mar Holi, Flowers Holi of

Barsana Barsana is a historical town and ''nagar panchayat'' in the Mathura district of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Barsana is believed to be the birthplace and home of the Hindu goddess Radha, the chief consort of Krishna. It is in the Braj re ...

and Charukala, a special form of dance from

Braj Braj, also known as Vraj, Vraja, Brij or Brijbhoomi, is a region in India on both sides of the Yamuna river with its centre at Mathura- Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh state encompassing the area which also includes Palwal and Ballabhgarh in Har ...

region of

. She has given

performances with senior artist like

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

Actress

Hema Malini Hema Malini (born 16 October 1948) is an Indian actress, director, producer, and politician. She is primarily known for her work in Hindi films. Known for starring in both comic and dramatic roles, she is one of the most popular and successful ...

, Folk singer

Malini Awasthi Malini Awasthi (born 11 February 1967) is an Indian folk singer. She sings in Bhojpuri, Awadhi and Hindi, She also presents Thumri and Kajri. The Government of India awarded her the civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2016. She is known fo ...

Santoor The Indian santoor instrument is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer, and a variation of the Iranian santur. The instrument is generally made of walnut and has 25 bridges. Each bridge has 4 strings, making for a total of 100 strings. It is ...

player Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and many other renowned artists. In the first week of November 2016, she was featured on the cover page of Indian weekly magazine

Panchjanya Panchajanya (IAST: Pāñcajanya) is the ''shankha'' or conch of the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu, known to be one of his four divine attributes. It is stated to have been one among the various substances that emerged during the Samudra Manthana. ...

. In December 2016, she received Brij Ratna Award, the highest award of

region of

. On 18 December 2017, Geetanjali was announced as Brand Ambassador of

for Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, a campaign run by

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

Cultural Performances

National

Khajuraho Dance Festival The Khajuraho Dance Festival (''IAST:Khajuraho Nritya Samaroh''), organised by the Madhya Pradesh Kala Parishad, is a one-week festival of classical dances held annually beside the Khajuraho temples in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh s ...

Taj Mahotsav Taj Mahotsav (Hindi: ताज महोत्सव, Urdu: تاج مہوتسو, translation: ''Taj Festival'') is an annual 10-day (from 18 to 27 February) event at Shilpgram in Agra, India. This festival is inspired by the old Mughal era and na ...

, Ganga Mahotsav, Pt. Durgalal Mahotsav, *Raindrop Festival and many other festivals along with her Guru

. *Kannauj Mahotsav in Uttar Pradesh. *Cultural Performance in

G20 The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation ...

Summit

International

*Cultural performance in Dubai

Expo 2020 Expo 2020 ( ar, إكسبو 2020) was a World Expo hosted by Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022. Originally scheduled for 20 October 2020 to 10 April 2021, it was postponed due to the COVID-1 ...

*Festival Of India Cultural Show in Fiji

References

External links

Official Website

List of Yuva Puraskar Awardees
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Geetanjali Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Performers of Indian classical dance Indian female classical dancers Living people Dancers from Delhi 1984 births Women artists from Delhi 20th-century Indian dancers 20th-century Indian women artists