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Aloka Kanungo

  

One of the leading classical dancers of India, Aloka Kanungo is a rare
combination of dancer, choreographer, teacher & scholar.

A worthy heir to the art of Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra, she is a name with in the Odissi genre. Endowed with a well-proportioned body, fluent face, expressive eyes and natural beauty in body movement, she has disciplined her body into supple and flexible grace and her mind into a subtle aesthetic emotion so that she translates with effortless grace the quintessence of Odissi dance into sculpturesque beauty and soulful expression.

She combines single-handed devotion and indefatigable industry with a keen and questioning mind. Her style has an elegance & dignity, which captures the audience. Her innovative creative ideas find expression through the language of dance in her much-appreciated productions, where she experiments with Bandha and Stapatya satya.

Though Aloka was beginning to become quite a house-hold name as a budding actress, she preferred to be a dancer and soon became a name to reckon with in the dance field. Initially trained by Guru Raghunatha Dutta and Guru Mayadhar Rout, she blossomed into a fine dancer under the tutelage and watchful eyes of Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra. She received "Nritya Shree","Nritya Visharad" and "Nritya Praveen" from Kala Vikash Kendra, Cuttack. She has received many prestigious awards, including the Shiromoni Puroshkar and the Mahari Award.

She has performed all over the world, the entire world recognised the talent of this dancer. She is regarded as one of the foremost classical dancers of India. At present, all her dreams are woven around her Odissi dance institution, Shinjan Nrityalaya.

 

 
Productions
 
BARSHAR GAAN
   
Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore always wanted to be one with the nature and it is best reflected in his poems on nature. The poems on monsoon are not only suitable to express the varying moods but fits very well with the Odissi medium. This is an attept to acknowledge the love and affection, the concern and the encouragement of the people of Calcutta, who have provided boost to Aloka Kanungo's career as well as induced her to look in to herself and discover herself again and again.
NAAD
 
The Universe functions with rhythm. The celestial bodies move with rhythmic sequence. The changing pattern of the moon, the intensity of the waves in the ocean, the sound of the flowing water of the stream, the setting of the day and night, change of the seasons, the beat of the heart –all have rhythmic cycles. Often this rhythm is manifested to the sound, which originates from “ OM” and sends vibrations. The body responds to it and creates gestures punctuated with rhythm.

The music of Naad using various instruments and vocal chord is composed by Sri Dipak Chowdhury an eminent sitarist and a senior disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar. Naad originates from OM oscillates to manifest Dhwani, which again diffuses to create Naad. This is reflected in this dance ensemble- which creates a visual extravaganza.
MAHA RAAS
 
Whatever evokes RASA (sentiments) is called RAAS (amorous dance). This fact has been proved by the graceful blending of the two dance styles – ODISSI and MANIPURI in portraying the meeting and separation of Lord Krishna to the final cosmic union – “ Ek Gopi Ek Shyam”, where Lord Krishna seems to dance with every Gopi at the same time, which also assures his presence inside all of us.

Both Odissi and Manipuri dance forms have originated from eastern India, have enjoyed royal patronage, were performed as rituals in the temples and influenced by Vaishnavite Culture. In technique, both Odissi and Manipuri lay emphasis on torso and wrist movements. Both dance forms have petal soft expositions as well as vigorous tandava. Yet Odissi and Manipuri are unique in their own ways.
STHAPATYA SATYA
 
This production is based on extensive research and embellished with Bandha in four performing Arts –namely Chitra, Kavya, Nritya and Geeta.

As different strokes of a brush bound with lines and curves in various shades and colors make up a painting- as different letters and words bound in rhythm and style make up a poem—as different intricate postures and rhythmic stepping mingled with facial expression make up a dance sequence---All these convey the essence of Bandha. Bandha may be expressed in many and different ways but all convey one meaning—Tie or Bond.

Some Orissan patta painting depict Gopies in acrobatic postures forming a vehicle or animal on which Krishna rides. These are known as Bandha Chitra. Then there was a trend to arrange letters of a poem in a pictorial shape popularly known as Bandha Kavya or Prabandha Chitra Kavya according to Kavya Prakash.One of the meaning of Bandha is a position or posture of the body. The dance performed styling in acrobatic form encompassing the intricate postures is called Bandha Nritya . This is how the eminent scholar Sri Dhiren Patnaik has defined in his book Odissi dance.According to Sri Krishnadas Badajena author of Geeta Prakash, a song which is bound by Angas (ie-Bakya, Swara, Tenak andPatta or Taal) is Prabandha Geeta .

Eventually the Chitra, Kavya and Geeta are expressed or reflected in Nritya and Bandha Nritya which is the domain of boy dancers or Gotipuas dominates the production.This choreographic work has the age old rustic, pristine gotipua dance along with the sophisticated Odissi dance of our time, but all the time the inspiration being the sculptures- the monuments on our temple walls, which have been there as the silent witness of our heritage and culture and the ultimate truth of our lineage and tradion.

GATAAGATA
 
With time everything undergoes changes. This also happens to the art scene. The ancient forms undergo much metamorphosis and evolved as contemporary, which again leads the way to nascent modernism. This cycle continues the past becomes present, which gives birth to the future.

By this process of alteration, modification, metamorphosis and evolution the primitive, simple, pristine indigenous arts become contemporary, complex, polished and sophisticated. But sometimes it is lost in the horizon, when the character of this art form can only be remembered, imagined but becomes difficult to witness. With due respect to the past Gata and welcoming the future Agata, Aloka Kanungo tried to present this trend of evolution in her production Gatagata., based on research and vision. While projecting this trend she used SABDA (bols) of SABDA NRITYA. She considers it a humble endeavor to revive this forgotten dance form in the hope that it will once again become a part of Odissi repertoire and give it a novel colorful rich appearance. The music is by Sri Ramahari Das and Sri Dhaneswar Swain.
SHIVA SHAKTI
This is a very short composition in Odissi and Kathak style by Kathak exponent Guru Rani Karna Nayak and Aloka Kanungo. This piece depicts the Purusha and Prakriti, which epitomize the Ardhanariswar to the music of Sri Shankar Ghosh.

MAHAVIDYA
 
The creation, its preservation and dissolution are possible only through Shakti or the formidable energy. The energy that is expressed in feminine gender is considered to be infinity. The tantra philosophy advocates the worship of Shakti to achieve the impossible and to expand ones own strength. There are specific Jantras and Bijamantras, which represent a particular Mahavidya. The ten Mahavidyas are- Kali, Tara, Shodashi, Bhubaneswari, TripuraBhairavi, Chhinamasta, Dhumabati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi and Kamala. These Devis are depicted by using an almost extinct dance form of Odissi – SABDA NRITYA. This production is based on extensive research.
KAUTUK
  
Kautuk is a dance-drama on the various moral stories of Panchatantra. Hundreds of children of various schools of Kolkata got together to perform the roles of different animals of the fabulous world of Panchatantra. What made it special was the involvement of the mentally and physically chalenged children of the Institute of Cerebral Palsy.
   
Contact details:
 

Aloka Kanungo
Shinjan Nrityalaya
153A Sarat Bose Road
Calcutta 700 026
India

Telephone: + 91 33 24644141
Fax no.: + 91 33 2463 8117
Email : alokakanungo@rediffmail.com
info@alokakanungo.com
Website : http://www.alokakanungo.com