Prerana Deshpande through her performances has brought out the essence of the traditional Indian classical Kathak dance. Today, she has been applauded through out the world for her creative performances that explores the expanded horizons of Kathak unremittingly. Her performances through this medium of expression however creates an `enchanting dance lyrics`.
Prerana Deshpande has been trained under the great tutelage of the maestro Guru Dr. Rohini Bhate and Sharadini Gole. However she has tried to extend the boundaries of this traditional art form. The traditional avenues that she has learnt from her gurus by incorporating creativity of her own, she made that form a further distinctive one.
Her choreography reflects her profound knowledge in music as well as the rich refined vocabulary that is needed to support Indian classical dance. Through her choreography Prerana Deshpande always tried to explore the complexity of the shlokas, poems and lyrics into a simple form in order to give them a constructive interpretation.
Prerana Deshpande has managed to create awareness of Kathak and for that she is endlessly striving to remain, in the tradition. The fact that revealed through her awareness is that Kathak is a dynamic dance form, which evolves continuously. She has been applauded for this exploration.
Prerana Deshpande always looks into the perfection of the presentation. Minute observations and her training in `Laya` under the great tutelage of Guru Taalyogi Pt. Suresh Talwalkar helped her profoundly to enrich the perception of rhythm. She integrates different genre of music into her choreography and productions. This reflects her keen interest in music. `The very sentiment of the Natya Shastra, that is the idea of Singing, Playing and dancing together creates Music` has been expressed by her performances.
Prerana Deshpande is still unremittingly searching for the new avenues to present the traditional old form, wrapped in modernity. She mainly focuses on the solo recitals. One of her strong point is that through her performances she brought out the `abstract from the obvious`. Her vocabulary of Kathak is enriched by the perfect combination of western and eastern music wizards. Acknowledging her talent she has been conferred many awards throughout her professional career.
Some of her major performances are: Concert tours of Spain, Portugal, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Singapore and China etc; Sharatchandrika Festival (New Delhi); The NCPA (National Centre for Performing Arts, Mumbai); Pune Festival(Pune); Kathak Mahotsav(Lucknow); Jaipur Gharana Festival(Jaipur); Pallavotsav Festival(Mysore); Uttaradhikaar Festival(Bhopal); The Nehru Center(Mumbai); Uday Shankar Festival(Jaipur); Kalika Binda Festival(New Delhi); South Central Zone Cultural Center(Solapur); The India International Center(New Delhi).
`Nrityadham` has been founded by Prerana Deshpande. It is an organization for performing arts that also choreographs pieces for its students. Her choreographic themes ranges from the epics like the Ramayana to the historical Japanese Haiku. She has also conducted several master classes, workshops and seminars in India and abroad with an aim of spreading the tradition and the classic interpretation of this art form. Students from abroad also come to receive training under her. She also serves as the faculty at Centre of Performing Arts at Pune University.
