A Kathak dancer, Rashmi started her own institute to promote Indian tradition and art. She believes that a lot of patience is required to learn any art form.

Rashmi Uppal is a Kathak Performer and Artistic Director at the Nityam-Rashmi Uppal Centre for Performing Arts in Jaipur.

Rashmi hails from Delhi. She completed her education in Kathak at Kathak Kendra, New Delhi.

Recalling her childhood, Rashmi says that she enjoyed a mix of Punjabi and Bengali cultures, as her grandmother was a Bengali and she belonged to a typical Punjabi family. One of the best memories of her childhood was learning how to balance things like studies, dance, games, etc. She learned time management skills in her childhood that are still helping her.

Rashmi shares that when she was six years old, her parents admitted her to a creative school to learn dance and drawing. Her grandmother belonged to a Bengali family, so she always wanted her to learn creative things like music, dance, painting, etc. Then her interest developed in the Kathak field, and she got admitted to Kathak Kendra. She learned the Lucknow Gharana style under the guidance of her guru, Bharti Gupta. Her family members always supported and encouraged her to follow her passion for Kathak. Then, slowly and gradually, Kathak became a part of her life, and she decided to pursue a career in this field.

Talking about her journey, Rashmi says that she was very lucky to complete the curriculum of Kathak under her guru, Bharti Gupta. She also earned many distinctions and scholarships in her journey. She also performed on many stages and got the chance to meet many renowned artists. Then, after completing her postgraduate diploma, she was selected for the repertory and started performing and learning under Geetanjali Lal. She faced difficulties in managing her time as she was also pursuing her master's, but everything was managed somehow. Then she met Aditi Mangaldas and started her professional journey by joining the Drishtikon Dance Foundation's Aditi Mangaldas Dance Company in 2004. She spent fifteen years with this company and learned a lot under the guidance of Aditi Das. Eventually she came to Jaipur and started her journey from scratch, and then in 2016, she started her own institute called Nityam-Rashmi Uppal Centre for Performing Arts.

Sharing her experiences, Rashmi says that her experience in the field of Kathak was great. As an artist she feels that for a dancer, dance is about her whole life. She gained various experiences in her journey as a student, performer, teacher and many more. Now her students motivate her to do better in this field. She also learned to observe things in her daily life that she uses in her performances and dance. She believes that dance connects her with higher energies.

Accepting her mistakes, Rashmi says that she took a long time to decide her profession and to continue her journey in the field of Kathak. She learned a lot from her mistakes and also gained many experiences by taking learnings from the mistakes of others. She also feels that because of her straightforward behaviour she faced many problems and learned to be diplomatic sometimes without compromising her work and character.

Sharing her achievements, Rashmi says that as a student she was always in the top three and got regular scholarships from Kathak Kendra. She also got the chance to be selected in the Kathak Kendra Repertory. She worked with one of the top dance companies of the country, Drishtikon. She got the accomplishments in the form of learning and experience to explore various auditoriums, venues and performances in dance festivals world over. She also got the opportunity to explore and present her art in different countries. She got various awards including Naari Shakti Samman.

Rashmi’s role models are her gurus in the field of Kathak as she learned how to instil honesty, emotions and heart in Kathak. She also admires her parents as she learned time management, balancing the things and many more from them.

Rashmi’s life mantra is to follow your path with honesty. It is important to continue your work with honesty, hard work and patience.