Panel of Gurus
Padmashree Guru Ramli Ibrahim
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Datuk Ramli bin Ibrahim is a Malaysian choreographer and a classical ballet dancer. He was conferred with the Padma Shri by the Government of India in the year 2018 for his contribution to the Odissi dance form. He found the Sutra Dance Theatre and Sutra Foundation to encourage people in learning traditional dance forms.
To know more about Guru Ramli Ibrahim, please visit, www.sutrafoundation.org.my
Ramli Ibrahim has received several honors for his work in India and other countries. These include the Fulbright Distinguished Artist Award (1999), the Angarag Lifetime Achievement Award (2006), the Purush Award (2009), the Ram Gopal Best Male Dancer Award (2011), and the Distinguished International Artist Award (2011) conferred by the University of Western Australia. He has been accorded recognition as ‘Living Heritage’ by the Government of Malaysia. Guru Ramli Ibrahim receives the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his contribution to Odissi dance.
Acharya Guru Rabindra Atibudhi
Mumbai, India
Acharya Pandit Guru Rabindra Atibudhi was the first person to introduce Odissi dance in Mumbai in 1970. He is the founder of Odissi Kalashetra Mumbai since 1972.
Pandit Rabindra Atibudhi started dancing at a very early age. For the love of dance, he left home at the age of 8 in search of a guru. He started singing and dancing at village squares to earn fees for his dance. He was trained under Padmashri Tarini Charan Patra, Padmashri Guru Shri Pankaj Charan Dash, and Vibhusan Kelu Charan Mahapatra. He was awarded ‘Odissi Nritya Prabina’ when he was just 16 years old. He moved to Delhi and joined Bharatiya Kela Kendra to teach Odissi dance in 1968. He came to Mumbai to spread the fragrance of Odissi in Oct 1970. Bombay Sur Sringar Sansad awarded him with the ‘SringarMani’ award. He has trained many renowned artists like Daksha Mashurwala, Hema Malini, Meenakshi Sheshadri, Rani Mukharjee, Tabu, Esha Deol, Ahana Deol, and many more. His love of dance has awarded him with Odissa Sangeet Natak Academy award in the field of Odissi dance Senior Fellowship Award by Govt. of India.
He is also the founder of Odissi Kala Kshetra where he has been teaching Odissi, a trainer at Nalanda Dance Research Center Mumbai, Member of Odissi Dance Research Center Bhubaneswar, Member of Selection committee and judges at Sringar Samsada Mumbai
Guru Bichitrananda Swain
Bhubaneswar, India
Guru Bichitrananda Swain has achieved worldwide recognition as an outstanding performer, a brilliant choreographer, and an exceptional teacher, who has earned the distinction of generating remarkable talents year after year. Widely acclaimed as one of today’s prominent choreographers of Odissi, he is known for his distinctive body of work that echoes his knowledge and understanding of dance as a medium of expression. His compositions are energetic, thought-provoking, and inspiring. He is acknowledged by critics, connoisseurs, gurus (senior and contemporary alike), and dancers (peers as well as others) for having unleashed a wave of renewed dynamism in the presentation of Odissi. He is the founder of Rudrakshya Foundation in 2000.
www.rudrakshyafoundation.org/blogs/our-guruji-director/resume-of-guruji
Guru Jayashree Mohapatra
Boston, USA
Guru Jayashree Mohapatra started her career from early childhood with initial training at Kala Vikash Kendra, an epic center of Odia Arts and Culture, at Cuttack, Orissa. She holds a bachelor’s degree, Nitya Prabha (1973) and a Master’s degree Nritya Bhusan (1975) in Odissi
She was one of the recipients of “Central Sangeet Natak Academy” Fellowships and had received several other Awards in the realm of Odissi Dance including felicitation from the former President of India, Shri N Sanjeev Reddy for her exuberant excellence in performing and propagating the lyrical purity of Classical Odissi. She was recognized by Lokvani, Boston for her contribution to Odissi Dance.
She is the Founder and Director of Noopur Dance Academy, which was established back in 1989 in Montreal, Canada.
She has been leading the efforts to promote Odissi programs in Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), Bagong Kulturang Pinoy Inc of Philippines, International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKON), Indian Association of Greater Boston (IAGB), India Society of Worcester (ISW), MITHAS, SEWA International and many more.
Her Odissi Gurus, Late Padma Bibhushan Shri Kelu Charan Mohapatra, and Late Guru Shri Raghunath Dutta for their guidance in her path of Odissi.
Guru Dhaneswar Swain
Bhubaneswar, India
Guru Sangeeta Dash
Pondicherry, India