Noted Odissi gurus and performers

Most of the present day gurus are Gotipua dancers themselves, and have trained dancers and teachers all over India and abroad. In the early fifties, the outside world began to take note of Odissi. During the eighties and nineties, the golden years of the Odissi renaissance. Few notable Odissi dancers who had played a pivotal role in reviving Odissi in the late forties and early fifties  are Padma Vibushan Kelucharan Mohapatra, Guru Pankaj Charan Das, Guru Deba Prasad Das and Guru Raghunath Dutta. Sanjukta Panigrahi, a leading disciple of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra's later popularized Odissi by performing extensively, both in India and abroad.

Kelucharan Mohapatra (Photo Credit:Google Images)

 During the mid-sixties, two other disciples of Kelucharan Mohapatra, Kumkum Mohanty and Sonal Mansingh, were best known for their performances, both in India and abroad. Dancer Shrimati Laximipriya Mohapatra performed a piece of Odissi abhinaya in the Annapurna Theatre in Cuttack in 1948. This is widely upheld as the first ever performance of a classical Odissi dance item after its contemporary revival.

Padma ShriMayadhar Raut had played a pivotal role in giving Odissi dance its classical status. He introduced Mudra Vinyoga in 1955 and Sancharibhava in the Odissi dance items, and presented on stage the enchanting Gita Govinda Ashthapadis, portraying Shringara Rasa. His notable compositions include Pashyati Dishi Dishi and Priya Charu Shile, composed in 1961.

Sanjukta Panigrahi (Photo Credit:Google Images)

 Priyambada Mohanty Hejmadi and Dr. Susama Tej represented Orissa in the classical dance category at the Inter University Youth Festival, New Delhi, in 1954 and 1955. It was here that Dr. Charles Fabri witnessed their performances, hailed Odissi as a great classical dance form, and helped Indrani Rehman and Sonal Mansingh study it.

The baton in India was wielded gloriously, and with outstanding success and public acclaim, by Sanjukta Panigrahi, Kumkum Mohanty and Sonal Mansingh, each of whom was a major and distinctive star.
 
Other eminent contemporary gurus and performers of Odissi dance includes Aloka Kanungo, Aruna Mohanty, Bichitrananda Swain, Bijayini Satpathy, Chitralekha Patnaik, Daksha Mashruwala, Dibakar Khuntia, Dr. Bidisha Mohanty, Durga Charan Ranbir, Gangadhar Pradhan, Gita Mahalik, Harekrishna Behra, Ileana Citaristi, Jhelum Paranjape, Jyoti Rout, Kasturi Pattanaik, Kiran Segal, Kumkum Lal, Madhavi Mudgal, Madhumita Raut[1], Manoranjan Pradhan, Meera Das, Muralidhar Majhi, Nandita Behera, Natabar Maharana, Oopali Operajita, Poushali Mukherjee, Ramani Ranjan Jena, Ramli Ibrahim, Ranjana Gauhar, Ratikant Mohapatra, Ratna Roy, Sharmila Biswas, Sharmila Mukherjee, Sharon Lowen, Snehaprava Samantaray, Sonal Mansingh, Sri Mahdeva Raut, Srinath Raut,Sujata Mohapatra, Surupa Sen, Sutapa Talukdar, Trinath Maharana and several others around the world.