Uma Sharma

Uma Sharma is an accomplished Kathak dancer whose career spans performance, choreography, and pedagogy within Indian classical dance. Born into a family rooted in cultural education, she is associated with Bharatiya Sangeet Sadan, a New Delhi–based music and dance institution founded by her father in 1946. Her training reflects the rhythmic precision of the Jaipur gharana and the expressive emphasis of the Lucknow gharana, which together inform her approach to Kathak presentation.

Over the years, she expanded the traditional Kathak repertoire by creating new compositions and full-length dance-dramas, including thematic works such as Stree, which explore social narratives through classical movement vocabulary. Uma Sharma has performed at major national and international festivals and toured widely across Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East, both independently and under the auspices of cultural institutions such as the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. A recipient of the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, she remains an influential figure in the field of Indian classical dance education.