About Us

Shivani is a dancer- choreographer based in Leeds. Her practice centres around the South Asian classical dance of Kathak. She considers herself as a contemporary practitioner of a classical artform. Her approach to Kathak is fluid yet grounded. This allows her to take inspiration from its history while searching for the contemporary expressions it offers.

Originally from Mumbai, India, Shivani trained with some of the best teachers in the city like Dr. Rupali Desai and Guru Sanjukta Wagh. She learnt different styles of Kathak from each respectively - the Benaras anga which is full of complex compositions and layakari and the Lucknowi anga emphasized thehraav and nazakat. She holds a Vishaarad in Kathak (BA in Kathak) from the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya (2015).

Her curious nature made her try different styles and she found Contemporary Dance filled the gaps that were missing in her training. So, she undertook dance lessons in Ballet and Contemporary at the Future School of Performing Arts. She also completed her MA in Dance and Creative Enterprise from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2022. Since then, she has been based in Leeds. Shivani has graced the stages like Riley Theatre, Carriageworks Theatre, Seven Arts and participated in large outdoors works for LEEDS 2023 in Headingley Stadium.

Shivani has also spent a long time learning the ins and outs of creative production and arts management through various roles in companies like The Drama School Mumbai (India), The Art-X Co (India), and beej Foundation for Performing Arts (India) as well as organisations like South Asian Arts-UK (SAA-uk) in Leeds. 

She is finally taking a bold step forward by launching Menaka Dance that brings her trainings in dance and creative enterprise together to create opportunities to learn, perform, immerse and engage with contemporary and classical South Asian dance.