Melbourne Kathak Festival
Heritage with a Pulse
Generational Storytelling
The Melbourne Kathak Festival is Australia’s vibrant home for Kathak – the classical dance form celebrated for its lightning‑fast footwork, expressive storytelling, and magnetic musicality.
Each year, the festival ignites the stage by bringing Kathak into conversation with Hindustani and Western classical music, creating a powerful meeting point between ancient tradition and contemporary Australia. It’s a celebration of the Indian subcontinent’s cultural richness, reimagined for a global, multicultural city.
Kathak has always been a crossroads of cultures. This festival embraces that legacy — inviting artists, audiences, and storytellers from every background to explore how tradition evolves, adapts, and sparks new creative futures.
Collaboration, co‑creation, and bold artistic expression drive everything we do. Dance, music, theatre, poetry, film, literature — every storytelling form finds a place here.
Preservation and presentation of traditional arts and culture and re-imagining them through multimodal artistic co-creation.
Proudly standing as Australia’s biggest Kathak festival, shaping how classical dance evolves within a multicultural nation.
What Happens at the Festival
Under the visionary leadership of Sanchita Abrol, the Melbourne Kathak Festival offers a dynamic, high-energy program that brings traditional Indian grace into dialogue with contemporary Australian stories.
Performances
Breathtaking Kathak showcases featuring lightning-fast footwork, expressive abhinaya, and magnetic musicality from world-class exponents.
Workshops and Hands-on Learning
Immersive masterclasses for all levels, focusing on the technical precision and rhythmic nuances that define this ancient form.
Storytelling Works
New, innovative productions that explore contemporary narratives through traditional storytelling frameworks and multimodal co-creation.
Film Screenings and Panels
Insightful journeys through cinema and dialogue, tracing the evolution of classical dance and its place in a globalized world.
Past editions have welcomed legendary artists including Padma Shri and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Guru Shovana Narayan, OAM Tara Rajkumar, Kathak Guru Pt. Krishan Mohan Maharaj and his senior disciples, and celebrated vocalist Jitender Singh Jamwal.
Why it matters in Australia
The Melbourne Kathak Festival is more than a cultural showcase; it is a vital part of Australia's multicultural evolution. By creating a professional space for classical arts to thrive, it bridges the gap between historical heritage and the modern-day experiences of the diaspora and the wider Australian public. This festival fosters a shared sense of belonging and celebrates the vibrant diversity that defines our national identity.
honouring heritage while reimagining it.