21 Facts About Nahid Siddiqui

Nahid Siddiqui was born on 1956 and is an exponent of Kathak dance.

Nahid Siddiqui has been a disciple of two great teachers: Maharaj Kathak and Birju Maharaj.

Nahid Siddiqui has against all odds and challenges, spent decades of her life breathing hope, vitality, and exuberance to a dance form that has received very little state patronage and support.

Nahid Siddiqui is acknowledged for contributing her own style, technique, and expression, which is imbued and informed by Islamic and Sufi aesthetics, sensibilities, and longing for ultimate union.

Nahid Siddiqui has been the recipient of several awards, including Pakistan's Pride of Performance, the UK's British Cultural Award, and the International Dance Award.

Nahid Siddiqui is the main character of the spirtual novel Sitaron Bhari Raat which is written by Canadian Pakistani writer Waseem Raza Syed.

Nahid Siddiqui is the eldest daughter of actor Talat Siddiqui and Mohammad Bashir Siddiqui.

Nahid Siddiqui's parents enrolled her in Happy Home School, Karachi.

Nahid Siddiqui started learning Kathak from Baba Maharaj Ghulam Hussain Kathak in 1971.

In 1976, Nahid Siddiqui had the honor to travel with the entourage of former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and represent Pakistan as a Kathak dancer, embarking on a journey that would make her strive to root and evolve Kathak in Pakistan.

Nahid Siddiqui has performed in the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Morocco, and Jordan and has mesmerized and delighted audiences that have often comprised international dignitaries.

Payal, a dynamic thirteen-episode visual encyclopedia, aired in 1978, to date remains the only such endeavor in Pakistan in which Nahid Siddiqui collaborated with classical musicians, creating a masterpiece, which shed light on Kathak in a society where there was very little awareness of this art.

Nahid Siddiqui has since been symbolic of resistance against extremist ideologies, beautifully using her art to exemplify Islamic culture in a way not seen before.

In England, where she lived in exile, Nahid Siddiqui inculcated the paradigms of Islamic geometry, Sufi poetry, Persian, Arab and Turkic influences in Kathak.

Nahid Siddiqui is one of the very few Kathak dancers' who is renowned for her finesse and immense sophistication in movement.

Nahid Siddiqui began her teaching career at the Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham.

Nahid Siddiqui launched her dance company and since then has continued to produce professional dancers, some of whom have gone on launch their own companies in England and around the world.

Nahid Siddiqui has been holding lecture demonstrations and workshops in Pakistan.

Nahid Siddiqui has worked extensively with the prestigious Agha Khan University in Karachi and held workshops there.

Nahid Siddiqui continues to live in Lahore, Pakistan and keeps dance alive by holding routine performances for the young audience.

Nahid Siddiqui is running her own organization named Nahid Siddiqui Foundation, which works for Dance, Yoga, and Music.