Haleem Khan

Biography:

Born in Ongole, Andhra Pradesh, on April 10, Haleem Khan is an Indian Kuchipudi dancer, performer, and movie actor. He currently resides in Hyderabad. Haleem has led Kuchipudi seminars abroad in addition to appearing in over 800 dance productions worldwide. Haleem is a specialist in Kuchipudi’s Rupanurupam, or female imitation; he is well-known for playing Bhama Kalapam and other parts in Annamacharya kirtanas. Haleem, who was raised in a Muslim household in a rural town, had to overcome numerous obstacles to practice Kuchipudi privately. Haleem had previously gone by the stage name Hari. His dance, particularly the feminine impersonation, has garnered him praise from critics and numerous honors and congratulations.

Haleem is very passionate about preserving the art and is working on an interactive Kuchipudi dance instruction video.

Right from his childhood days, classical dance form of Kuchipudi fascinated him and movies were his primary source of inspiration. Long before he fully comprehended the obstacles that had to be faced, he had set his goals to pursue learning Kuchipudi. He was blessed to find his guru, Shri Kaza Venkata Subramanyam garu, who spotted divine grace in him and gave guidance to his passion.

The Passion, innovation and excellence of dance is ingrained in him, Innovation can be seen in many of his performances where he intertwined poetry and music (both English and Urdu) with dance, fused ballet with Kuchipudi. He can effortlessly bring out the aggression of Lord Shiva as he does the Tandavam, or can take the audience inside a woman’s heart who is romancing her man through his Javali.