Monalisa Ghosh

Monalisa Ghosh, one of the leading exponents of Odissi Dance, choreographer and teacher, won her laurels in the chosen classical dance dialect of India at KalaVikash Kendra, Cuttack in Orissa, where she spent her childhood. Her training under Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra , Smt. Sanjukta Panigrahi, and Guru Ramani Ranjan Jena brought her to the center-stage as a dancer of National and International repute.

Her merit lies in the deft combination of truthfulness to tradition, which accommodates distinct individuality and inspires audiences across continents and cultures. Her dance has been widely acclaimed for classicism, lyricism and spiritual expression.

Monalisa has performed all over India sharing stage with leading maestros, in prestigious dance festivals and conferences of Sangeet Natak Academy, New Delhi. South and Eastern Zonal Cultural Center, Madhya Pradesh Kala Parishad, ICCR New Delhi, National center for Performing arts Mumbai, etc. since the year 1983.She can boast to be the only Odissi dancer of Kolkata presenting at least 50 solo Odissi performances every year in the Western countries and the first to establish a Gurukul named Kalajyoti in Kolkata.

Her lecture – demonstrations abroad since 1991 – widely educated the western audience on the Meditational, philosophical, spiritual, aesthetical and therapeutical value of our Indian classical dance in daily life. Her research and findings on classical dance as a therapy has been published in Stuttgarter Zeitung, the German daily .Her Lecture in Tubingen University, Germany on the therapeutic value of Indian Classical Dance in 1995, received high appreciation from the students and professors.

Twice in a year she conducts intensive workshop in Afro-Asiatic Institute in Vienna and Nritya Vikash School of Odissi dance in The Hague. Her outstanding choreography of Geet Govindam with Dutch students gained praise from the Consulate General of India, Mrs. Kaushik in October 2004. Even in India her choreography based on Rabindranath Thakur’s Bharat Tirtha – An English version ‘ Timeless India’ featured as the special programme of Doordarshan Kolkata’s Independence day presentation.

Monalisa is a senior empanelled artist of ICCR,both as solo a an Examiner of Rabindra Bharati University, a judge of Rajya Sangeet Academy and Yuba Utsab, Head of the Department Dance, Suranandan Bharati and a National Programme grade artist of Doordarshan. She has been awarded the title of Nrutyasri, by Kala Vikash Kendra , Cuttack, Singarmani, by Sur- Singar Samsad, Mumbai and Outstanding young person of Calcutta ’99 by the North Calcutta Jaycees’.


Monalisa Ghosh can be reached at monalisa_dance@yahoo