Kum Uma Sharma Biography 
Kum Uma Sharma is an acclaimed Kathak dancer. She revived the old classical dance form of Natwari Nritya or the Raslila of Brindavan, which is regarded as her outstanding contribution to the field of art. She currently runs the Bharatiya Sangeet Sadan, Delhi, a dance and music academy started by her father. Known for her outstanding contributions to the field of art, she is the youngest dancer be conferred upon with the Padma Shri, by government of India. She received the honour in the year 1973. She was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 2001 and most recently in 2013 she received the title Srijan Manishi by Akhil Bhartiya Vikram Parishad, Kashi. Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Sahitya Kala Parishad Award are other major honours received by him.
She was born in Delhi in 1942. She received initial training in Kathak from Guru Hiralalji and Girvar Dayal of the Jaipur gharana. Later she continued studies under Pandit Sunder Prasad of the Jaipur gharana. She also received training under Shambhu Maharaj and Birju Maharaj, both belonging to Lucknow gharana. While she learnt rhythmic footwork and its permutations from Pandit Sunder Prasad, the later taught her the art of abhinaya and she did fusion art forms combining both these versions.
Later she went on to choreograph many Kathak presentations. She composed new dance items apart from lengthy dance dramas. Stree- is her most successful dance drama. She widely participated in many cultural events and dance festivals across India and many countries abroad. This queen of Kathak defines dance in one word, 'Anand'. Her Kathak ballet Stree is staged every year due to its popularity.
Published: N/A
Updated: July 21, 2014
