The Kathak Ensemble & Friends

“Since its founding in 1978 as an informal performance collective by four young American-born artists trained in India, The Kathak Ensemble has collaborated with several hundred dancers and musicians, supported by choreographers, composers, lighting designers, videographers, publicists, photographers, sound engineers and stage managers. As the Ensemble’s Artistic and Administrative Director, I have welcomed the generosity of all of these artists, as they fulfill their own dance and music goals and help me illuminate and embody my visions.” – Janaki Patrik
L : Original Kathak Ensemble: Paul Leake, tabla; Harriotte Hurie, Hindustani vocal & tamboura; Larry Porter, sarod; Janaki Patrik, Kathak dance. Photographer Daniel Entin, 1978 // R : NewYorkDelhiMix (partial ensemble). Standing L to R: Chikako Iwahori, Romanee Kalicharran, Janaki Patrik, George Patterson III, Rekha Shoenfeld; kneeling L to R: Chanon Dionne Judson, Pallavi Raisurana, Anup Kumar Das. Photographer Carol Rosegg, 2001
L : Original Kathak Ensemble: Paul Leake, tabla; Harriotte Hurie, Hindustani vocal & tamboura; Larry Porter, sarod; Janaki Patrik, Kathak dance. Photographer Daniel Entin, 1978 // R : NewYorkDelhiMix (partial ensemble). Standing L to R: Chikako Iwahori, Romanee Kalicharran, Janaki Patrik, George Patterson III, Rekha Shoenfeld; kneeling L to R: Chanon Dionne Judson, Pallavi Raisurana, Anup Kumar Das. Photographer Carol Rosegg, 2001

Mission Statement

The Kathak Ensemble & Friends and its arts-in-education unit, CARAVAN, communicate the richness of Indian culture through its arts, most specifically through the classical North Indian dance style Kathak, its storytelling techniques (katha) and its accompanying Hindustani music. The Ensemble also creates its own innovative repertoire, in which Kathak interacts with familiar American arts forms, demystifying unique details of Indian culture and engaging audience members in a journey of the imagination, revealing exotic other-ness as a variation on the common theme of human-ness.

Founded in 1978, the Kathak Ensemble was incorporated in 1997 in the State of New York as a non-profit arts and education organization. It welcomes the support of its audiences through volunteer work and donations.