About
Dr. Nandkishore Kapote is a senior Kathak dancer of the Lucknow gharana and a disciple of Pandit Birju Maharaj, as well as a scholar and institution-builder. A doctorate-holder and recognised PhD guide in Kathak, he has done much to advance the research, documentation and teaching of the form.
Born in 1956, Nandkishore Kapote trained in Kathak under Mannalal Shukla and, from 1976-77 on a National Scholarship, for ten years under Pandit Birju Maharaj. He earned a doctorate in Kathak from Tilak Maharashtra University, founded the Nandkishore Cultural Society (1986), established the Pt. Birju Maharaj Dance and Music Research Centre and Library and the Sitara Devi Art Museum, authored a book on Birju Maharaj, and received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2020.
The artistry
Trained over a decade under Birju Maharaj, Kapote combines performance in the Lucknow gharana with a scholar's dedication to Kathak pedagogy and research. As the first male Kathak National Scholarship recipient in Maharashtra and a long-serving mentor at Pune University's Lalit Kala Kendra, his contribution spans stage, classroom and archive.
[Atlas Perspective] Dr. Nandkishore Kapote is a senior Kathak exponent, scholar and institution-builder. For festivals, academic and heritage programmes, he is a strong choice.
Dr. Nandkishore Kapote has strengthened Kathak as both a performing and a scholarly tradition, carrying forward Birju Maharaj's Lucknow gharana while building institutions, archives and doctoral scholarship that sustain the form.