Artistic Director - Sushmita Pati
and CEO of KTA
Sushmita is an international award winning Odissi dancer and choreographer who is based in Hampshire. She has been working in the United Kingdom since 1986. She completed her MA in ethnomusicology at Goldsmiths College University of London and dissertation in Serikella Chhau masked dance from Laban Centre London. She started her career in Dance in London with Bhavan Centre, Academy (Now known as Akademi) and later moved to Hampshire in 1994. In Hampshire her work was presented as part of the opening of The Anvil and her solo performances at regional venues with Hampshire Dance. She taught at Winchester University part time for the Dance department for a year. Her training was with the late Padmavibhushan Kelucharan Mohapatra, one of the finest choreographers of Odissi, and Sushmita is currently working with his son, dancer and choreographer Ratikant Mohapatra and Dr IIeana Citaristi.
Being one of the most renowned Odissi dancer artists in the UK, Sushmita is also a pioneer in introducing, developing and sustaining a South Asian dance practice in Hampshire. She has been a consultant on Asian Folk dance series for BBC and written the dance text for Thengapalli Project which was created in Hampshire for action aid with funding from Arts Council England and Hampshire County Council. She works with the company as the CEO, artistic director, mentor, dancer, educator and choreographer. She is an Odissi Examiner for Bhavan Centre and Kathak Examiner for PRSSV. She has also served as a trustee with Basingstoke Voluntary Action, and Multicultural Forum and was a founder member of it in 2010.
Sushmita has helped create an Odissi youth company called Prashanti with young dancers from all over Hampshire who performed regularly at various local and national venues, including South Bank as part of Akademi. She formed Lasya Dance in 2010, a professional performing company to date the company has 5 professional dancers.
She has performed and toured solo work at Royal Festival Hall, Bhavan Centre, Greenwich Dance Agency, Haymarket Theatre, and toured work all over Hampshire including devising dance programme for Art Asia. She has toured India several times, Thailand, Malaysia and Europe. She was artistic associate of Anvil Arts for two years and resident artist at Basingstoke College of Technology.
With the help of Arts Council funding and commissions some of her Choreographic work since 2001 to date are The Wheel, Meghdoot, Nadanam, Romance with Mudras, Mahotsav, Sounds of the Earth, Footnotes and Sapta. Her composers have been several over the period Pandit Ravi Shankar, Liran Donin, Hiren Chatey, Niraj Chag, Pablo Sonnaillon. Her Choreographic work from 2010 -2013 was with Dr Cathy Seago a senior Contemporary dancer, and they both created two choreographies : Beyond Boundaries and Nadanam both commissioned by Anvil Arts and Arts Council England. Recently she has won a CDYP grant for some research in India to create her own work that she has performed at the Forge and which will be performed at V&A Museum in July and which will then travel to Manchester in November 2022.
She has created many Choreographies for schools, colleges, Universities, and has worked with varied organisations local, national and international artists in her role at Kala The Arts. She has also created a few events locally both small and medium sized.
"Her efforts to transplant the form which grew out of the temples in East India into English home Counties is not a walk in the park" - Sanjeevini Dutta MBE Editor Pulse magazine.
"Sushmita gave me many opportunities to perform when I was here but she’s also trying to stretch further to make a point that Odissi or any Indian classical dance is not just ethnical dance but something that can be used. Sushmita has been successful because of her passion, giving opportunities to many artists she has brought from India so that there is a different angle to the dance." Gudrun Maertins.
"It was so interesting to learn more about the rise of interest in the dance form in Britain and to watch the performance." Jane Pritchard Head of Dance V and A museum
"Fantastic energy, gorgeously choreographed and beautifully presented. I felt more of a connection with this than I usually do with dance, So I really appreciate it. Very much looking forward to seeing what comes next." Flis Pitman
Comments from Sapta (Original project Redefining core)
The footage is a work in Pogress
Being one of the most renowned Odissi dancer artists in the UK, Sushmita is also a pioneer in introducing, developing and sustaining a South Asian dance practice in Hampshire. She has been a consultant on Asian Folk dance series for BBC and written the dance text for Thengapalli Project which was created in Hampshire for action aid with funding from Arts Council England and Hampshire County Council. She works with the company as the CEO, artistic director, mentor, dancer, educator and choreographer. She is an Odissi Examiner for Bhavan Centre and Kathak Examiner for PRSSV. She has also served as a trustee with Basingstoke Voluntary Action, and Multicultural Forum and was a founder member of it in 2010.
Sushmita has helped create an Odissi youth company called Prashanti with young dancers from all over Hampshire who performed regularly at various local and national venues, including South Bank as part of Akademi. She formed Lasya Dance in 2010, a professional performing company to date the company has 5 professional dancers.
She has performed and toured solo work at Royal Festival Hall, Bhavan Centre, Greenwich Dance Agency, Haymarket Theatre, and toured work all over Hampshire including devising dance programme for Art Asia. She has toured India several times, Thailand, Malaysia and Europe. She was artistic associate of Anvil Arts for two years and resident artist at Basingstoke College of Technology.
With the help of Arts Council funding and commissions some of her Choreographic work since 2001 to date are The Wheel, Meghdoot, Nadanam, Romance with Mudras, Mahotsav, Sounds of the Earth, Footnotes and Sapta. Her composers have been several over the period Pandit Ravi Shankar, Liran Donin, Hiren Chatey, Niraj Chag, Pablo Sonnaillon. Her Choreographic work from 2010 -2013 was with Dr Cathy Seago a senior Contemporary dancer, and they both created two choreographies : Beyond Boundaries and Nadanam both commissioned by Anvil Arts and Arts Council England. Recently she has won a CDYP grant for some research in India to create her own work that she has performed at the Forge and which will be performed at V&A Museum in July and which will then travel to Manchester in November 2022.
She has created many Choreographies for schools, colleges, Universities, and has worked with varied organisations local, national and international artists in her role at Kala The Arts. She has also created a few events locally both small and medium sized.
"Her efforts to transplant the form which grew out of the temples in East India into English home Counties is not a walk in the park" - Sanjeevini Dutta MBE Editor Pulse magazine.
"Sushmita gave me many opportunities to perform when I was here but she’s also trying to stretch further to make a point that Odissi or any Indian classical dance is not just ethnical dance but something that can be used. Sushmita has been successful because of her passion, giving opportunities to many artists she has brought from India so that there is a different angle to the dance." Gudrun Maertins.
"It was so interesting to learn more about the rise of interest in the dance form in Britain and to watch the performance." Jane Pritchard Head of Dance V and A museum
"Fantastic energy, gorgeously choreographed and beautifully presented. I felt more of a connection with this than I usually do with dance, So I really appreciate it. Very much looking forward to seeing what comes next." Flis Pitman
Comments from Sapta (Original project Redefining core)
The footage is a work in Pogress