My Journey

In 1971, my parents, Amjad and Najma Noorani moved to the United States from Karachi, Pakistan. They both were born in Bombay, India and moved to Pakistan post-partition of India and Pakistan.

I was born in 1977 in Salinas, California.

My parents always encouraged us to follow the path that called out to each of them. Each of us found a career in social service! For me, this has been through the arts.

From age 5-18, I dedicated much of my time to a dance organization that provided learning of ballet, jazz, baton twirling, and overall development of body awareness through dance and movement. When I started my undergraduate studies at San Francisco State University (SFSU), I was eager to continue dancing. That is when I enrolled in an unexpected course of Kathak offered at the university. This was to be my first introduction to Kathak. As I often say - it was my kismat (destiny) to have my first teacher be a world renowned master of the form – Pandit Chitresh Das. This decision in January of 1996 would forever shape my future.

With a deep commitment to study and train, I quickly enrolled in his institution, Chhandam School of Kathak. Soon, I became Pandit Das’ teaching assistant at SFSU, eventually at Stanford University, and a senior instructor at Chhandam. In 1998, I joined his company: the Chitresh Das Dance Company (CDDC). That is when my career as a Kathak performer began, as we toured throughout the U.S. and India.

"As I often say - it was my kismat (destiny) to have my first teacher be a world renowned master of the form – Pandit Chitresh Das. This decision in January of 1996 would forever shape my future."

In 2007, I debuted as a Kathak soloist. I continued to perform throughout the US and India with CDDC. In 2014, I embarked on the next phase of my dance journey - as an independent artist and founder of Noorani Dance.