shefali jain
Shefali Jain has trained in kathak for over 20 years with Gretchen Hayden and the late kathak maestro, Pandit Chitresh Das. She has also been studying the thumri and bhao with Madhuri Devi Singh, Hindustani vocals with Vaibhav Mankad, and kathak repertoire with Joanna De Souza.
Shefali has performed at prestigious venues across the U.S. and India. Performance highlights include solo works at Alvin Ailey, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Tufts University, Wellesley College, New York Kathak Festival, and the Royal Opera House Mumbai. As a member of the Chitresh Das Dance Company, she performed in Das’ original works – Sita Haran (Babson College) and Shiva (Cal Performances, UC Berkeley). As a member of the Leela Dance Collective, she has performed in California Gharana (Irvine Barclay Theater) and Son of the Wind (Green Music Center, ODC, Royal Opera House Mumbai, Ford Theaters LA).
Her work has received support from the Barr Foundation, Next Steps Boston, Foundation for Metrowest, Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the National Endowment for Arts.
Shefali teaches accredited courses in kathak at Tufts University, Wellesley College, and the Boston Conservatory. She is a senior teaching artist at the Chhandika Institute of Kathak Dance, a Boston-area nonprofit dedicated to carrying forward the rich tradition of kathak, through classes, performances, and community outreach. She co-founded the Chhandika Youth Ensemble, a pre-professional ensemble for intensive training and performance, which has trained 50+ students.
abstract
The Courtesan: A Forgotten Lineage
Research Talk
Over the past few years, I have been reflecting on the lineage of gurus in kathak and the conspicuous absence of women. Throughout the eras of Mughal rule, British Raj, and early post-Independence India, I believe many of the female masters and gurus of kathak were tawaifs (courtesans). However, due to their gender, social status, and misnomered association with sex work, their role in developing and preserving kathak has been systematically excluded from mainstream historical narrative. This talk explores the overlooked contributions of courtesans and their role in shaping kathak.