Navtej Johar

🪔 About

Navtej Singh Johar, born on August 8, 1959, in Jalandhar, Punjab, India, is an acclaimed Indian Bharatanatyam exponent, choreographer, yoga practitioner, scholar, and LGBTQ activist. He is recognized as one of India's leading male dancers and choreographers, known for his work that seamlessly blends traditional and contemporary expressions. Johar received his formal training in Bharatanatyam at the prestigious Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai, under Rukmini Devi Arundale, and further honed his skills with Leela Samson at the Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra in New Delhi. He also pursued advanced studies in dance scholarship at the Department of Performance Studies, New York University. Throughout his career, Johar has performed and showcased his choreographic works extensively, both nationally and internationally, collaborating with diverse artists, musicians, and choreographers. His choreographic work often explores themes of boundaries, body, and identity, informed by a scholarly inquiry into the sociopolitical history of Indian dance. He has also acted in films such as Deepa Mehta's "Earth" and Sabiha Sumar's "Khamosh Pani." Johar is also a dedicated yoga practitioner and teacher, having trained in Patanjali Yoga at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Chennai, and has been teaching yoga since 1985. He developed the Abhyas somatics method and the BARPS method, integrating yoga and dance principles. In 2001, Johar founded Studio Abhyas in New Delhi, and in 2004, he established the Abhyas Trust, a non-profit organization dedicated to dance training, yoga, humane urban design, and animal welfare. He is currently a faculty member at Ashoka University, Sonipat. Beyond his artistic contributions, Johar is a prominent LGBTQ activist. In June 2016, he was the lead petitioner among six individuals who filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court of India challenging Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. This landmark case, "Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India," resulted in the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in 2018 to decriminalize consensual sexual conduct between adults of the same sex, declaring the law unconstitutional. Awards & Honours: Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Contemporary Choreography (2014), Times of India Fellowship (1995), Charles Wallace Fellowship (1999), Sri Krishna Gana Sabha Award for Abhinaya (2010).