Shyamhari Chakra
Since three decades, she has been sowing seeds of Bharatanatyam in the land of Odissi. As a result of her sustained crusade, Odisha has above 150 trained Bharatanatyam dancers today.
She is Suchismita Sen Biswas of the Steel City of Rourkela, Bharatanatyam exponent and founder-director of the two-decade-old Kalabhumi dance institution.
Born and brought up in India’s cultural capital of Kolkata, she was groomed by Thankamani Kutty, the best known exponent of Bharatanatyam in Bengal.
She was barely 20 when she was empanelled as an A-grade Bharatanatyam dancer for Doordarshan besides being a regular member of her Guru’s famed troupe.
However, all of a sudden, her marriage took her away from her Guru and her beloved city as well as she had to shift to Rourkela city where her husband was posted to the National Institute of Technology (NIT).
“Initially I felt completely cut off from dance that was my passion and dream-destination to be a professional Bharatanatyam dancer. However, to keep the dancer alive in me, I started teaching Bharatanatyam to the kids at the Saswata Sangeetalaya school of music and dance on the NIT campus”, she shared.
This was her humble beginning as a Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher in the State where Odissi was everyone’s first love.
“The cosmopolitan culture of Rourkela helped me to popularise Bharatanatyam dance tradition. People of the city had love and appreciation for all kinds of cultural traditions and activities,” acknowledged Suchismita who has already made Rourkela her homeland.
Bharatanatyam apart, her Kalabhumi has also introduced teaching of two more Indian classical dance traditions in Odisha – Kuchipudi and Mohiniattam – through annual workshops.
The dance exponent, who had graduated with psychology has been a specialist in education for the children with special needs besides being an expert in dance therapy for the differently abled children.
“Years ago, when I had gone to the famous Kalakshetra in Chennai, I was advised by many friends there to refrain from my dream to establish a Bharatanatyam institute in Odisha where Odissi would be the natural choice of its people.
But, the love and support of the people of Odisha have helped me to prove them wrong,” shared Suchismita who was honoured in Bhubaneswar with the India International Dance Festival Lifetime Achievement Award for promotion of Bharatanatyam in Odisha.
