Nahid Siddiqui

Profile Image

Nahid Siddiqui is one of the world’s leading kathak dancers. She infuses deep, personal artistry into the interpretation of the music and text, superbly utilising the style’s core elements - intricate hand gestures, fluid spins, and alternation between periods of calm and bursts of mathematical footwork. One writer has described her style as “Sufianic in its narrative ventures, yet precise in its embodiment of tradition”.

Kathak first caught her eye as a child, when her mother - a successful actress - started taking her to variety shows in Karachi (“the image that lingered long after was not of acting or singing, but of the visual beauty of a dance performance”). She trained under two highly esteemed gurus in the one-on-one seena ba seena system, Baba Maharaj and Birju Maharaj, and has since spent decades extending Kathak's repertoire, seeking to develop it as a “universal vocabulary”.

Now resident in the UK for over 20 years, Nahid tours and teaches around the world, and has lectured at the University of Surrey and London’s Bhavan Centre. At Darbar Festival 2019 she will explore thumri, a sensuous style from the North of India, over a score of live tabla and guitar.

"When I dance, I forget the material world. And you can only perform well if you don’t have anything to hide. Only a free soul can dance."

 

Darbar believes in the power of Indian classical music to stir, thrill, and inspire. Explore our YouTube channel, or subscribe to the Darbar Concert Hall to watch extended festival performances, talk and documentaries in pristine HD and UHD quality. 

Other artists you may like

Culture Festival Residency Artists

Giuliano Modarelli guitar 

Originally from Italy, Modarelli is a London based guitarist, composer and producer...

read more

See Full Festival concerts from our extensive archive,
and hundreds of other exclusive performances with
Darbar Player

Download our app and watch on the go
New exclusive releases every month
Watch anytime, anywhere


START FREE TRIAL

Free for 3 days. Cancel anytime.
Pay £9.95/month

Follow us

Keep up to date with the latest news, events, music and musings across our social channels

YouTube latest

For hundreds more clips and shorts, vist our YT page here

Subscribe to our newsletters

Be the first to hear before events go on sale. Get the latest news and articles from Darbar