Testimonials

Perspectives from scholars and artists working in the fields of performance and cultural history. 

Eshna Benegal

Odissi & Kathak Dancer | Founder, Deep Cut

“Projects like this are rare, especially from someone so young. To critically engage with marginalized histories of performance and ask difficult questions about how these traditions have been remembered requires both curiosity and courage. Re-learning the Nautch is an important and thoughtful initiative, and it is inspiring to see such work begin at an early stage.”

Pallabi Chakravorty

Dance Historian & Anthropologist
Swarthmore College

“The title ‘Re-learning the Nautch’ is both intriguing and intellectually provocative. It immediately raises a question: why relearn a term that itself emerged through colonial description? The project turns this tension into a productive inquiry inviting us to unlearn inherited narratives and reconsider how histories of performance have been framed, classified, and remembered.”

Naina Manoj

Kathak Practioner, Researcher and Teacher

"What struck me about Relearning the Nautch was its willingness to ask questions that often remain outside institutional conversations. By bringing together dancers, researchers, and archival material, the initiative creates space for a more nuanced understanding of performance histories and the people who shaped them."