Nighat Chaodhry

Then at sixteen, she met Nahid Siddiqui, regarded as one of the greatest Kathak dancers, and the meeting changed the course of her life. Inspired to learn the classical forms of her own culture, she abandoned ballet and join to understand and absorb the nuances of the style, she needed to be closer to its origins; thus began the journey back East. From Lahore to Delhi to Bombay, the journey continued over the years under the guidance of such world renowned Kathak masters as Maharaj Ghulam Hussain Kathak in Lahore, Pandit Durga Lal in Delhi and Uma Dogra in Bombay, including workshops with Pandit Birju Maharaj and Kumudinia Lakhia. With such great teachers Nighat found her soul in dancing, and her success as a Kathak dancer is a tribute to them. Nighat has choreographed and performed her own pieces nationally and internationally, to great acclaim. She has also enjoyed success as an actor on the mini screen and received the Nigar Award, a media award for outstanding performance, for Best Actress and the Faiz Ahmad Faiz award for using faiz’s poetry in kathak dance interpretations. Presently Nighat is training under Guru Pali Chandra and giving kathak exams under the ISTD syllabus which is based in London, Nighat has also set up The Nighat Chaodhry Foundation and one of its prominent programs The Institute of Performing Arts is successfully active in Lahore.