‘Gaudiya Nritya’ – Classical dance of Bengal by Senior Prof. Mahua Mukherjee on 13 December

The Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre (SVCC), High Commission of India, Colombo, will be organising an evening of Gaudiya Nritya, classical dance of Bengal by Senior Professor Mahua Mukherjee on 13 December at 6:45 p.m. at Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre auditorium, 16/2 Gregory’s Road, Colombo 7.

Mahua Mukherjee is an exponent, pioneer researcher who has revived the Indian classical dance form Gaudiya nritya. She is a Senior Professor of Department of Dance and former Dean of faculty of fine arts of Rabindra Bharati University. Along with her husband, Amitava Mukherjee, she has been reviving the dance style through her career from 1980s. She has also given performances and lectures as Fulbright visiting professor at the University of Oklahoma, USA. She has also served as Tagore Chair Professor in University of Dhaka for two years. 

Mahua Mukherjee has learned dance from several gurus, such as Shashi Mahato (Nachni), Narottam Sanyal (kirtan), Padmashree Gambhir Singh Mudha (Chhow), Padma Bhushan Kalanidhi Narayanan (Abhinaya), Guru Manabendu Bandyopadhyay (shastra), etc. 

Mahua Mukherjee is also the founder dance Director of the Institute Gaudiya Nritya Bharati and former Director of Mitrayan. She has also been the subject of a poem written by Nigerian writer Tanure Ojaide published in his collection ‘the beauty I have seen: a trilogy’.  She also features in documentary films – dance of god (1997), Geetamay Tanmay – trance in motion (2012) made by film division – Government of India, resurrection (Rajya Sabha TV channel 2013), Gaudiya nritya – golden glory a classical dance of Bengal (SNA 2017) and many others. 

She has about 20 books and more than 180 articles to her credit. More than 50 students have received junior and senior scholarships and fellowships from Government of India under her guidance.

Mahua Mukherjee will be performing: Durgamangalacharan, which is an invocatory dance, seeking blessings from Goddess Durga- Kali; Shanta Rasa, a performance on seeking peace from Lord Buddha. 

Entrance is free.