Aliyah Banerjee

New Delhi, India

Since the tender age of four, Aliyah Banerjee has trained in the Lucknow Gharana of Kathak. A disciple of eminent Gurus in Delhi, Pt. Jai Kishan Maharaj (eldest son of Padmavibhushan Pt. Birju Maharaj), Smt. Ruby Mishra, and Shri Tribhuwan Maharaj, she has performed in several group productions choreographed by her Gurus such as 'Namaha', 'Dashavatar', 'Sargam', and 'Tarana' staged around Delhi in Kamani Auditorium, Shri Ram Centre, NDMC Theatre, and Saraswati Kala Mandir among other venues. She is also one of the few student faculty at her Gurus' institution Birju Maharaj Parampara in Delhi, giving students in the US, UK, Australia, India, and many more places a foundation in the Lucknow gharana of Kathak.

Aliyah is also an independent Kathak performer, having performed her original and her Gurus' choreography at prestigious festivals and venues in Delhi, Mumbai, San Diego, New York, Austin, and Colorado among others, including the Battery Dance Festival, New York Kathak Festival, Prakriti Festival, and IFAASD Youth Festival. Through her fledgling dance company, she has given instruction in Kathak to her students and choreographed productions that are strongly reflective of traditional Kathak.

With an interest in writing about the performing arts, she has written pieces on Kathak for platforms such as Manthan, the art research wing of UPAJ India, the Indigenous Blog, and the Alipore Post. Outside of the arts, she is also a published poet and a student of economics.