Aditi Bandyopadhyay, has earned her reputation in the field of Odissi an Indian Classical Odissi dance form, both as a performer, instructor and choreographer.
Aditi has been promoting Odissi in the mid west region of USA since the time she has settled in Columbia, Missouri, USA, in 2007. Her contribution to Odissi as a solo performer, choreographer and an instructor in the University of Missouri and at workshops in local community colleges and dance institutions has been well recognized.
Aditi
is presently conducting regular classes on Odissi at MUDRA (MU Dance
and Recreation Association), an organization dedicated to promotion of
Indian Classical dance under the University of Missouri Columbia. Aditi
and her students are presenting choreographic presentations regularly all across the mid
Missouri region. Aditi is not only conducting workshops but also working on collaborative
choreography with other classical dance forms from different parts of
the world.
Aditi and her
students at MUDRA have successfully presented different stage shows all
over the mid- west region over the last three years. MUDRA ia also
organizing different stage shows by dancers from all over the world on
the campus of University of Missouri. In October 2010, MUDRA had organized Columbia Dance Festival which was the first of its kind in Columbia showcasing 10 classical dance forms from across the world on the same stage at Jesse Auditorium, University of Missouri. Detailed information on MUDRA
is available at the following link.
http://mudra.students.missouri.edu/
Aditi has also started working on
the connection between dance and Yoga or movement therapy and desires
to work with children with special needs.
Background:
Aditi trained under the tutelage of late Padmabibhushan Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra, Guru Giridhari Nayak, Smt Amala Shankar, and more presently under Guru Smt Sutapa Talukdar. Her parents Indrani and Asok Bandyopadhyay who were great conoisseurs of art had always been her sole inspiration. Aditi's husband Dr Subharup Guha and her three year old son Ishan had also been her great support towards serving this art form with utmost devotion.
Aditi is also a physician who has a graduate degree in medicine and surgery (MBBS) from Calcutta National Medical College, Calcutta University. Presently she is completing a Master's degree in Public Health at the University of Missouri, Columbia.
Aditi has been widely appreciated for her solo dance recitals in India and in different parts of the world, and has choreographed several dance productions of her own. Her own productions, Teen Katha and Sri Krishna Prem Gatha, have received immense appreciation at prestigious music conferences. She was the creative director of Nrityaneer, a dance institution she founded in Kolkata, India, and had presented a number of dance recitals with her own dance troupe. She has also worked with mentally challenged children through the medium of dance and music.
In 1998, Aditi was invited to Sweden and Denmark, where she presented several solo dance recitals and conducted two dance workshops. She was felicitated by the Indian ambassador in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Aditi's solo performance and dance choreographies with her students have featured on Indian television (Doordarshan), and her dance has been appreciated by press critics in different leading newspapers and magazines.
She is the recipient of the M. P. Birla special talent award (1996), Jadubhatta Purashkar (1998) and was honored by Indian Museum in 1997, Indian ambassador in Copenhagen (1998).
A few words on Odissi
Odissi dance originated in the 2nd century B.C. in the region of modern Orissa, an eastern state of India. It began as a religious dance which required special education and arduous training. The dance was performed in the temples of Orissa and dedicated to the deity of Lord Jagannath and performed only by female Odissi dancers known as Devdasis. For quite a long time this sacred dance form was confined only to the temples. Sculpture-like poses engraved on the temple walls demonstrated the style of dance. For a long time this dance form was kept away from public viewing due to socio-religious reasons. Young male dancers known as Gotipuas sustained the tradition of Odissi alive and performed in front of common people.
Since the earlier part of the last century, Odissi came back from its seclusion and many dancers began to take interest in this dance form. Odissi is characterised by symmetrical movements and finds its expressions in kaleidoscopic designs. Its rich text has contributions from works of great Indian poets like Jaydev, Banamali Das, Vidyapati, and many others. This dance form has been presented to the world by great maestros like Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra, Guru Pankajcharan Das, Guru Debaprasad Das, Sanjukta Panigrahi, Sonal Mansingh,and many other stalwarts in this field. Their able disciples are still continuing active research in this field and are presenting us with great choreographic innovations.