{"id":25244,"date":"2022-12-11T07:00:37","date_gmt":"2022-12-11T01:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalindian.com\/youth\/\/?post_type=story&#038;p=25244"},"modified":"2025-09-26T17:23:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T11:53:13","slug":"vriti-gujral-is-taking-kathak-to-new-heights","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/old.globalindian.com\/youth\/story\/cover-story\/vriti-gujral-is-taking-kathak-to-new-heights\/","title":{"rendered":"Dancing her way to glory: Vriti Gujral is taking Kathak to new heights"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>(December 11, 2022)<\/strong> It was just to attend a rehearsal for the upcoming event that Padma Vibhushan, Pandit Birju Maharaj &#8211; one of the most eminent Kathak exponents &#8211; had come to Delhi that day. However, the events that unfolded gave the country a young and exceptionally talented Kathak dancer, Vriti Gujral, who is now taking this Indian classical dance form to the world. Impressed by the grace of then eleven-year-old Vriti, Pandit Birju Maharaj invited the young artist to perform during his show at the World Cultural Festival &#8211; a solo, seven-minute-long Kathak recital.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_25245\" style=\"width: 489px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25245\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25245 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.globalindian.com\/youth\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/fdvg.jpg\" alt=\"Dancer | Vriti Gujral | Global Indian\" width=\"479\" height=\"479\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 479px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 479\/479;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25245\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25245\" src=\"https:\/\/www.globalindian.com\/youth\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/fdvg.jpg\" alt=\"Dancer | Vriti Gujral | Global Indian\" width=\"479\" height=\"479\" \/><\/noscript><p id=\"caption-attachment-25245\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vriti Gujral, Kathak exponent<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The dancer, who is 16-years-old now, has since performed on various national and international stages and has won numerous awards, including the prestigious Global Child Prodigy Award. &#8220;I have been performing kathak for the past eight years. So, it is like a part of me now. It\u2019s not that when I practice kathak only then I\u2019m into dance, but I instead carry it into my everyday life. I have learned many things from the dance form, and it undoubtedly affects my life,&#8221; the young <a href=\"http:\/\/www.globalindian.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Global Indian<\/em><\/a> said during an interview.<\/p>\n<h5><strong>Born to dance<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>Vriti&#8217;s journey as a dancer started at the age of six, when her mother enrolled her in a music institute. &#8220;My mother always wanted me to explore myself in areas beyond academics as well. So, she took me to an institute where they gave three classes &#8211; western dance, piano, and kathak. I liked the other courses, but I was fascinated by them when I saw dancers wearing <em>ghungroo<\/em> and performing kathak. That was precisely what started the spark in me. When I started learning it, I became more passionate about it. I began exploring other aspects of kathak, such as the <em>chakras<\/em>, footwork, and <em>abhinaya<\/em>,&#8221; the young dancer shared.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Virah Dance Cover \u0964\u0964 Bandish Bandits\u0964\u0964 Amazon Prime\u0964\u0964 Semi Classical\u0964\u0964Vriti Gujral\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0tglveOAA2I?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Soon, the youngster took to various stages and won the hearts of many maestros. However, it took a major turn in 2016, during the auditions for World Cultural Festival. Over 37,000 artists performed in Delhi during this festival, however, it was Vriti who grabbed the attention of Pt Birju Maharaj. However, all was not so rosy. The long rehearsal hours took a toll on the young dancer&#8217;s health. But, Vriti was determined to brave all the odds. On the day of her performance, the dancer went on the stage with a bandaged blister, her feet throbbing in pain. &#8220;I remember my blisters were painful. But once I was on the stage, and the spotlight fell on me, I forgot all about it,&#8221; she shared. Her performance at the Vasantosav festival ended with thunderous applause and earned her invitations to several other dance festivals.<\/p>\n<h5><strong>Following her passion<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>Vriti&#8217;s perfection of <em>mudras<\/em> and flawless expression earned Vriti a scholarship from the Centre of Cultural Resource and Training (CCRT), India. In 2020, the youngster received the Global Child Prodigy Award, for her exceptional dancing talent in Kathak. A student of esteemed kathak exponent, Pandit Barun Banerjee, Vriti dreams of becoming a professional dancer, just like her idol Pt. Birju Maharaj, and take kathak to a level where today&#8217;s generation can not only enjoy it but also aspire for it.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Taki Taki \u0964\u0964 Dance Cover\u0964\u0964Kathak Fusion \u0964\u0964 Vriti Gujral\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Pp77ohIOGcg?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I want to be a professional classical dancer and a choreographer. I aim to take the Kathak dance form to the biggest international stages. We know that the young generation finds it difficult to relate to kathak and thinks it\u2019s boring. I wish to break these stereotypes and ensure that they relate to it as it\u2019s our heritage, and we have to take it ahead,&#8221; the young dancer said.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Follow Vriti Gujral on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sarika.gujral.3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gujralvriti\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gujral_vriti\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(December 11, 2022) It was just to attend a rehearsal for the upcoming event that Padma Vibhushan, Pandit Birju Maharaj &#8211; one of the most eminent Kathak exponents &#8211; had come to Delhi that day. However, the events that unfolded gave the country a young and exceptionally talented Kathak dancer, Vriti Gujral, who is now taking this Indian classical dance form to the world. Impressed by the grace of then eleven-year-old Vriti, Pandit Birju Maharaj invited the young artist to perform during his show at the World Cultural Festival &#8211; a solo, seven-minute-long Kathak recital. The dancer, who is 16-years-old [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":25247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","story-category":[215,2500],"story-tag":[4688,4685,4686,3378,4504,4684,3831,3825,4687],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dancer Vriti Gujral is taking Kathak to new heights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Young and exceptionally talented Kathak dancer, Vriti Gujral, who is now taking this Indian classical dance form to the world.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/old.globalindian.com\/youth\/story\/cover-story\/vriti-gujral-is-taking-kathak-to-new-heights\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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