Odissi By Sujata Mohapatra

Her guru got her into his innermost family. Then the country did the same with all the awards it bestowed upon here. Tonite, she shows why.

The Kathak Kala Kshetra, in association with the Department of Culture, is organising The Deccan Dance Festival from 6th to 8th March, at Ravindra Bharathi. The 3-day festival will feature some of the best classical dancers of the country, like Susmita Chatterjee, Bimbavati Devi, Pallavi Krishnan, Meenakshi Chittaranjan, Dr Shobha Naidu and Sujata Mahapatra, sharing the stage.

Today, the final day, Sujata Mohapatra will be presenting an Odissi dance recital at the Ravindra Bharathi. Mohapatra is an accomplished and versatile Odissi artiste from Bhubaneshwar. She is the daughter-in-law and disciple of the leading exponent of Odissi, the legendary Late Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, having trained under him for 18 years. She has also undergone training at the Odissi Research Centre at Bhabaneshwar. Currently, she is under the guidance of her husband Ratikanth Mohapatra.

She is the leading dancer and the Principal of Srjan, the dance school established by Kelucharan Mohapatra. She has a Masters degree in Oriya Literature from the Utkal University, Bhubaneshwar. She has toured many countries like Germany, UK, Canada, Belguim, USA, Malaysia and Italy.

In recognition of her services to Odissi, she has been conferred upon various awards, like the Pandit Jasraj Award in 2000, the Baisakhi Award in 2000, the Hope Of India award in 2001, the Nruthya Ragini award at Puri in 2004 and the 2nd Sanyukta Panigrahi Award at Washington in 2002.

The Kathak Kala Kshetra was started by Pandit Anju Babu, a Kathak dancer, choreographer and percussionist, in 1980. He himself was a popular dancer, having performed in countries like USA, France, England and Japan. Pandit Babu teaches many students in this institute, and has even conducted international training programs with Anjali Papa, Director of the Anjali Centre of Houston, where he trained many Indian and American children in Kathak.

The entry to the festival is free. For further details, please contact 98492-59133.