About
Guru Shama Bhate, known as Shama Tai, is among the leading Kathak exponents in India today, with a career spanning more than forty years. The principal disciple of the doyen Rohini Bhate, she is a distinguished dancer, choreographer, guru and the artistic director of her Pune academy Nadroop.
Born in 1950, Shama Bhate trained under Rohini Bhate and became her principal disciple, going on to lead Nadroop in Pune. Over four decades she has choreographed extensively, trained numerous professional Kathak dancers, many now performing and teaching independently, and served as a guru at universities including Pune's Lalit Kala Kendra, Nalanda and Bharati Vidyapeeth.
The artistry
Learning and performing Kathak from the age of four, Shama Bhate developed her own idiom of the form, informed by her training under Rohini Bhate and insights from Birju Maharaj and Mohanrao Kallianpurkar, and by special inputs in taal and laya from Pandit Suresh Talwalkar. She is especially celebrated for choreography and for shaping a large body of accomplished dancers.
[Atlas Perspective] Guru Shama Bhate is a senior Kathak choreographer and guru of real distinction. For festivals, academic and heritage programmes, she is a strong choice.
Guru Shama Bhate has enriched Kathak through a distinctive choreographic idiom and, as a leading guru in the Rohini Bhate lineage, has trained a generation of accomplished dancers, sustaining and advancing the form in Maharashtra and beyond.