Minati Mishra was an Indian classical dancer and actress, known for her expertise in the Indian classical dance form of Odissi.
13 Facts About Minati Mishra
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Minati Mishra was reported in 2011 to be the oldest-living Odissi performer.
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Minati Mishra, nee Minati Das, was born in 1929 in Cuttack, now in the Indian state of Odisha, to Basanta Kumar Das, a local school headmaster, as the youngest of his three children.
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Minati Mishra started to learn dance and music at an early age, theme-based dance under the tutelage of Ajit Ghosh and Banabihari Maity and Odissi from Kabichandra Kalicharan Patnayak, an Odissi dancer.
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In 1950, Minati Mishra started learning under Kelucharan Mahapatra, the well-known Odissi guru.
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In 1954, Minati Mishra joined Kalakshetra of Rukmini Devi Arundale, on a scholarship from the Government of Odisha, and learned Bharatanatyam for one year under Kutty Sarada and Peria Sarada.
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Minati Mishra debuted in 1956, the first of several performances she rendered, during the next three years, at a number of major cities in India.
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Minati Mishra was noted for her expressive and dramatization skills.
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Minati Mishra acted in a 1963 Bengali film, Nirjana Saikate in which she has performed an Odissi dance number choreographed by Kelucharan Mahapatra.
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Minati Mishra was the principal of the Utkal Sangeet Mohavidyalaya, Bhubaneswar from 1964 till 1989.
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Minati Mishra settled in Switzerland and devoted her time to dance festivals, lecture tours and workshops in Switzerland, Canada and India.
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Minati Mishra was a recipient of the 1975 Orissa Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
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Minati Mishra received the Kalinga Shastriya Sangeet Parishad Award and in 2000, she received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.