India, April 13 -- In the quiet precision of her footwork, and the thunderous defiance of tradition she carried in every performance, Kumudini Lakhia-often hailed as India's own Martha Graham-rewrote the language of Kathak. Her passing, early on Saturday morning in Ahmedabad, at the age of 95, marks more than the end of a luminous life steeped in dance. It is the silencing of a voice that taught an ancient form to speak anew-with spirit, soul, and startling modernity.

With every twirl and glance, she transformed Kathak into a mirror of the contemporary world-bold, expressive and unapologetically individualistic. A trailblazer, mentor and visionary, Lakhia's legacy pirouettes far beyond the proscenium-etched into the spirit of generations...