Kaustavi Sarkar.
BIOGRAPHY
Kaustavi Sarkar stepped into the world of dance at Uday Shankar India Culture Center under the careful supervision of Smt Amala Shankar. She started Odissi under Guru Pausali Mukherjee, student of Guru Padmavibhushan Shri Kelucharan Mohapatra. She is currently trained by Guru Ratikant Mohapatra, son of the legend Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra and is determined to take forward Guruji’s legacy.
Kaustavi Sarkar is a PhD student in Texas A&M University, U.S.A. along with being a professional dancer from India. Currently she is actively involved in performing and also conducts odissi lessons in College Station. She has been invited more than once to offer lectures on Odissi dance at her university. On November 19, 2008 the university newspaper Battalion covered her story and published. Kindly click on this link.
After coming to the US in July 2007 she has performed in Houston, Austin, Dallas, SanAntonio in Texas, NewJersey, San Fransisco in California and SaltLake City in Utah. Recently she was invited to do the guest performance at the International Week, TAMU. On February 7, 2009, she performed at a Yuvabharati event in Palo Alto, California. In India she participated in a number of major festivals and even represented India at the Commonwealth Day Celebrations in Colombo, SriLanka (2007).
In India she won the National Scholarship in Odissi when she was only eighteen years old. She has been invited to perform by Sangeet Natak Academy, ICCR, EZCC and the government of India. She has been a part of a number of acclaimed festivals. To name a few, we have Uday Shankar Nrityotsav, Samsmaranam, International Odissi Conference, Vaisakhi Utsav, Barsha Utsav, Deesha, Konark, Shruti Mandal, Young Dancers’ Festival of India, Indian Classical Music Young Talent’s Conference, Stars of Tomorrow in the Classical Dance Arena, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Ceremony and many more.
In 2008 June she along with her Gurubehen Aparupa Chatterjee invited Guru Ratikant Mohapatra to conduct a workshop in College Station. Recently Smt. Sujata Mohapatra was hosted by her at her residence for conducting a workshop and program in March, 2009. Kaustavi was also honored to be in the repertory of Srjan under the able tutelage of Guru Ratikant Mohapatra.