One of kathak legend, Pandit Chitresh Das’, many contributions to kathak through his pedagogical legacy is his preeminent and virtuosic innovation that he coined “kathak yoga” - evolving kathak as a sadhana (devotional practice for life). In developing kathak yoga, Das drew on Indian philosophy and his guru’s teachings to bring together the musical, rhythmic, and kinesthetic elements of the dance in a new technique that expanded dancers’ mental and physical boundaries.  This inspired practice challenges the dancer to simultaneously sing, recite, dance, and even play an instrument, often in opposing rhythms. Das called this challenging technique yoga (which comes from the word yug, meaning union) because of its requirement of the dancer to achieve a perfect union or oneness between the mind and body, ultimately elevating consciousness and spiritual actualization. In explaining his inspiration for developing kathak yoga, Das frequently evoked images of sadhus or yogis who performed great feats that defied our perceived capacities of the mind and body. 

Kathak yoga has also been discussed in ethnomusicologist Sarah Morelli’s book, A Guru’s Journey: Pandit Chitresh Das and Indian Classical Dance in Diaspora. She says, “While Pandit Das spoke of the ‘oneness’ generated through kathak yoga, his students filled in the blanks..by variously discussing the mind-body connection facilitated by kathak yoga, or the detachment from ego investment in the practice.”

Rachna Nivas, senior disciple of Das, played an instrumental role in advancing his innovation of kathak yoga by pioneering the use of harmonium in the practice of this technique.  Nivas credits kathak yoga as the most paramount aspect of her training journey that not only led to developing her eventual virtuosity in improvisation, complex rhythms and physical technique of the feet, but that it also deeply grounded her purpose, her pure love for the art, and her sadhana for life.  

Nivas is most known for her exhilarating performances in complex rhythmic cycles like 9.5 beats, while singing, dancing, playing, and improvising.  As such, Nivas was cast in the leading anchor role for Das’ acclaimed work Shabd (2007), a production that propelled kathak yoga from a solitary meditative practice to a stunningly complex and intriguing performance art.  Since then, Nivas has performed kathak yoga in prestigious venues and multidisciplinary conferences across the U.S. and India – including 92NY’s Harkness Dance Center, Zellerbach Hall Cal Performances at UC Berkeley, International Kriya Yoga Congress, International Conference for Traumatic and Stress Disorders, National Center for Kathak Dance in Delhi (Kathak Kedra), National Center for Performing Arts in Mumbai, Shaniwara Wada Festival in Pune, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, Yale University, and many others.  

Video Highlights of Rachna Nivas performing kathak yoga

“..she [Nivas] sang and played a repeating seven-and-a-half-count melody on harmonium as her feet improvised an astonishing series of counter-rhythms. At the height of complexity, she added turns, like a drummer tossing her sticks into the air without losing the beat...the point being to push at the boundaries of the possible, to chase the receding edge of difficulty that requires a level of concentration akin to a meditative state.

- Brian Seibert, New York Times