Nandini Sikand,
"Dance, when you’re broken open.
Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off.
Dance, in the middle of the fighting.
Dance, in your blood.
Dance, when you’re perfectly free."
-Rumi

“Dance, for me, has always been a metaphor for life, a life which celebrates the infinitesimal acts of the everyday and inspires one to move beyond our fears and limitations with passion and grace.”

Born and raised in New Delhi , Nandini Sikand first started learning Odissi under the tutelage of Shri Shrinath Raut, at the age of seven. She then went on to learn from Madhavi Mudgal for a few years before she moving to the US for graduate school. In the US , she initially studied with Ritha Devi and is now under the guidance of Shri Durga Charan Ranbir and Bani Ray. She has performed extensively in the tri-state area and abroad.

Nandini Sikand is an independent filmmaker based in New York City . Her films have screened at numerous domestic and international film festivals and she has been awarded grants for her work from The Jerome Foundation and New York State Council on the Arts. Nandini is also pursuing a PhD at CUNY Graduate Center in Cultural Anthropology."