Shipra Avantica Mehrotra

🪔 About

Shipra Avantica Mehrotra is a leading Odissi dancer, choreographer, and educator, recognized for her technical virtuosity and evocative abhinaya. She showcases the innate lyricism and theatricality of traditional Odissi while also revitalizing the dance form with contemporary perspectives. This balanced approach has led to performances at prestigious events and dance festivals across the United States and India. The New York Times described her performance at the 2010 Erasing Borders dance festival as "wholly poetic" and "the truest revelation of dance itself." Mehrotra was initiated into Odissi at a young age by Dr. Chitra Krishnamurti. She had the opportunity to attend workshops by legendary gurus Padma Vibhushan Kelucharan Mohapatra and Padma Shri Sanjukta Panigrahi. She continued her advanced training under the guidance of gurus Padma Shri Aruna Mohanty and the late Padma Shri Gangadhar Pradhan at the Orissa Dance Academy in Bhubaneswar, India. Shipra Avantica Mehrotra graduated from Nrityalaya with a Mancha Pravesh on June 24, 2000. She holds a BA in Sociology from Northwestern University and an MA in South Asian Studies from the University of Chicago. She is the founder and artistic director of the Avantica Academy of Odissi Dance, where she aims to pass down the art form to future generations. Her notable performances include the Kalashraya dance festival (2016), a 27-city tour across the US with the Orissa Dance Academy (2013), the Asia Society Texas Center's First Look festival (2012), the International Odissi dance festival in Bhubaneswar, India (2012), and the Chicago Opera Theatre's India Blooms in Chicago festival (2008). Mehrotra also served as a dance consultant to Hollywood director Terrence Mallick for his film 'The New World' (2005) and was selected as one of 150 young leaders for the Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit in New Delhi, India (2011). She currently resides in Norfolk, Massachusetts.