Véronique Azan was a French
Kathak dancer known for beauty and grace. During her active years of dance, she traveled the world performing in various dance festivals.
Early life and background
Azan was born in France. She first arrived in India when she was 7 years old. After attending a concert of
Ravi Shankar, her parents decided to move to India to learn how to play
sitar and
tabla. Her father played tabla under
Kishan Maharaj and her mother's sitar guru was Amanth Mishra in
Varanasi and Narendra Baraju in Nepal.
They settled in
Varanasi, a city considered to be the cultural center of
North India. Azan was especially fascinated by the music of the
ghungroos.
She was initiated in
Kathak by
Sitara Devi's sister Shrimati Alaknanda Devi. She later moved to
Delhi where she joined the
Kathak Kendra and became a student of
Pandit Birju Maharaj.[1][2][3] She died in
Bali on 2 August 2017.
Career
Azan gave recitals in national and international events including the
Khajuraho Dance Festival and the Festivals of India in France (1985),
USSR (1987), and Japan (1988).
She was featured in several dance-dramas choreographed by Birju Maharaj and traveled with his troupe in India and Europe. In 1995 she was invited to perform in the
Avignon Festival in France.[4][5][6][7]
She gave many performances in Mexico where she spent 10 years of her life.[8][9][10][11][12][13]