Sonal Mansingh (born 30 April 1944) is an

Indian classical dance Indian classical dance, or ''Shastriya Nritya'', is an umbrella term for different regionally-specific Indian classical dance traditions, rooted in predominantly Hindu musical theatre performance,, Quote: All of the dances considered to be part ...

r and Guru in

Bharatanatyam ''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jainism.< ...

and Odissi dancing style. She has been nominated by the

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) 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, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

to become a

Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha (abbreviated: MP) is the representative of the States and union territories of India, Indian states to the upper house of the Parliament of India which is known as "Rajya Sabha" (constitutionally "Cou ...

. She is the recipient of

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') 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 Januar ...

in 1992 and Padma Vibhushan in 2003.

Early life and background

Sonal Mansingh was born 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 ...

, second of three children to Arvind and Poornima Pakvasa, a noted social worker from

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, 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 List of states and union territories ...

and

winner in 2004. Her grandfather was Mangal Das Pakvasa, a freedom fighter, and one of the first five Governors of India. She started learning

Manipuri dance Manipuri dance, sometimes also referred to as the Manipuri Raas Leela (), is a jagoi and is one of the major Classical Indian dance, Indian classical dance forms, originating from the state of Manipur. It is one of the Meitei intangible cult ...

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

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

, then at age seven she started learning

Bharatnatyam ''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jain ...

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

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and B.A. (Hons) degree in German Literature from Elphinstone College,

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

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

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

, 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 from Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra in 1965. Mansingh was married to former Indian diplomat Lalit Mansingh. The couple decided to divorce later. Her father-in-law Mayadhar Mansingh introduced her to Kelucharan Mohapatra where she had her training in Odissi.

Career

Sonal Mansingh dancing career which started in 1962, after her ''arangetram'' in

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

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

.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 (IAST: 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 Padma Vibhushan, India's the second highest civilian award, in 2003; making her the second woman dancer in India to receive such an honour after Balasaraswati. This was followed by Kalidas Samman of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

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

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

at Pantnagar and Doctor of Literature (Honoris Causa) by Sambalpur University. To mark the completion of her 40 years in dancing in 2002, noted

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

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 (film), Hip Hip Hurray'' (1984), ''Damul'' (1984), ''Mrityudand ...

made a documentary film on her, title ''Sonal'', which also won the National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film for the year. In 2018, she was honoured with Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship 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 . *Youngest recipient of Padma Vibhushan 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 HISTORY 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, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

, 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 Indian classical choreographers Indian women choreographers Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Maharashtra Dancers from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian dancers 20th-century Indian educators 20th-century Indian women educators 20th-century Indian women artists Women educators from Maharashtra Educators from Maharashtra Women artists from Maharashtra Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship