Kelucharan Mohapatra
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Kelucharan Mohapatra (8 January 1926 – 7 April 2004) was a legendary Indian classical dancer, guru, and exponent of Odissi dance, who is credited with the revival and popularizing of this classical dance form in the 20th century.<ref>DANCE REVIEW; Sculptural And Sensual, It's Odissi by Anna Kisselgoff, New York Times, 19 October 2000.</ref> He is the first person to receive the Padma Vibhushan from Odisha.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
A noted Sanskrit poet of India writes on this Guru: Saango-paanga-subhangi-laasya-madhuram samteerna-nrutyaarnavam, which translates as – "Each fraction of his dancing body leads to paramount sweetness, through miraculous poses and postures. In fact, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra crossed the ocean of styles."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Early life and history
In his youth, Kelucharan Mohapatra performed Gotipua – a traditional dance form of Odisha where young boys dress up as woman to praise Lord Jagannath. Later in his life he did extensive research on Gotipua and Mahari dance, which lead him to restructure Odissi dance. Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra was a master in Percussion instruments – Mardala and Tabla, which clearly resonates in his dance compositions. He was also skilled in the traditional Pattachitra painting.
Kelucharan Mohapatra along with his wife, Laxmipriya Mohapatra, herself a dancer, and their son Ratikant Mohapatra built Srjan in 1993.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Kelucharan Mohapatra was conferred a Doctorate by the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal in 1981.
Disciples
Some notable disciples include
- Sanjukta Panigrahi
- Kumkum Mohanty
- Madhavi Mudgal
- Sonal Mansingh
- Debi Basu
- Protima Bedi
- Jhelum Paranjape
- Ratikant Mohapatra
- Sharmila Biswas
- Sujata Mohapatra
- Sharon Lowen
- Shubhada Varadkar<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Daksha Mashruwala.
Awards
- Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 1966
- Padma Shri, 1974<ref name="Padma Awards">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Padma Bhushan, 1988<ref name="Padma Awards" />
- Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, 1991
- Padma Vibhushan, 2000<ref name="Padma Awards" />
- Kalidas Samman from Madhya Pradesh government
Quotes made by Kelucharan Mohapatra
- "Odissi is not a mere dance form to entertain people but to inspire and elevate. I don't actually dance but pray in compassion and the spectators say that this `form' is dancing."<ref name=hi>Template:Cite news</ref>
- "The real dance must convey the feeling of undivided existence, that a spectator can feel that he is not different from the thing observed".<ref name=hi/>
References
Further reading
- The Making of a Guru: Kelucharan Mohapatra, His Life and Times, by Ileana Citaristi. Published by Manohar, 2001. Template:ISBN.
- The Dancing Phenomenon: mad boy, by Sharon Lowen, Kelucharan Mohapatra, Avinash Pasricha. Lustre Press, Roli Books, 2001. Template:ISBN.
External links
- Video links
Template:Padma Vibhushan Awards Template:PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1980–89 Template:SangeetNatakAkademiFellowship Template:Padma Award winners of Odisha Template:Padma Shri Award Recipients in Art Template:Authority control
- Pages with broken file links
- 1926 births
- 2004 deaths
- Indian dance teachers
- Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts
- Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts
- Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts
- Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
- Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship
- People from Puri district
- Odissi exponents
- Indian classical choreographers
- Dance education in India
- Teachers of Indian classical dance
- 20th-century Indian dancers
- Dancers from Odisha
- 20th-century Indian educators
- Educators from Odisha