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Our People

Leadership

KDT’s Executive Leadership

Rita Mustaphi Headshot

Rita Mustaphi

Rita Mitra Mustaphi is a native of Kolkata, India. Under her direction, Katha Dance Theatre is distinguished by its impeccable technique, its capacity to expand the Indian classical Kathak dance vocabulary and realize new works, and its collaborations across disciplines. From 1987 to 2005, while promoting traditional Kathak dance through various dance dramas, she became interested in cross-cultural exploration through collaborations that she continues to pursue today. In her 30+ years as a professional dancer, she has choreographed more than 50 new works that performed locally, nationally and internationally.

Read More about Rita Mustaphi

Kalyan Mustaphi

Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Katha Dance Theatre, Kaylan is the liaison between the company and the board. A native of India and one of the founding members of the company, Kalyan acts as the company’s financial director/producer. He works with the artists and board to carry out producing, presenting, and other special projects. He takes care of master schedule planning, staff development and hiring, financial management, and other administrative duties. Additionally, Kalyan records and edits all of KDT’s videography. He is very actively involved in the day-to-day operations and long-term well-being of the organization.

Dancers & Instructors

Apprentices

Company apprentices are high-achieving students who are hand selected by Rita Mustaphi. Chosen students have shown an impressive level of commitment and talent in the classroom. Apprentices perform with the company on an as-needed basis until they are chosen to join the company ranks.

Rohini Chatwani

Apprentice 2024-2025 4th Season

Rohini Chatwani began learning Kathak at KDT in 2014 under the guidance of Guru Rita Mustaphi and has since attended workshops with the late Kathak legend Pandit Birju Maharaj, his disciples guru Saswati Sen and guru Durga Arya-Krüger. She performed in KDT’s production of Black Candle (2022), Kathak E-motion (2023), Nature’s Revenge (2023)and Ganga – A Choreographic Odyssey (2024). This is her fourth season as a KDT apprentice.

Aaratrika Mondal

Apprentice 2024-2025 4th Season

Aaratrika Mondal began learning Kathak at KDT in 2014 under the guidance of Guru Rita Mustaphi and has since taken workshops with Kathak legend late Pandit Birju Maharaj, his disciples guru Saswati Sen and guru Durga Arya-Krüger. In April of 2021, she won her age group in the Kathak solo performance category at the Bharathotsav International, Virtual Dance Competition in Ottawa, Canada. She performed in KDT’s production of Black Candle (2022), Kathak E-motion (2023), Nature’s Revenge (2023) and Ganga – A Choreographic Odyssey (2024). This is Aaratrika’s fourth season as a KDT apprentice.

Karthika Nair

Apprentice 2024-2025 3rd Season

Karthika Nair began studying Kathak at KDT in 2017 under the guidance of Guru Rita Mustaphi and has since taken workshops with Kathak legend late Pandit Birju Maharaj, his disciple guru Saswati Sen and guru Durga Arya-Krüger. She performed in KDT’s production of Kathak E-motion (2023), Nature’s Revenge (2023) and Ganga – A Choreographic Odyssey (2024). This is her third season as a KDT apprentice.

Ajay Patel

Apprentice 2024-2025 2nd Season

Ajay Patel began learning Kathak at KDT in 2020 under the guidance of Guru Rita Mustaphi and has since taken workshops with guru Durga Arya-Krüger. Prior to starting with KDT, he studied bharatanatyam for over 5 years with Ragamala Dance Company. He has performed in KDT productions of Nature’s Revenge (2023) and Ganga – A Choreographic Odyssey (2024). This is his second season as a KDT apprentice.

Vibashreya Srivatsan

Apprentice 2024-2025 2nd Season

Vibashreya Srivatsan began her Kathak journey at KDT in 2018 under the guidance of Guru Rita Mustaphi and has since taken workshops with masters such as guru Saswati Sen and guru Durga Arya-Krüger. She has also studied bharatanatyam for over 15 years in Chennai, India. She has performed in KDT productions of Nature’s Revenge (2023) and Ganga – A Choreographic Odyssey (2024) This is her second season as a KDT apprentice.

Our Team

KDT’s Administrative Staff

Nina Hagen

General Manager

Nina joined KDT’s administrative team in 2018.

Kully Vance

Dance School Manager

Kully joined KDT’s administrative team in 2023.

Bob Beverage

Grant Writer

Bob became KDT’s grant writer and consultant in 2019.

Interested in Joining Our Team?

We are not currently hiring, but feel free to reach out with your interest and experience, and we will keep you in mind for future opportunities.

Board of Directors

Read about our 2022-23 Board of Directors below.

Kalyan Mustaphi

Executive Director

Katha Dance Theatre Executive Director, Retired Engineer, formerly of Xcel Energy

Rita Mustaphi

President

Katha Dance Theatre Artistic Director, Teaching Artist at COMPAS

Monica Singh Shukla

Secretary

Consultant at Pepper Foster Consulting

Kuhu Singh

Member at Large

Ecomm Sales & Marketing Manager at Evine Live

Aditi Steinbruchel

Member at Large

VP/Associate Director of Financial Analysis at Wells Fargo