Shrooti Singh has dedicated herself to Odissi for the past 22 years. Her journey in Odissi dance began at the age of 5 as a disciple of Smt. Sudha Grover at the Sudhamini Dance Academy in New Jersey. At 17, she was the first student of the Academy to perform a Manchpravesh and continues to perform with SDA when possible. With Sudha Grover as her Guru and Mentor, she realized her passion for Odissi and the necessity to have it as a constant in her life. She is particularly fond of performing Pallavis, her favorites being Shankara and Hansadhwani. Her love for abhinaya grew with age and experience and her favorite Ashtapadi is Dheere Sameere, which she learned from both Guru Sudha Grover and Guru Shri Hare Krishna Behera. After moving away to college, she continued to train and perform.
At Bryn Mawr College, Shrooti had the opportunity to study dance and dance literature under Dr. Pallabi Chakravorty, and Dr. Yutian Wong. She first choreographed her own Odissi piece under the guidance of Dr. Yutian Wong and continues to be inspired by her.
Shrooti has been a part of numerous dance dramas choreographed by Sudha Grover - her favorite being the Dashavatar. She has given several solo performances at various venues throughout NJ, NY, and PA including:
-Zimmerli Art Museum (NJ, performance and lecture) The Asian Arts Initiative (Philadelphia, PA) The Governor’s Mansion (NJ)
-Ananda Ashram (NY) -South Asian Women’s Creative Collective (NYC, performance and discussion)
-Youth Solidarity Summer Benefit (NYC)
-Amnesty International (NYC)
-Grand Reception for former Indian Ambassador to US, Lalit ManSingh (NJ)
-Bucknell University (PA) Haverford College (PA)
-Bryn Mawr College (PA)
-American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (NJ and CA)
-Dussehra Festival (NY)
Abroad, she has performed in Lausanne, Switzerland, Agra, and New Delhi.
As a teenager, Shrooti was named an All State Dancer after competing for the title at the Teen Arts Festival in NJ. It was then that she realized her passion for spreading awareness about Odissi dance and from thereon actively sought performance opportunities while also trying to balance a demanding study schedule.
In 2000, she was selected to the Artists in Communities Training Program by the Asian Arts Initiative in Philadelphia, PA. The program culminated in a workshop she conducted about Odissi for high school students in Philadelphia – most of whom had never heard of Odissi before. In 2003, Shrooti gave another dance workshop at South Asian Youth Action in Queens, NY, where she demonstrated the ability to use dance and art to communicate a social message – particularly about Domestic Violence.
After being awarded the Summer Arts Grant in 2002 from Bryn Mawr College, she had the honor of training under Guru Shri Hare Krishna Behera at Odissi Kendra in New Delhi. She continued her training with him thereafter whenever visiting New Delhi and focused on her abhinaya and technique.
In NYC, Shrooti auditioned for the Nayikas Dance Theater Company run by Myna Mukherjee and was chosen to perform in the title experimental piece of the show along with three other dances. With the Nayikas Dance Theater Company, she has performed at the Lincoln Center, the Rubin Museum of Art, Lighthouse International, Bleeker Street Theater, and the Queens Museum of Art. She greatly enjoyed dancing with dancers from various dance backgrounds who shared her love for Odissi. While with Nayikas, she further improved her Chok stance and Bhramari spins.
Shrooti has attended Odissi dance workshops in NYC given by Guru Manoranjan Pradhan and, most recently, with Sujata Mohapatra. During a lecture demonstration by Dr. Sunil Kothari in NYC, she was asked to briefly demonstrate part of an Odissi Pallavi to an audience of dance scholars.
Apart from Odissi, Shrooti has had some Kathak training from Pandit Satya Narayana Charkha in NYC. She has also participated in numerous folk dances and folk dance competitions with the Sudhamini Dance Academy. She has trained in Tap dancing for two years in NJ.
Shrooti holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Mathematics from Bryn Mawr College. She looks forward to connecting with other dancers and can be reached at
shrootisingh@gmail.com.
