Poernima Gobardhan

About Poernima

There is a vibrant scene for Indian dance in The Hague. Poernima Gobardhan is firmly rooted in that scene and one of the great talents of Indian dance in the Netherlands. A creative jack-of-all-trades, Poernima Gobardhan leaves no stone unturned in highlighting Indian dance in general and her vision of it in particular.

In her work, she connects age-old stories, subjects and concepts from classical Indian literature to her own experiences with integrity and thoughtfulness, so that even today her choreographies do not miss their impact with a wide audience of dance lovers.

Her great strength? That she has developed Bharata Natyam, a classical dance form, into something of our time. How she does that? By transforming this form into the expressiveness of her own body. She draws on the hand gestures and stories of the classical form that tell of heroes and Gods. But she, as a modern Dutch woman with Hindustani roots, juxtaposes her individual motivations and life questions with them.

In this way, she developed an aesthetic, emotionally layered and dynamic movement language of her own. She took specific bharatanatyam courses in both the Netherlands and India and obtained a Master's degree in Theatre Studies. By merging her seasoned experience with the narrative dance style and her open, inquisitive gaze, the maker finds the freedom to share her view of the world.

After making a big impression with her free-spirited solo Mātā at Korzo's India Dance Festival in 2018, her career as a choreographer gained momentum. Meanwhile, Gobardhan's first tour (Kālī Mātā) is a reality and she receives a talent development grant from the Municipality of The Hague and, since 2021, also from the Fonds Podiumkunsten.

'The Western image of Indian dance stems too much from colonial relations and the idea of the exotic. What I do is about universal themes.
I just make dance. In my own way.' - Poernima Gobardhan