Birju Maharaj

Brijmohan Mishra (Hindi: बृजमोहन मिश्र) (4 February 1938 – 17 January 2022), popularly known as Pandit Birju Maharaj (Hindi: पंडित बिरजू महाराज), was a legendary Indian dancer of Kathak style of dancing of the Lucknow Kalka-Bindadin gharana and has earned the sobriquet “Kathak dance Wizard”. Apart from dancing, he was a virtuoso singer of Hindustani classical music. His choreographing skills has taken the Kathak dance to peak of popularity. He has founded the Kalashram, an instituion to promote Kathak dance form. He has been honoured with Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award, in addition to several prestigious awards.

• I was born in Lucknow 1938, 4 February. It was Friday. A hot day as it usually happens in spring...in that home where I was born there were only girls. I was the only boy. So our neighbours came saw that that there were all girls and just one boy... like Krishna and gopis they used to say. So my name became Brijmohan Misra. Brij is the name of the city where Krishna was born and ‘Mohan ‘means attraction. Brijmohan is a way of saying Krishna, the god of love and dance.
  • In Reena Shah (January 2006). Movement in Stills: The Dance and Life of Kumudini Lakhia. Mapin Publishing Pvt Ltd. pp. 117–. ISBN 978-81-88204-42-7. 

• Solo dance was complete by one. Now because everybody is bored, feeling bored by one dancer only they are taking 10,20 people.
  • About the trend in Bollywood films which he felt was to keep the interest of the public though group choreography in "Movement in Stills: The Dance and Life of Kumudini Lakhia", page=178

• Earlier one person would do a sam and the audience ten feet away knew that a new tukda was about to begin but now fifty of us did the same movement with the same precision; the audience even two hundred feet away knew and understood. Yes, we connected to many because we were many presenting one. We simply enlarged ourselves by being many more of us and we engulfed the stage.
  • When he changed over from solo form to group ballet of synchronized action and rhythm thus creating a dynamic impact on the audience in Raksha Bharadia (2006). Me A Handbook For Life. Rupa & Company. pp. 179–. ISBN 978-81-291-1058-9. 

• Brijmohan Maharaj’s Kamdeva matched grace with grace. To the loving he added fear, and a secret knowledge of his fate. Together they devised a poignancy that was memorable and must surely be rare in dance.
  • His dance in the ballet choreography Rati Kamdeva performed along with co-artiste Kumudini Lakhi reviewed in the Statesman in "Movement in Stills: The Dance and Life of Kumudini Lakhia}, page=115.

===Kathak Dance of India, Past, Present, Future===On September 22, 1981, The Guardian reviewed it by estimating {{cite book|author=Reginald Maresci|title=Kathak Dance of India, Past, The event organized at the Wembley Conference Centre on Saturday night, along with the traditional simultaneous compositions of the renowned Lucknow, truly provided innovative ballets, which can also be considered as a great representation of Birju Maharaj through his birth and achievements, for example, 'Roopmati - Baj Bahadur'. The famous 16th century Indian love story Rupmati-Baj Bahadur has been a significant subject of poetry and visual arts, and it certainly provided a vast field for Briju Maharaj's dance and theatrical experience. With some dancers, he has estimated movement and speed and beautifully filled the stage he shared. The distinctive grace of Kathak was utilized exceptionally well. Briju Maharaj's Baj Bahadur demonstrated the power of the Pathan and the artistry of the traditional dance form - indeed, this last Muslim king Malwa was portrayed, who was a great poet and spent his days as a musician in the court of Emperor Akbar.