Navtej Singh Johar
Bio
Navtej Singh Johar is a Sangeet Natak Akademi Award-winning Bharatnatyam dancer and choreographer. He is also a queer activist who, along with five others, famously filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court of India challenging Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.
Johar teaches at Ashoka University, Sonipat. He trained in Bharatanatyam at Kalakshetra, a dance school run by Rukmini Arundale in Chennai, and with Leela Samson at the Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra in New Delhi. He subsequently studied at the Department of Performance Studies, New York University, and won several fellowships for his research over the years.
Johar has collaborated with composers Stephen Rush, Shubha Mudgal and installation artist Sheba Chhachhi among others. He has also acted in Earth by Deepa Mehta and Khamosh Pani by Sabiha Sumar.