POORAB TIMES. For Pooja Khandelwal, dance has always been a constant. She jokes that she remembers dancing before learning to walk. As a child, it offered a realm of pure expression. Her formal training began at six with Bharatanatyam, soon expanded into contemporary, jazz, ballet, salsa, and freestyle.
A pivotal chapter unfolded at Body Language, where intensive auditioning and rigorous discipline under M.S. Sreedhar shaped her foundation. In 2006, she performed alongside him in Dreams, his production at Chowdiah Memorial Hall in Bangalore, when he returned to the stage after about a decade.
Then came relocations and a move to the United States in December 2014. Though she continued to choreograph and participate in projects, something felt incomplete. “Take the art away from the artist, and what are they without it?” she reflects. “You can give me a hundred different titles, but at heart, I have always known that I am a dancer.”
Her search for deeper artistic grounding led her to Kathak in 2018. What began as a pursuit of an Indian classical tradition became a transformative homecoming. Trained under Smt. Sayali Goswami, she later studied with Pandita Uma Dogra, connecting Khandelwal to a lineage rooted in the legacy of Pandit Durga Lal. She has now immersed herself in this tradition for over eight years. In 2025, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Kathak from the Samved Society of Performing Arts, Mumbai.
Khandelwal discovered that Kathak’s rigid structure offered unexpected liberation. “It is through the control, through being completely present within the structure, that I am able to eventually lose control and simply be,” she explains. Kathak did not erase her background in Western and contemporary styles; it gave her depth, nuance, and a heightened awareness as a performer.
Today, Khandelwal’s performance experience includes appearances at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, the Historic Hoover Theatre in San Jose, and Village Theatre in Danville, as well as productions presented by Shanmukha Theatres in the Bay Area, California.
Alongside her own training and performances, Khandelwal is a volunteer teacher through Kathakaars School of Dance. For her, teaching ensures the survival of living traditions across generations.
Looking forward, Khandelwal aims to bring Kathak to new, diverse audiences by launching her initiative, Kathak Across America. She envisions introducing the art form to universities, museums, and community spaces via workshops, lecture-demonstrations, and live performances.
Her journey has come full circle: in India, she explored Western dance; in America, she found Kathak and, ultimately, herself.
