Katrina Ji
Katrina Ji, Artistic Director of Culture Shakti Dance Company & Rajasthani Gypsy Caravan
She has appeared on several TV programs in India & the USA in addition to podcasts and magazines. She has performed with some of the worlds most famous dancers!
Katrina Ji tours internationally with Rajasthani Gypsy Caravan and teaches Bollywood Dance at her studio, Culture Shakti in Seattle in addition to a variety of public and private schools.
She specializes in Bollywood, Rajasthani Folk Dance & ATS® Belly Dance.
Call 206-322-9500 or email to contact her for performances, workshops or group lessons.
She has appeared on several TV programs in India & the USA in addition to podcasts and magazines. She has performed with some of the worlds most famous dancers!
Katrina Ji tours internationally with Rajasthani Gypsy Caravan and teaches Bollywood Dance at her studio, Culture Shakti in Seattle in addition to a variety of public and private schools.
She specializes in Bollywood, Rajasthani Folk Dance & ATS® Belly Dance.
Call 206-322-9500 or email to contact her for performances, workshops or group lessons.
Shut Up & Shimmy Podcast: Listen here
Desi Plaza TV, Rajasthani Gypsy Caravan opening for Bappi Lahiri at Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX (10,000 people in audience)
THAT Talk Show: Listen here
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Katrina Ji in Rajasthani Gypsy Caravan Documentary
Magazine Interviews with Katrina Ji
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by Sandip Soparrkar, Bollywood Film Dance Choreographer written for The Asian Age
I have always believed that a dancer is the luckiest person. Not only because they are creative and can make all their imaginations come alive through their dance moves, but also because whenever they travel, they make friends very easily and the relationship that develops is only because of the medium of dance that gets them to bond with other people. I had mentioned before in my article that I was invited to perform at the Seattle India dance festival in the US recently. On this trip of mine to Seattle and the three weeks I spent in the magnificently beautiful city, my assistants Supriya Shah, Manasi Desai and I met a very interesting person — someone who connected with us because of the love for dance. And not just any dance, her love was for Bollywood dancing.
She was introduced to me as one of the dancers who would be performing for me in my dance segments. My dance piece had a total of 22 performers and she was one among them. But, the first thing that caught my attention was her name — Katrina Ji. Well, at first I thought that she has named herself after Katrina Kaif. But when I spoke to her more, I realised that it was a coincidence that she and the Bollywood superstar Katrina Kaif shared the same name. So my next question was, why ‘Ji’? That too, I realised, was her real surname. Katrina Kaif has become a star now, but Katrina Ji has been in the dance scene far longer than Katrina Kaif’s career in Bollywood.
Katrina Ji started dancing since the age of four and by now she has a wealth of dance experience behind her. She is a certified ATS Belly Dance Instructor by Carolena Nericcio of FCBD. She is also certified in Entry Level Flamenco by the Spanish Dance Society. Her childhood dance foundation has been in ballet, tap and acrobatics. But what she loves the most is the Bollywood dance and Bhangra.
Though Katrina cannot speak Hindi, she watches every Bollywood film and loves Rani Mukherjee. Her love for Bollywood dance has got her to India many a times and she has trained under many experts from the film world. I was surprised to visit her dance studio in Seattle by the name Culture Shakti Dance Company. Without being an Indian or a Hindu, she has the word Shakti used in her company, as she believes that “the power” or the “shakti” of love of dance has helped her set her dance school and performance company.
Her entire studio has a very Rajasthani feel — with puppets, the famous katputli, everywhere. The main door welcomes the guest with a toran and a symbol of Om along with a diya kept near the music system so that a prayer can be performed before the class begins. Being a person who is born and brought up in Seattle in the US, she seems more Indian to me compared to most Indians living in India.
Katrina has been teaching ATS Belly Dance since 2001. In 2007, she was amongst the first group of teachers to be certified as a Sister Studio ATS Belly Dance Instructor by Carolena Nericcio of FatChanceBellyDance .
In 2010, she began Bollywood dance classes in Seattle and post that her institute has been nominated as the best in western Washington by King 5/ Evening Magazine, which makes me feel proud that she is taking so much interest in promoting our films and dances in another far away land.
People like Katrina Ji are rare gems who willingly adopt another culture and everything about a country and a place, only because they love it from the bottom of their heart. The love for India and Indian culture is so clear in Katrina Ji’s lifestyle that it is touching. The only regret she has is that she is trying her best to learn Hindi, but is not very good with learning foreign languages, so she has not been able to speak in the right accent and in the proper way.
When I meet dancers like Katrina Ji, I sometimes wonder how pure their souls must be to be accepting and to change oneself completely to fit into a new culture. My heart is all for Katrina and her love affair she is having with the Bollywood music and dance moves. She is superbly dynamic, graceful, and passionate about her art. I hope and pray that she keeps up the hard work and promotes Indian film culture even more in other places in the US and at the same time, I wish to thank Katrina for loving India and Indian films and calling us her own.
I have always believed that a dancer is the luckiest person. Not only because they are creative and can make all their imaginations come alive through their dance moves, but also because whenever they travel, they make friends very easily and the relationship that develops is only because of the medium of dance that gets them to bond with other people. I had mentioned before in my article that I was invited to perform at the Seattle India dance festival in the US recently. On this trip of mine to Seattle and the three weeks I spent in the magnificently beautiful city, my assistants Supriya Shah, Manasi Desai and I met a very interesting person — someone who connected with us because of the love for dance. And not just any dance, her love was for Bollywood dancing.
She was introduced to me as one of the dancers who would be performing for me in my dance segments. My dance piece had a total of 22 performers and she was one among them. But, the first thing that caught my attention was her name — Katrina Ji. Well, at first I thought that she has named herself after Katrina Kaif. But when I spoke to her more, I realised that it was a coincidence that she and the Bollywood superstar Katrina Kaif shared the same name. So my next question was, why ‘Ji’? That too, I realised, was her real surname. Katrina Kaif has become a star now, but Katrina Ji has been in the dance scene far longer than Katrina Kaif’s career in Bollywood.
Katrina Ji started dancing since the age of four and by now she has a wealth of dance experience behind her. She is a certified ATS Belly Dance Instructor by Carolena Nericcio of FCBD. She is also certified in Entry Level Flamenco by the Spanish Dance Society. Her childhood dance foundation has been in ballet, tap and acrobatics. But what she loves the most is the Bollywood dance and Bhangra.
Though Katrina cannot speak Hindi, she watches every Bollywood film and loves Rani Mukherjee. Her love for Bollywood dance has got her to India many a times and she has trained under many experts from the film world. I was surprised to visit her dance studio in Seattle by the name Culture Shakti Dance Company. Without being an Indian or a Hindu, she has the word Shakti used in her company, as she believes that “the power” or the “shakti” of love of dance has helped her set her dance school and performance company.
Her entire studio has a very Rajasthani feel — with puppets, the famous katputli, everywhere. The main door welcomes the guest with a toran and a symbol of Om along with a diya kept near the music system so that a prayer can be performed before the class begins. Being a person who is born and brought up in Seattle in the US, she seems more Indian to me compared to most Indians living in India.
Katrina has been teaching ATS Belly Dance since 2001. In 2007, she was amongst the first group of teachers to be certified as a Sister Studio ATS Belly Dance Instructor by Carolena Nericcio of FatChanceBellyDance .
In 2010, she began Bollywood dance classes in Seattle and post that her institute has been nominated as the best in western Washington by King 5/ Evening Magazine, which makes me feel proud that she is taking so much interest in promoting our films and dances in another far away land.
People like Katrina Ji are rare gems who willingly adopt another culture and everything about a country and a place, only because they love it from the bottom of their heart. The love for India and Indian culture is so clear in Katrina Ji’s lifestyle that it is touching. The only regret she has is that she is trying her best to learn Hindi, but is not very good with learning foreign languages, so she has not been able to speak in the right accent and in the proper way.
When I meet dancers like Katrina Ji, I sometimes wonder how pure their souls must be to be accepting and to change oneself completely to fit into a new culture. My heart is all for Katrina and her love affair she is having with the Bollywood music and dance moves. She is superbly dynamic, graceful, and passionate about her art. I hope and pray that she keeps up the hard work and promotes Indian film culture even more in other places in the US and at the same time, I wish to thank Katrina for loving India and Indian films and calling us her own.
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Jaiselmer, Rajasthan
India Newspaper Katrina Ji with Queen Harish & Guest Dancers February 2016 |
#TRENDING
"The Bollywood Project Dance Company, Seattle Professional dance company gives sizzling Bollywood-style performances and - better yet - choreography instruction. Glad to see America finally catching on to B-Wood!" WH #mudras #technicolorrazzledazzle ~Wes Hurley, City Arts December 2011 |
