Jhelum Paranjape (born September 24, 1954) is an Indian classical dancer. and exponent of Indian classical Odissi dance. She founded Smitalay, a dance academy located in Mumbai, India. Paranjape is known for her contributions to the field of classical dance, Kathak, a classical dance form of northern India.

Early life

Paranjape did M.Sc. in Statistics, then she became a Mathematics Professor while pursuing her Odissi dance work. Later, she founded the Smitalay dance institute in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, where she choreographed Odissi productions and trained

Aditi Bhagwat Aditi Bhagwat (born 18 January 1981) is an internationally renowned kathak and lavani expert, actress, dance tutor and choreographer. She travels all around the world participating in stage shows performing solo as well as in collaboration wit ...

. She contributed to preserving and promoting Odissi's traditions.

Smita Patil Smita Patil (17 October 1955 – 13 December 1986) was an Indian actress who primarily worked in Hindi and Marathi language, Marathi films. Regarded among the greatest and finest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, she was known for her ...

introduced her to Guru

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 ...

, who died in 1986, in her memory she started Smitalay in 1989.

Awards

* Kumar Gandharva Award for choreography in Odissi. * Sanjukta Panigrahi Award in the field of Odissi dance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paranjape, Jhelum Indian classical choreographers Indian dance teachers Living people 1954 births