Events

Surupa Sen is the Artistic Director of Nrityagram Dance Ensemble and training institute based in Hessaraghatta, Karnataka.Uttara Asha Coorlawala is a professor dance at Barnard College and the Curator of the Erasing Borders festival of Indian Dance in New York City. Surupa Sen is the Artistic Director of Nrityagram Dance Ensemble and training institute based in Hessaraghatta, Karnataka. Sen joined  Nrityagram  in 1990, soon after its founding by Protima Gauri, and became its artistic director in 1997. She has choreographed productions such as Sri: In Search of the Goddess (2000), Ansh (2006), Sacred Space (2006), and Ahuti (2018), blending traditional Odissi techniques with contemporary themes. 

Under Sen’s direction, Nrityagram has performed at international venues, including the Joyce Theater, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, and Skirball Center in New York, earning recognition for precision and emotional depth. She has performed in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Europe, Sri Lanka, and countries in the Far East. Her work at festivals like Dancing the Gods has showcased Odissi’s spiritual and aesthetic qualities. Sen has collaborated with groups like Sri Lanka’s Chitrasena Dance Company for cross-cultural productions. Her leadership has fostered a community dedicated to Indian classical dance at Nrityagram. Sen is recognized for her innovative choreography and leadership in promoting Odissi globally, contributing significantly to Indian classical dance. She has received India’s highest award for the Performing Arts, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2018), Raza Foundation Award (2006, 2017), Yagnaraman Award (2008), and Nritya Choodamani title from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai (2011) for her contributions to Odissi.

Uttara Asha Coorlawala is a professor of dance at Barnard College and the Curator of the Erasing Borders festival of Indian Dance in New York City. She is interested in bridges between theory and practice, and on re-circulations of movement through time and cultures.  Her writings about the qualities of 'Indianness' in dance, have served as criteria at the international performance level. She has advocated for development opportunities for artists, and for performance opportunities for cross cultural and interdisciplinary performers.  She has served as a curator for the Erasing Borders Festival of Indian Dances in New York since 2008. Within the field of dance studies, she served on the Editorial Board of Dance Research Journal, and as a panelist for New York, Ohio, and Maryland State Arts Councils. She also served as an advisor to then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, and as Dance Director of the National Center for Performing Arts, in Mumbai.

In 2011, Coorlawala was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Puruskar Award, India’s highest award in the Performing Arts. It was the first time an American has received this award. As a dancer-choreographer Coorlawala had initiated in India what has since become a movement towards intercultural innovation. Her choreography was based on modern dance, Bharata Natyam and yoga. Her first solo dance tours were sponsored by the United States Information Service introducing American modern dance to audiences across India.  Subsequently she danced in several solo tours in India, Europe and East Europe, Japan and the USA. She was listed as an empanelled artist with the I.C.C.R. (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) NYFA –The New York Foundations for the Arts, and various Arts-In-Education programs in New York city. Her prior teaching credits include Princeton University, The Alvin Ailey School Professional Program, the Long Island University at the C.W. Post campus, The Spence School, and the University of Miami at Coral Gables.  

Odissi (ଓଡ଼ିଶୀ) also referred to as Orissi in old literature, is said to have originated in the temples of Odisha – an eastern coastal state of India. The theoretical foundations of Odissi trace to the ancient Sanskrit text  Natya Shastra , where it is referenced as the regional style Odra Magadhi. Its existence in antiquity is evidenced by the dance poses in the sculptures of Kalingan temples, and archeological sites related to Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Odissi performances have expressed narratives and imagery related to Hindu deities as Jaganath,  Shiva and Surya, as well as goddesses (Shaktism). The artist(s) and musicians play out a story, a spiritual message or devotional love poem using symbolic costumes, body movement, abhinaya (expressions) and mudras (gestures) set out in ancient Sanskrit
literature. Classical Odia literature & the Gita Govinda set to traditional Odissi music are used for the abhinaya. The dance is a composite of ‘S’ curved basic stances called the  Bhangas   footwork and movement involving, torso, hand and head.  An Odissi performance repertoire includes invocation, nritta (pure dance), nritya (expressive dance), natya (dance drama) and moksha (dance climax connoting salvation of the soul and spiritual release). Traditional Odissi exists in two major styles, the first perfected by women dancers, the maharis; the second perfected by boys dressed as girls (gotipuas) which diversified to include athletic and acrobatic moves, and were performed during festive occasions. Modern Odissi productions have presented a diverse range of experimental ideas, culture fusion, themes and plays. Odissi even features in Michael Jackson's 1991 hit single "Black or White".Natya Shastra, the ancient Hindu Sanskrit text of performance arts is attributed to the ancient scholar Bharata Muni, and its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE. The most studied version of the Natya Shastra text consists of about 6000 verses structured into 36 chapters. The text, states Natalia Lidova, describes the theory of Tāṇḍava dance (Shiva), the theory of rasa, of bhāva, acting techniques, basic steps, standing postures – all of which are part of Indian classical dances.