Search for:
ARTISTIC
CONTRIBUTIONS
> Dance > South
Asian
Ellora Patnaik | She has earned international acclaim
as a dancer and actor. Many revered Gurus contributed to her
training including: Kalasri
Chitralekha Patnaik, the late Padmabibhusan Kelucharan Mohapatra,
the late Padmasri Pankaj Charan Das, Padmasri Gangadhar Pradhan
and the late Padmasri Sanjukta Panigrahi. She has been teaching
and performing Odissi professionally since 1980. Ellora was the
darling of the first batch of the esteemed Odissi Research Centre,
where she received direct instruction from the late Padmabibhusan
Kelucharan Mohapatra in 1988-1989.
Ellora's prodigious stage talents
are not limited to dance. She holds an associate's degree from
the American Academy of the Dramatic Arts, where she was selected
to be a member of the Company in her third year (1994). Notably,
she co-starred in 'My Own Country' (1998) and starred in 'Tapish'
in 2000.
In 1994, she co-founded Chitralekha
Odissi Dance Creations Incorporated (CODC) with her mother, Chitralekha and her
younger brother, Devraj.
On 11 November 1995, Ellora danced the leading role in her own
directorial debut, the Odissi dance drama 'Glaanisanghaar'. She
has danced leading roles and either directed or assisted in direction
for each CODC production since that time. In 2005, she delivered
a landmark performance; a 31-minute solo rendition of a 'Nasha
Rasa' in honour of Lord Shiva, created specifically for her by
Guru Sri Devraj Patnaik.
She starred as Krishna in Guru Sri Devraj Patnaik's 'Mahabharata
Quadriology' (2003-2006). In 2007, she directed and starred in
'Devi'. Most recently, she performed at the 2008
CanAsian Dance Festival.
Currently, Ellora is active
in both Odissi and acting.
<<
top
The project was made
possible with the support of the
Department
of Canadian Heritage through the Canadian Culture Online Strategy
The Acrobat Reader
is available free from 