Leena Mohanty is a leading exponent of Odissi dance. She has won many awards, such as the Ustad Bismillah Khan Youth award, the Mahari award, the Sanjukta Panigrahi award and performed in many shows throughout the world. She has choreographed

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

pieces and items and has taught students throughout the world. Her main bases and centers of learning are in

Bhubaneshwar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango tr ...

, Odisha, India, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and New York City, though she has performed in many other places.

Early life

Leena Mohanty was born and brought up in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India to Rabinarayana Mohanty ( Gurudas), a businessman a and Swarna Mohanty, a poet. However, she was raised in a spiritual and cultural family and therefore, was introduced to Odissi dance at the tender age of four. She first learnt under

Deba Prasad Das Deba Prasad Das was an Indian classical dancer, considered by critics and connoisseurs as one of the four first generation gurus of the Indian classical dance form of Odissi. His Odissi style is robust and unique. He was a recipient of the 1977 ...

, a famous Odissi dancer, but after the demise of her teacher, she continued her training under Guru Durga Charan Ranbir. She still continues to perform and teach Odissi dance. At the age of

eleven Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *'' ...

to twelve, she acted in the Odiya movie " Basanta Rasa" directed by Gurudas as Lalita, Srimati Radha's faithful friend.

Awards

The awards won by Leena Mohanty are as such as follows: * Recipient of Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar 2006 from Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi * Recipient of the Mahari Award, 2006 * Recipient of Sanjukta Panigrahi Award, Patitapawan Kala Niketan, New Delhi * Recipient of Junior Fellowship in dance from Ministry of Human Resource Development, government of India * Recipient of Senior National Scholarship in Odissi

from Department of Culture, govt. Of India * Awarded the title Singarmani by Sursingar Samsad, Mumbai, India * Empanelled artist of the Indian council of Cultural Relations (

ICCR The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India's global cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their people. It was founded on 9 Apri ...

)

References

http://www.artindia.net/leena
http://artindia.net/leena/about.html http://pad.ma/BCW/info http://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/entertainment/arts/2013/07/23/two-dance-forms-come-together-in-sharanagati/ https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/21/arts/dance/21fringe.html https://orissamatters.wordpress.com/tag/leena-mohanty/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohanty, Leena Odissi exponents Indian female classical dancers Performers of Indian classical dance Living people Year of birth missing (living people)