06-Apr-2017 08:18 PM
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Surupa Sen was the first student at Nrityagram, and has received her training from Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra, Protima Gauri, and Smt. Kalanidhi Narayanan. As a child she studied Bharatanatyam, to which she attributes her pre occupation with form and line. Attracted to choreography from her first exposure to western makers of dances, she participated in the International Choreographer’s Residency at the American Dance Festival (2000), on a grant from the Asian Cultural Council. Over the years she has worked with dancers and choreographers from across the world. Ms. Sen, who is Artistic Director and choreographer at Nrityagram, has performed in solo recitals and ensembles across India and the world. Her first full-length choreographic work, Sri: In Search of the Goddess (2000), consisted of both a non-traditional suite (Night, Fire, Dialogue with Death) and a re-working of traditional dance (Srimati, Srimayi, and Sridevi). Her next production Ansh (2004) was a reworking of a typical Odissi recital, which was followed by Sacred Space (2006), a show based on temple architecture and its relationship to dance, that used an expanded traditional Odissi vocabulary. Her newest production Pratima: Reflection, is a work that explores the relationship between the dancer and her dance as she seeks to find an image of herself through the essential truths – of Creation, Contemplation, Separation and the Duality of the human spirit. It was commissioned by the Joyce Theatre’s Stephen and Cathy Weinroth Fund for New York, as part of their 25th anniversary celebrations. In 2011 Nrityagram performed and toured with Sriyaḥ: a Decade of Dance-Making, and at present Ms. Sen is working on her full-length production Saṃhära. All her productions have toured extensively across India and the world. She is a recipient of several awards and felicitations including the the Nritya Choodamani (2011), the Yagnaraman Award for Excellence in Dance (2008) and the Raza Foundation Award for Excellence in Dance (2006). Surupa Sen lives and works in Bangalore, Karnataka.