Acclaimed dancer Prashant Shah of India performs works of Kathak, a classical dance form of India.

Prashant Shah, a senior disciple of Padma Bhushan Smt. Kumudini Lakhia, is one of the very few critically acclaimed male performer/choreographers residing in New York City. Prashant’s virtuosity in Kathak technique enables him to perform a vast repertoire with masculine grace without any flowery affectations, making him one of the outstanding male dancers of his genre today. He is also the first recipient of SANGEET NATAK AKADEMI YUVA PURASKAR (national award) established by the President of India in the name of Ustaad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for Kathak dance. Now a United States resident with his own dance company and having performed in over forty countries, Prashant is regularly commissioned by international choreographers involving other dance styles like Hip Hop, Belly Dancing, Flamenco, Bharata Natyam, Modern and Contemporary as a dancer and choreographer all over Europe, North America and Asia and has received rave reviews in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Independent, San Francisco Chronicle, Dancing Times, The Star Ledger, Voice of Dance, and more. Recently, Prashant has also been selected as the Gallery Artiste on Pentacle’s list of artists. Prashant believes in developing a new language of creativity in his Kathak dance with the use and exploration of its rich technique both traditional and contemporary, connected to other dance forms of the world.

This performance will be part of "Beats of Life, Rhythms of Heritage," a seven-part performance series presented by Natya Dance Theatre in collaboration with Chicago's Indo-American Heritage Museum. Performances featuring renowned local and international artists that bring the music and dance of India to Chicago audiences will continue throughout 2012, at various venues.

Tickets: $20 general/$10 students and seniors.

"Beats of Life, Rhythms of Heritage" is made possible by a generous grant from The Chicago Community Trust.