Gunjan Dance Academy celebrates 17th Annual festival - Dr Sunil Kothari

Meera Das, senior disciple of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra based in Cuttack assiduously continues Odissi training at Cuttack, though the dance scene has shifted to the capital  Bhubaneswar in a big way. Kala Vikash Kendra, the premier institution started training of Odissi dance at Cuttack, where Kelucharan Mohapatra taught Odissi to several young dancers, including Kum Kum Mohanty (nee Das), conducted workshops when dancers from different parts of India and some from abroad came to study Odissi. Later, Odissi Research Centre was established at Bhubaneswar and many Odiya dancers studied there under Kelubabu, including Meera Das, who did not settle down in Bhubaneswar. She chose to open her institution Gunjan Dance Academy at Cuttack in 1995 and has trained more than 200 young dancers at her academy. Last year I had attended its 16th annual festival and was impressed by her dedication and determination to carry on the legacy of her guru in Cuttack. Once upon a time it was Kala Vikash Kendra which drew many to its portals to study Odissi. Today, Meera Das with her dynamism and catholic outlook has succeeded in keeping the interest among people in Cuttack alive in Odissi through her academy and several events she organizes.
The three day dance and music festival she conducts features well known dancers practicing different classical dance forms and provides platform to young up and coming talented dancers as well. With a band of her dedicated supporters, including her President Gayatri Das, local committee members, her senior students, some of whom with thorough training under her, also take classes, teach and perform, and poet and critic Kedar Mishra, Meera Das continues to run her academy successfully. 

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