Kinga Malec

Kinga Malec (21) has been learning North Indias classical kathak dance form under the tutelage of Lucknow-based Pandit Arjun Misra since August. A student of various dance forms since the age of six, Kinga taught dance for a whole year in Warsaw to save funds to come to India. This is my first visit but definitely not the last, she says, stating that henceforth shell spend her university vacations in India for continuing her formal training in this ancient dance form which originated in the courts of the Mughal emperors around the 16th century.Kingas appreciation for Indian dance grew out of her mother (the best person in my life) Violettas interest in Indian philosophy and spiritual discourses which would often be preceded by dance and cultural performances. While traditional Polish dances are joyful and energetic, classical Indian dance expresses stories through vivid facial and hand gestures. Theres a sensitivity and spiritual element in Indian dance which makes it very appealing, says Kinga. An avid student of ice skating, traditional Polish dance and ballet while in school, Kinga was admitted into Varsovia, a dance troupe which toured the world in 2002, performing before audiences which included Pope John Paul II. In 2006, a Bollywood dance performance in Warsaw caught her fancy and she enroled for a six month course in Indian dance. She also started teaching, infusing semi-classic and folk elements into popular dance. Though I didnt understand the lyrics I would look up the internet for translations to portray the exact expression conveyed in each song, she says. A chance encounter with Krzysztof Bartczak, a Polish diplomat married to Lucknow-based interior designer Rachna Misra, opened up the oppor-tunity of not only finding one of the greats of kathak in Lucknow, but also having a family to live with as she absorbed the nuances of the courtly dance and Indian culture. Once in India, Kinga took the heat and the animals on the street and the people looking at me like a UFO all in her stride. I dont go to villages in Poland, so this is my chance to see animals up close, she jokes. Meanwhile she professes a growing love for colourful Indian apparel, street markets and Indian cuisine which she is learning despite a punishing dance schedule. I have so much to learn. I am taking back a video of my guru to follow and will return next year to learn until I am sufficiently qualified to teach this grace-ful dance to people in Poland, she says with a glint of determination in her eye. Vidya Pandit (Lucknow) Nikita Gupta Although only 21 years of age, Nikita Gupta has received an impressive number of awards for excellence in photography. The youngest graduate of the Images and More Photography Academy, Mumbai (estb.1999), and currently a final year mass media student at Bhavans Hind College, Nikita has already won a photography competition organised by Photography Imaging Education Association, Mumbai in which she was adjudged second (out of 5,000 entries), and…