Meridian Dance Presents:

Niharika Mohanty

An Evening of Traditional Odissi Dance

In Conjunction with Richard Berger’s The Prosthetic Temple

April 28, 2011, 7:30 PM

Follow Niharika's process on the Meridian Dance Blog.

On Thursday, April 28th, Meridian Dance will feature a traditional Indian dancer Niharika Mohanty in a performance of Odissi dance, the oldest Indian dance form in archaeological record. Niharika’s performance will be presented in conjunction with Richard Berger’s exhibition The Prosthetic Temple, a scale recreation of the ancient Sun Temple of Konorak in Orissa, India.

In this performance, Niharika Mohanty will take you into a spiritual journey through the history and tradition of Odissi dance. Through multimedia presentations and performance, she will retell the fascinating history of this dance form, which has been linked to archeological evidence dating back to 2nd century BC and scriptural evidence dating back to 2nd century AD. Niharika will also discuss the erotic sculptures present throughout the Konarak Temple and the relationship between the sacred and profane found in Indian temple art, paintings, and literature, followed by a demonstration of Odissi dance performed to the poetry of the Gita Govindam.

Inspired by her parents, Niharika Mohanty began her extensive training in Odissi at the age of five. In 1989 she became the disciple of the internationally-accliamed reviver and teacher of Odissi dance, the late Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. Niharika credits Guru Mohapatra’s love, guidance, and faith as essential to the realization of her passion for Odissi dance and has since continued her training under Sujata Mohapatra, Guru Mohapatra’s gifted daughter-in-law (regarded to be the world’s top Odissi dancer) and Guru Mohapatra’s son, Guru Ratikant Mohapatra, Director of Srjan, Guru Mohapatra’s institution in Orissa. Niharika is also the Director of Guru Shradha, Guru Mohapatra’s US institution. Niharika holds an MA in Dance and is the recipient of several grants and awards for her training and choreography. In recent years, she has performed in the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, the National Festival of Odissi Dance and Music in India, the Indian Classical Music and Dance Festival and the Interfaith On the Wings of Ecstasy Festival in the Bahamas.

Niharika’s performance will take place at San Francisco’s Meridian Gallery on Thursday, April 28th at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $10-$20 sliding scale and can be purchased at the door. Meridian Dance curators Lindsay Levesque and Michelle K. Lynch will host a question and answer session following the performance.

Follow the process on the Meridian Dance Blog, and purchase tickets at Brown Paper Tickets.

Odissi dancer Niharika Mohanty demonstrates her warm up with some of her students at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco on May 31, 2008.