Natraj Gopi Krishna Kathak Institute

Rajendra Chaturvedi was born in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, in a Brahmin family. His key objective was education but he pursued dance at a young age due to his keen interest. He is a Bachelor of Science and Sangeet Prabhakar in Kathak dance. He commenced his kathak training at a very tender age under the guidance of his guru Lt. Wahid Ali Khan ji in Rewa, MP. Then along with continuing his schooling in Rewa, he persued his passion by regularly travelling to Mumbai and following in the Guru Shishya Parampara, he obtained an immence knowledge of this art, due to his long hours of dedicated learning and practice. He still learns and does his Riyaaz under the guidance of illustrious Kathak queen Smt. Dr. Sitara Devi ji. He has also learnt from Guru Vaibhav Joshi ji, who is senior disciple of Late Natraj Gopi Krishna, and currently does his Riyaaz with Tabla Maestro Pt. Kalinath Mishra ji.

Rajendra Chaturvedi is a dynamic and a versatile dancer who has carved a special niche for himself in the field of Kathak. His innate sense of rhythm, graceful yet fast paced movements and subtle facial expression are some of the qualities that give a new dimension to Kathak, making him one of the finest exponents of this dance style.

Apart from being an active performer, Rajendra Chaturvedi is also an authorized Bollywood choreographer as well as an authentic teacher of Kathak in the pure classical style of the Banaras Gharana (Gopi Krishna & Sitara Devi Style) at the Institute of Natraj Gopi Krishna. Enormous number of students have learnt kathak under Rajendra Chaturvedi’s guidance, including many well known personalities like Kangana Ranaut, Jiah Khan, Bruna Abdullah, Adah Sharma, Jaqueline Fernandes, Mona Basu, Ulka Gupta, Miss India Pooja Chopra, Terence Lewis (Choreographer), Niharica Raizada (Miss India Worldwide 2010), among many others. He has also successfully choreographed for television serials, advertisements, and movies.

Our institute is affiliated with the Akhil Bhartiya Gandharv Mahavidyalaya Mandal Miraj (Maharashtra) for the last 45 years, and is a center for the theory and the Kathak dance examinations held annually. Every year, we train many students who sucessfully appear for the different levels of the exams.

In order to promote Kathak as a dance form, Rajendra Chatuvedi conducts three shows in Mumbai every year, namely- "Nritya Samagam", "Taal se Taal Mila", and "Natraj Gopi Krishna Nrityotsava", in order to promote classical dance in its various forms as well as to showcase the styles of the different Gharanas of Kathak, including the unique style of his late guruji Natraj Gopi Krishna. These programs also give an opportunity to upcoming artists and spread awareness about this classical treasure in our country.