dance

From baby steps to a professional dancer I have had the privilege of extraordinary mentoring hands chiselling my growth. I am truly grateful to all my teachers.

Dance enamoured me from a very early age. My first formal dance education began with western ballet. My teacher was Vilu Bharucha and she really brought out the best in me. Around the same time Anusree Bonnerjee took me under her wings to perform choreographed Indian dance dramas on public stage. It was a different dance form but, strangely, I had no difficulty in adapting to it.

My tryst with Indian classical dance began much later. It was Odissi that I found myself gravitating towards. I guess it was the overall grace that appealed to me. I learned Odissi under Daksha Mashruwala, a distinguished disciple of Padma Vibhushan Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. Her meticulous methods helped me grow as an Odissi dancer and gain her trust to help train her junior students as well. I performed with her on several shows in and outside Mumbai.

Meanwhile I joined Anusree Bonnerjee as a founder partner at Drutam Dance Ideas Lab, an enthusiastic group of professional dancers committed to performing themed choreographed shows at a corporate level and conducting dance training workshops.

In one of Daksha Mashruwala’s collaborative ventures I was privileged to train under Ratikant Mohapatra, a versatile guru and son of the legendary Kelucharan Mohapatra. His choreography pushed the boundaries of my Odissi repertoire.

My first international exposure happened with Raka Maitra, Artistic Director of Chowk Productions, Singapore. She invited me to perform in her contemporary production, ‘The Blind Age‘, at the prestigious Kala Utsavam festival in Singapore at the state-of-the-art-auditorium — Esplanade, Theatres on the Bay. It was a mesmerising experience.

Training with Raka Maitra was holistic learning. There was so much to absorb about music, lights and the many nuanced aspects of production besides her inimitable style of dance that is rooted in Odissi but with an innovative contemporary flavour. With Raka Maitra, under the Chowk Productions’ banner, I did perform at various prestigious occasions including the international da:ns festival hosted at Singapore. My performances have been not only in Singapore but also in Australia and Indonesia as well.

It was my exposure to theatre in Singapore and my training under Raka Maitra that kindled my interest in dance-theatre.