The Ashta Nayikas (Attendance - The Dance Annual of India 2011-12)

Ashish Mohan Khokar is India's distinguished dance historian, who edits and publishes India's only yearbook on dance - attendance. He has written as Dance Critic of the Times of India for last three decades and has 35 published titles to his credit in fields of Indian arts, culture and heritage. A trained dancer in three classical forms, he is a merit-lister in Indian History, from the University of Delhi and undertaking his Ph.D. He now contributes a regular dance feature to Avantika Arts magazine.

As a pioneering cultural administrator in the 80s, he served the Delhi State Academy (1983-86); Festivals of India in France (1985); Sweden (1986-88); Germany (1989) and China (1990), before becoming full-time Director of India's largest NGO in cultural conservation, the INTACH (1989-92). He also served Martand Singh, the textile authority and museum-design consultancy (1991-93). He interned at Stockholm Dance Museum, Sweden and at the Lincoln Centre Dance Archives, New York in archival organization and is a reputed dance documentationist with TV films and many research papers to credit.

A widely read cultural columnist on the net, his name has decorated India Today, Spic-Macay's The Eye; First City of Delhi and Life Positive magazines. He is associated with several organizations and is on Board of some. He was the National Director of American Field Service in India and helped set it up (2005-2009). He is chief consultant to several dance related projects and upcoming institutions/museums. He is curator- custodian of India's largest dance archives created by his family and is also India's exclusive dance publisher today. He lives in Bangalore .