Srabani Basu is a graceful and talented young Odissi soloist emerging in
the horizon of Indian Classical Dance.Apart from being a passionate
practitioner of this beautiful dance
form,she is also a much appreciated vocalist.She continues to pursue her
love for singing through various formats such as
Rabindrasangeet-Devotional as well as film music.
Hailing from a
humble Bengali family background,although Srabani was introduced to the
beautiful world of performing and visual art at a tender age,she wasn't
much encouraged to treat these associations anything more than a mere
hobby or to pursue her passion through rigorous formal training.
Academics has always been given the topmost priority as a stable and
secured career option.However,she still managed to receive basic
training in Hindustani classical music-Rabindrasangeet for nearly 5
years and continued learning-performing Odissi dance for consecutive 8
years till all these got discontinued due to high school studies and
Engineering graduation course in Computer Science.
After
completion of her engineering degree and during her professional journey
in the field of Information Technology, life was otherwise smooth while
internally, she always felt the void being disconnected from her art.
Thankfully her natural talent and strong foundation level training
didn't let her lose her skills as a performer.
She decided to
resume and sincerely pursue classical dance after a really long break of
11 years.In this process of accommodating her long lost passion again
in her life, there were several physical,social as well as professional
resistances and challenges, but her strong determination, perseverance
and hard work helped her to overcome all initial hurdles.She eventually
started getting good opportunities to perform in major festivals and
corporate shows across India.
She continued her second phase of
training in Pune under the able tutelage of Guru Smt. Yogini Gandhi for
nearly 5 years.She has also been trained under Guru Smt. Nandini
Ghoshal in Kolkata for more than a year, and attended workshops of
renowned Odissi exponent Guru Smt. Sujata Mohapatra to enhance her
knowledge and expertise in this dance form.Overall,as an Odissi
dancer,she holds learning experience in Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra
gharana for over 15 years.
It would be incomplete without
mentioning few words on her commendable skill as a self-learner without
physical presence or guidance of any teacher around.She self taught
herself numerous songs and 8 advanced Odissi items (so far) through You Tube as
well as other relevant materials followed by successful execution in
events and competitions,while she didn't have access to a direct
learning opportunity due to location constraint for her studies or
professional commitments.The trend still continues :-)