Sharmila Biswas is a noted Indian classical

dancer Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

and

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

in the

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 1995, she established Odissi Vision and Movement Center in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, where she is the Artistic Director, the centre also has OVM Repertory. In 2012, Biswas was awarded

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 recognit ...

, conferred by the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and ...

, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.

Early life and education

Biswas was born and brought up in Kolkata, where she started learning dance from the age of eight. When she was sixteen years old, she started training in Odissi under Muralidharan Majhi, and then trained under Kelucharan Mohapatra. Subsequently, she learnt ''

abhinaya Abhinaya (Sanskrit ''abhi-'' 'towards' + ''nii-'' 'leading/guide') is the art of expression in Indian aesthetics. More accurately it means "leading an audience towards" the experience (') of a sentiment ('). The concept, derived from Bharata Mu ...

'' from

Kalanidhi Narayanan Kalanidhi Narayanan (7 December 1928 – 21 February 2016) was an Indian dancer and teacher of Indian classical dance form of Bharatnatyam, who was the early non-devadasi girl to learn the dance form and perform it on stage in the 1930s and 194 ...

Personal life

Sharmila married Swapan Kumar Biswas in 1987, who is a doctor specialising in health management. The couple lives in Kolkata and have a son Shoumik Biswas.

Career

Over the years, Biswas participated in performing arts festivals at Elephanta,

Khajuraho Dance Festival The Khajuraho Dance Festival (''IAST:Khajuraho Nritya Samaroh''), organised by the Madhya Pradesh Kala Parishad, is a one-week festival of classical dances held annually beside the Khajuraho temples in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh s ...

and Konark Dance Festival and in UK, the USA, Germany, Russia, Dubai and Bangladesh. She performs both classical Odissi as well as her experimental choreographic works. She has also done extensive research on the ancient

Mahari dance Mahari is a ritualistic dance form from the eastern Indian state of Odisha that used to be performed at the temple of Lord Jagannatha at Puri by devadasi dancers called ''maharis''. Following the abolition of the devadasi system, the dance has ...

performed by temple dancers of

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...

. In 1995, she established Odissi Vision and Movement Center (OVM) in Kolkata, where is the Artistic Director, and trains young dancer, the institute also run the OVM Repertory. In 2009, she started ''Poorva Dhara'', an annual festival of traditional dances of

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

and

North East India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

Awards

She was conferred the "Best Choreography Award" from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India, for her dance production, ''Sampurna'' based on the

devdasi In India, a devadasi was a female artist who was dedicated to the worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. The dedication took place in a ceremony that was somewhat similar to a marriage ceremony. In addition to taki ...

s of

Puri Puri () is a coastal city and a municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is also known as ''S ...

. In 1998, Uday Shankar Award for Best Choreography in 1998 from the Department of Information and Broadcasting,

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal also known as the West Bengal Government, is the subnational government of the Indian state of West Bengal , created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial authority. The ...

. In 2010, Biswas was conferred the Mahari Awards. In 2012, she was awarded the

, the highest award for performing artists, conferred by the