Sonal Mansingh (born 30 April 1944) is an Indian classical dancer and Guru

Bharatanatyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

and

Odissi Odissi (), also referred to as Orissi in old literature, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the temples of Odisha – an eastern coastal state of India.nominated A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * ...

by the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murm ...

to become a

Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha ( abbreviated: MP) is the representative of the Indian states to the one of the two houses of the Parliament of India (Rajya Sabha). Rajya Sabha MPs are elected by the electoral college of the elect ...

. She is the youngest recipient of

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

in 1992 and

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...

in 2003.

Early life and background

Sonal Mansingh was born in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

, second of three children to Arvind and

Poornima Pakvasa Poornima Arvind Pakvasa (5 October 1913 – 25 April 2016), known as the Didi of Dangs, was an Indian independence activist and social worker from Gujarat. Early life Pakvasa was born in Ranpur near Limbdi State, Saurashtra (now in Gujarat) ...

, a noted social worker from

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

and

winner in 2004. Her grandfather was

Mangal Das Pakvasa Mangaldas M. Pakvasa, મંગળદાસ પક્વાસ (Bombay, 7 May 1882 – 6 November 1968) a freedom fighter and one of the first five Indian Governors, served as the first President of the Bharat Scouts and Guides from 1953 to Nov ...

, a freedom fighter, and one of the first five

Governors of India The governors of the states of India have similar powers and functions at the state level as those of the president of India at the central level. Governors exist in the states, while lieutenant governors exist in union territories includ ...

. She started learning

Manipuri dance , image = , alt = , caption = An illustration of the ''Manipuri Raas Leela'' dance, being depicted in a stamp from Armenia; transliterations of "Jagoi Raas" and "Manipuri Raas Leela", the terms in Meitei language (offi ...

at age four, along with her elder sister, from a teacher in

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nagpur is projected to ...

, then at age seven she started learning

Bharatnatyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

from various gurus belonging to the Pandanallur school, including Kumar Jayakar in Bombay She has "Praveen" and "Kovid" degrees in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

from

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is an Indian educational trust. It was founded on 7 November 1938 by Dr K.M Munshi, with the support of Mahatma Gandhi. The trust programmes through its 119 centres in India, 7 centres abroad and 367 constituent instit ...

and B.A. (Hons) degree in German Literature from

Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1823, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the ed ...

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

. Though, her real training in dance started when at age 18, despite her family's opposition, she went to

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, to learn Bharatanatyam from Prof. U. S. Krishna Rao and Chandrabhaga Devi at age 18, abhinaya from Mylapore Gowri Ammal, and later started learning

Odissi Odissi (), also referred to as Orissi in old literature, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the temples of Odisha – an eastern coastal state of India.Kelucharan Mohapatra Kelucharan Mohapatra (8 January 1926 – 7 April 2004) was a legendary Indian classical dancer, guru, and exponent of Odissi dance, who is credited with the revival and popularizing of this classical dance form in the 20th century. He is ...

in 1965. Mansingh was married to former Indian diplomat Lalit Mansingh. The couple decided to divorce later. Her father-in-law

Mayadhar Mansingh Mayadhar Mansingh (13 November 1905 – 11 October 1973) was an Indian poet and writer who wrote in Odia. He received the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award in India, in 1967. Personal life Mansingh was born in Nandala village, Krushn ...

introduced her to

Kelucharan Mohapatra Kelucharan Mohapatra (8 January 1926 – 7 April 2004) was a legendary Indian classical dancer, guru, and exponent of Odissi dance, who is credited with the revival and popularizing of this classical dance form in the 20th century. He is ...

where she had her training in

Odissi Odissi (), also referred to as Orissi in old literature, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the temples of Odisha – an eastern coastal state of India.Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

, and in 1977, she founded, ''Centre for Indian Classical Dances'' (CICD) in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

.Biography
Official website. Over the years, dance has taken her all over the world and brought her many awards, including the

(1992),

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

in 1987, and the

, India's the second highest

civilian award This list of civil awards and decorations is a partial index to articles about notable civil awards and decorations. It excludes Law enforcement awards and honors and ecclesiastical decorations, which are covered by separate lists. See :Civil aw ...

, in 2003; making her the second woman dancer in India to receive such an honour after

Balasaraswati Tanjore Balasaraswati, also known as Balasaraswati (13 May 1918 – 9 February 1984), was an Indian dancer, and her rendering of Bharatanatyam, a classical dance style originated in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, made this style of d ...

. This was followed by

Kalidas Samman The Kalidas Samman ( hi, कालिदास सम्मान) is an arts award presented annually by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in India. The award is named after Kālidāsa, a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer of ancient India. The ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the second ...

government, in 2006 and on 21 April 2007, she was conferred with Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by G.B. Pant University,

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

Pantnagar Pantnagar is a town and a university campus in Udham Singh Nagar district, Uttarakhand. Nainital, Kashipur, Rudrapur and Kiccha, Haldwani are the major cities surrounding Pantnagar. The town is home to the first agricultural university of I ...

and Doctor of Literature (Honoris Causa) by

Sambalpur University Sambalpur University is located in Burla town, of district Sambalpur, India, in the state of Odisha. Popularly known as Jyoti Vihar, it offers courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. The governor of Odisha is the chancellor o ...

. To mark the completion of her 40 years in dancing in 2002, noted

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

film director,

Prakash Jha Prakash Jha (born 27 February 1952) is an Indian film producer, actor, director and screenwriter, mostly known for his political and socio-political films such as “Hip Hip Hurray” (1984), '' Damul'' (1984), ''Mrityudand'' (1997), ''Gangaaj ...

made a documentary film on her, title ''Sonal'', which also won the

National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film The National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organization set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awar ...

for the year. In 2018, she was honoured with

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship The Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, also known as Akademi Ratna Sadasyata, is an Indian honour for the performing arts presented by Sangeet Natak Academy. It is "the most prestigious and rare honour" conferred by the Academy and is "restricte ...

also known as Akademi Ratna, for her contribution in the field of performing arts.

Choreographies

* ''Indradhanush'' * ''Manavatta'' * ''Mera Bharat'' * ''Draupadi'' * ''Gita Govinda'' * ''Sabras'' * ''Chaturang'' * ''Panchkanya'' * ''Devi Durga'' * ''Aatmayan'' * ''Samanavaya''

Awards

*Youngest recipient of

in 1992 and in 2003 *Youngest recipient of

in 2003. *In November 2019, Sonal Mansingh felicitated with Lifetime Achievement Award.

Quotes

*''"A dancer is not just a dancer. He/She is part of this environment. He/She does not exist in a vacuum. Society and its happenings have an impact on all individuals, especially artists. If an art form does not reflect the existing milieu, it stagnates."''Sonal Mansingh
www.artindia.net. * ''"Radha is a grand image too but she's a personification of love without which there is no creation. In our male-dominated mythology the image of Krishna at the feet of Radha, begging for her love, is most unusual. Gita Govind invokes deep spiritual thoughts, packaged in beautifully written verses".''Art and Culture

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...

, 18 March 2008.

Bibliography

* ''The Penguin Book of Indian Dance'' by Sonal Mansingh, Penguin Books Australia. . * ''Classical Dances'' by Sonal Mansingh, Avinash Pasricha, Varsha Das. 2007, Wisdom Publications. . * ''Draupadi'', by Sonal Mansingh; Museum Society of Bombay, 1994. * '' Devpriya'' conversation with Sonal Mansingh by Yatindra Mishra; Vaani publication.

References

*''India’s 50 Most Illustrious Women'' () by Indra Gupta

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansingh, Sonal 1944 births Living people Teachers of Indian classical dance Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts Odissi exponents Indian female classical dancers Performers of Indian classical dance Indian classical choreographers Indian women choreographers Indian choreographers Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Maharashtra Dancers from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian dancers 20th-century Indian educators 20th-century Indian women artists Women educators from Maharashtra Educators from Maharashtra Women artists from Maharashtra 20th-century women educators Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship