Aloka Kanungo - A Complete Commitment to Odissi
To know Aloka Kannungo as a distinguished Odissi dancer is to recognize only one out
of the several facets of her personality. She is a dancer, choreographer, teacher and scholar - all combined
into one. What's more important is that underneath all these multiple roles lies
a gracious and beautiful human being.
By presenting Odissi dance in its purest form throughout the globe she has not only
earned laurels for her but also enriched the very identity of this highly acclaimed dance form having its origin in Orissa. It
has been made possible by virtue of her original and dedicated contributions to the genre. A worthy disciple of Guru
Kelucharan Mahapatra, she has maintained complete sincerity to the subtle nuances of the dance form in all her performances.
The elegance and dignity of her style transports her audience to a celestial level leaving them wonder how
a classical dance could scale such great heights.
A CHILD PRODIGY:
Aloka’s artistic inclinations came to the fore while she was a child. She
was considered a born dancer. Dance seemed to occur to her naturally. She came to be recognized as a versatile artist at the
very young age.
When she was only six and a half years old, she was felicitated by the renowned Oriya
writer Kalindi Charan Panigrahi for her outstanding performance in a stage play. She also acted as a child artiste in the
Oriya film Matira Manisha directed by Mrinal Sen.
AN IDEAL SISHYA:
The foundation of her upbringing as a dancer was laid by guru Raghunath Dutta and
Guru Mayadhar Rout. They helped shape her fundamentals as an Odissi dancer. Subsequently she was trained under the watchful
eyes of Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra.
The unadulterated presentation of Odissi for which Aloka is known today is an outcome
of her sincere devotion to her distinguished gurus. Being an ideal shisya she has never let them down. She admits that but
for the blessings from her gurus she would not have been what she is today.
PERFORMANCE PAR EXCELLENCE:
Aloka has presented her performances on stage not only throughout India but also in
many countries around the globe. She has performed in UK, USA, Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Iraq besides many other countries.
In India her dance presentations have earned acclaim in all major cities.
She has performed in the prestigious Dance Festivals at Khajuraho and Konark. Her dance programmes have also been covered
by many leading TV channels in India.
Aloka is credited with rave reviews in national dailies such as the Hindustan Times,
the Statesman, and Indian Express. In a write-up in an on-line weekly named
Al-Ahram Weekly an utterly impressed reviewer called her “an avatar from the almighty”.
A RESEARCH SCHOLAR:
Aloka’s involvement in this great classical dance form of India has never remained
limited to her performances on stage alone. She has also undertaken serious research work on the genre and made original
contributions to scholastic research in the field. She also conducted a research on
Orissan Taals under Project Grant from Sangeet Natak Academi, New Delhi.
She has done extensive research on influence of Buddhism in Odissi dance. Presently
she is studying the Oriya poetic form of Khanda Kavya in her quest for the profound and secret meanings between the lines of the poems.
Presently Aloka is engaged in training budding dancers in Shinjan Nrityalaya, an institution
founded by her. This is in addition to her busy schedule relating to stage shows and research activities.
