Nisha Leena Sinha Roy

Dr. Nisha Leena Sinha Roy, a sishya of Dr. Chandrabhanu and Ambika
Docherty in Melbourne, Australia, was the first Odissi debutant from
the Chandrabhanu Bharatalaya Academy (based in Melbourne). Her debut
was also the first Odissi Manchpravesh to be presented in Australia.

Nisha was born in Alor Setar, North Malaysia to parents of Bengali
origin. She grew up in the southern Malaysian town of Seremban where
she attended the Seremban Convent School both in her primary and
secondary years. Her family has been in the field of music and theatre
for several generations. Dwarkanath Ghosh, a forefather, invented the
first hand Dwarkin harmonium. She is the grandniece of Padmabhushan
Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh, a singer, composer and tabla artist who
trained three generations of artists. Her grandmother, Anima Das Gupta
is a classical singer trained by the acclaimed Dagar Brothers; and
along with her mother became members of the Bengali Theatre movement
Bahurupi.

With a family background in Bengali Folk Dances and Rabindra Sangeet,
Nisha started dance at the age of 3, learning Bengali folk dances from
her mother Dr. Esha Das Gupta and Smt Dipti Pal, who trained under
Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra in Odissi. Nisha also started learning the
fundamentals of Bharata-Natyam at the age of 8 under Malaysian teacher
Krishna Kumari. She commenced studies in Bharata-Natyam and Odissi at
the Chandrabhanu Bharatalaya Academy in 2003 and progressed in both
dance forms very steadily.


Over the years she has performed in several professional level
productions with Chandrabhanu and the Bharatalaya Academy. In Odissi,
the major part of her training has been done under Ambika Docherty,
who guided her from the basics to advanced repertoire work. Nisha has
participated in Odissi workshops held by the Bharatalaya Academy with
acclaimed guest and associate teacher and dancer from Mumbai, Daksha
Mashruwala from 2006 - 2008. She has also undertaken
Dance-in-Education performances in schools throughout Victoria,
Melbourne with Dr. Chandrabhanu and Ambika Docherty, as well as
trained under them for stage and lighting management. She has extended
her music studies with Hindustani and Odissi Vocal Music under Krushna
Chandra Ray.

Nisha holds a PhD in Mobile Information Systems Design from Monash
University, Melbourne, Australia.