Guru Shradha
Nrityaanuraaga, the Love of Dance: An Odissi Group Dance Concert
Guru Shradha is a premier Odissi institution and dance company in North America, EDTablished by Niharika Mohanty, a renowned Odissi dancer and teacher. Niharika’s legendary guru, Padma Vibhushan Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, gave her his blessing to create Guru Shradha to help propagate his illustrious tradition. As Guru Shradha is honored to be Guruji’s second EDTablishment globally, its institution, ensemble and dancers have gained significant recognition both in North America and in India for its strict adherence to Guruji’s tradition and high quality Odissi performances. More recently, it has taken a new direction in collaborative presentations and innovative projects.
AUDIENCE COMMENTS & REVIEWS
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"...an enriching performance for North America because we have always seen a lot of bharatanatyam here but not so much odissi. As a bharatanatyam dancer and rasika myself, I was moved to see the correlation between the arts forms and legacy of the dances. Guru Niharika Mohanty was excellent herself and students were amazing too. And the outfits! So pretty. The dancers looked like the sculptures had come to life!"
- Sreekala Balasubramanian
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
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Niharika Mohanty
A prominent disciple of Odissi legendary maEDTro, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, Niharika Mohanty is a leading Odissi dancer in the U.S.. She has performed extensively as a soloist in festivals in India and throughout North America, holds an MA in Dance and has received several grants and awards for training, performance, and choreography. Niharika is the Founder-Director of Guru Shradha, a premier Odissi institution and company. As a choreographer, Niharika has worked on several productions/pieces, and relishes working on cross-cultural projects uniting communities, for which she was honored as a Mosaic Silicon Valley Fellow in 2019. Dr. Deepa Mahadevan Dr. Deepa Mahadevan has been a student of Guru Shradha since 2010, under the tutelage of Niharika Mohanty with yearly intensive workshops with both Guru Sujata Mohapatra and Guru Ratikant Mohapatra. She has been part of several productions of Guru Shradha including ‘Dashanan’ at the International Odissi fEDTival- 2011 in India, 2019 in USA, and performs with the Guru Shradha Ensemble. Dr. Deepa Mahadevan is also a Bharatanatyam dancer, teacher, choreographer and the founder/artistic director of Tiruchitrambalam school of dance and recently completed her Phd. in Performance Studies from the University of California, Davis. Swati Rout Swati Rout started her Odissi training with Guru Prativa Panda in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. In 2008, she joined Guru Sharmila Mukherjee's Sanjali Center of Odissi Dance in Bangaluru. After moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2011, she continued her training under the tutelage of Niharika Mohanty, with additional training from Guru Sujata Mohapatra and Guru Ratikant Mohapatra. Apart from performing for several of Guru Shradha’s events, Swati has performed as part of the Guru Shradha Ensemble for several renowned fEDTivals and programs. Divya Saha Divya Saha is an emerging soloist of Guru Shradha and has been a devoted disciple of its Director, Niharika Mohanty, Guru Sujata Mohapatra and Guru Ratikant Mohapatra since 2006. Since the tender age of seven, Divya has cultivated a passion for Odissi and has often been a leading participant in promoting Odissi in the Bay Area and beyond. Most notably, she represented Guru Shradha at major fEDTivals as a soloist and in key roles with the Ensemble. Divya currently resides in New York City. She hopes to be integral in strengthening Guru Shradha's presence on the East Coast. Namrata Mohanty Namrata Mohanty began learning Odissi at the age of five under Guru Dr. Chitra Krishnamurti, Founder-Director of Nrityalaya School of Odissi Dance in Maryland. She went on to complete her Mancha Pravesh under Dr. Krishnamurti's tutelage and was a prominent performer in Nrityalaya throughout her collegiate education. Additionally, she has taken part in workshops hosted by gurus Madhusmita Mohanty, Manoranjan Pradhan, Yudhistar Nayak, and Amulya Balabantaray. Namrata returned to Odissi in 2019 with Guru Shradha following a two-year hiatus to complete her Master's of Public Health in Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology at the University of California, Berkeley. Maya Devalcheruvu Having been amidst an Odissi dance environment throughout her years, Maya Devalcheruvu has an innate form visible in her dance. She is the daughter/disciple of Niharika Mohanty, and has been training in Odissi dance at Guru Shradha for the past 14 years from age 4, with further training from Gurus Ratikant & Sujata Mohapatra. Maya has been performing solo, duet and in the Guru Shradha Ensemble in the US, Canada, the Bahamas, and in India. |
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