Sufi Kathak dancer Manjri Chaturvedi advocated the need to respecting the dance form. “We have to stop following patriarchy, stop referring Tawaif or Bai & mujra as an abuse. They must be respected as artistes.” Manjari Chaturvedi, the leading exponent of classical dance in India for the last 25 years, is an unusual dancer, she has blazed her own path, that no one traversed earlier, in the field of performing arts with her work on spirituality and dance. She has taken the traditional form of Kathak and has created her own style, her own brand of dance Sufi Kathak. Manjari has extensively worked on gender sensitive subjects through her medium of dance, exploring the many traditions woven into poetry, music and dance. She relives traditions in a modern context, at times reliving an era that has been lost to time and creating that ecstatic dance of mystical surrender. A danseuse representing Lucknow gharana of Kathak and postgraduate in Environmental Sciences, Manjari embodies her performance art bridging the gap between tradition and modernity. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx