Sonali Toppur

🪔 About

Sonali Toppur is an accomplished Kathak dancer, teacher, and performer based in the United States. She began her Kathak training at the age of 4.5 with Chhandam, an institution now known as the Leela Youth Dance Company. In 2003, at the age of nine, she joined the Chhandam Youth Dance Company (CDYC). Toppur trained directly under the renowned Kathak maestro Pandit Chitresh Das for over a decade, immersing herself in his iconic style. Throughout her career, Sonali Toppur has performed as both an emerging soloist and an ensemble member at numerous prestigious venues and events. These include the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, the Kathak Conference in Chicago, and the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. She has been an integral part of the Leela Dance Collective, where she is an Ensemble Dancer, and has performed in acclaimed productions such as "Son of the Wind". Toppur is recognized as part of a new generation of Kathak dancers dedicated to carrying forward Pandit Chitresh Das's artistic legacy. Beyond performing, Toppur has also dedicated herself to teaching Kathak since 2009, including at the Leela Academy. In 2013, after graduating high school, she pursued higher education in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Washington, Seattle. More recently, in 2023, she undertook an apprenticeship with Seibi Lee, a co-founder and artistic director of Leela Dance Collective, to develop a solo performance based on the Hindu deity Ganesh.