World Dance Day 2026: 'Dance Has Been My Strongest Bridge Between Cultures,' Says Bharatanatyam Icon Apeksha Niranjan

For Apeksha Niranjan, that moment didn’t happen in a dance studio surrounded by mirrors and tutors. It happened in front of a television. Somewhere in the culturally lively city of Kolhapur in Maharashtra, a young girl sat watching classical dance performances on TV with the sort of attention that children usually reserve for cartoons or cricket. Something about those precise movements, those expressive eyes, those stories told without words, took hold of her imagination.

 

“I discovered my inclination towards Bharatanatyam through watching and observing,” she would later say. Like many Indian children, Apeksha began her dance journey with Kathak. It was a natural starting point. But somewhere along the way, another dance form began calling her with a louder voice: Bharatanatyam. Apeksha didn’t back away. She leaned in.

 

Artists often emerge from interesting cultural backgrounds, but Apeksha’s heritage reads almost like the beginning of a novel. Her paternal grandmother was Polish. Her paternal grandfather was a Maharashtrian from Kolhapur. Somewhere between Europe and western India, between languages and histories, a young girl grew up absorbing different cultures without necessarily realizing that this would one day become central to her artistic voice. When Apeksha dances, audiences from very different cultures somehow feel that the story belongs to them as well. Of course, natural curiosity alone doesn’t make a classical dancer. Training does.

Apeksha trained under two of the most respected Bharatanatyam gurus in the country: Dr. Sucheta Chapekar and Dr. Alka Lajmi. Under their guidance, she learned the grammar of a tradition that is centuries old. She had another advantage. Before she became widely known as a dancer, she had already spent time in front of audiences as a Marathi actress, performing under the name Apeksha Kashikar. She was also a Graded Artist of Doordarshan. Acting, it turns out, is very good preparation for Bharatanatyam.

 

Many classical dancers spend their lives performing within India’s traditional sabha circuit. Apeksha does that too. But she has also spent the past two decades quietly building a global presence for Bharatanatyam. In Poland, the connection is personal. Her grandmother had been a Polish refugee who found shelter in India during World War II and later married an Indian doctor in Mumbai. That extraordinary family history eventually evolved into artistic collaborations across Warsaw, Krakow, Poznan and beyond.

 

In Seoul, she performed Buddha — The Awakened One at an international Buddhist dance festival. In Paris, she brought Bharatanatyam to the intimate and historic stage of Le Mandapa. In Tuscany, she appeared at the DAP Festival, standing as the only Indian classical dancer among contemporary and ballet performers. In Chicago, she presented Anubhava, a powerful dance production about Polish orphans rescued during World War II by Maharaja

 

Despite her international schedule, Apeksha remains committed to teaching. In 2004 she founded Nrityanjali Performing Arts in Navi Mumbai, an academy that has trained more than 200 students in Bharatanatyam. Two decades later, Nrityanjali has evolved into a small but thriving ecosystem of dancers who carry forward the tradition she loves.

 

World Dance Day is celebrated every year on April 29 to mark the birth anniversary of French dancer and ballet master Jean-Georges Noverre. It usually comes with dancers celebrating their art, audiences applauding tradition, and cultural institutions organizing performances. But occasionally, it offers a chance to pause and talk to someone who has spent an entire life inside that tradition. In this conversation with ETV Bharat, Apeksha Niranjan speaks about her remarkable journey: from Kolhapur to the world stage, from television inspiration to global recognition, and about the art of Bharatanatyam itself.