Nikolina Nikoleski

🪔 About

Nikolina Nikoleski, born in Zagreb, Croatia, in 1976, is a prominent dancer and choreographer of Bharatanatyam. Her early dance journey began at the age of three and a half with gymnastics, progressing to classical ballet, contemporary dance, and folk dance in Croatia. She pursued higher education in contemporary dance at the prestigious Folkwang Hochschule Essen in Germany, an academy founded by Pina Bausch. Nikoleski's fascination with Indian classical dance and yoga grew over time, leading her to make a significant life decision to move to India. In 2004, at the age of 27, she was awarded a scholarship for Indian classical dance (Bharatanatyam) by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). She initially trained for six months at the Bhaskara College of Fine Arts in Payannur, Kerala. Subsequently, in 2005, she relocated to Delhi and dedicated six years to learning Bharatanatyam under the tutelage of the highly regarded Padmashree Dr. Saroja Vaidyanathan at the Ganesa Natyalaya Dance Institute. Her strong foundation in yoga and contemporary ballet enabled her to complete her arangetram in a remarkably short period of three months. Throughout her career in India, Nikoleski has served as a professor of dance at the French Embassy School in Delhi and Father Agnel School New Delhi. In 2012, she established the Nikolina Nikoleski Dance Academy in Delhi, where she imparts training in contemporary dance, ballet, and Bharatanatyam to students of all ages. She has performed extensively in international venues, including Paris, Vienna, Casablanca, Khajuraho, Chennai, Mahabalipuram, the Taj Mahal, and Luxembourg. Nikoleski has also been featured on Indian television shows such as Doordarshan's "Nritya Sangam" and "Journey through the Arts," as well as Croatian TV programs. She has collaborated with renowned artists like Sonal Mansingh, Priyadarsini Govind, and Rama Vaidyanathan.