Latest update April 4th, 2025 6:13 AM
Eminent Indian classical dancer for Wednesday performance
Dr. Sonal Mansingh, an eminent Indian classical dancer and choreographer of Odissi dancing style, is due for a performance in Guyana this Wednesday.
Dr Mansingh is also credited with mastering other Indian classical dancing styles including Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, and Chhau.
She has danced in 87 countries of the world on five continents. She has held master classes, workshops, given lecture-demonstrations and travelled to the remotest corners of the world to share her joy in the beauty and wisdom contained in dance.
She will perform at the National Cultural Centre. Admission is free. Her performance is being facilitated by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.
Dr. Sonal Mansingh (centre) performs a classical piece.
Dr Mansingh started learning Manipuri dance at age four, along with her elder sister, from a teacher in Nagpur. Then at age seven she started learning Bharatnatyam from various gurus belonging to the Pandanallur school., including Kumar Jayakar in Bombay.
She has “Praveen” and “Kovid” degrees in Sanskrit from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and B.A. (Hons) degree in German Literature from Elphinstone College, Bombay.
Though her real training in dance started when at age 18, despite her family’s opposition, she went to Bangalore, to learn Bharatanatyam from Prof. U. S. Krishna Rao and Chandrabhaga Devi, and later started learning Odissi from Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra in 1965.
Sonal Mansingh dancing career started in 1962, and in 1977, she founded, Centre for Indian Classical Dances (CICD) in New Delhi.
Over the years, dance has taken her all over the world and brought her many awards, including the Padma Bhushan (1992), Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1987 ,[10] and the Padma Vibhushan, India’s the second highest civilian award, in 2003; making her the first woman dancer in India to receive such an honour.
This was followed by Kalidas Samman of Madhya Pradesh Government, in 2006 and on April 21, 2007, she was conferred with Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by G.B. Pant University, Uttarakhand at Pantnagar.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
The reciprocal tariffs
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has once again proven his talent for making the indefensible... more
The U.S. “Joining” the Commonwealth: an unreasonable expectation
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- Recent media stories have suggested that King Charles III could “invite” the United... more
Weekend Cartoon
