Kaustavi Sarkar

🪔 About

Dr. Kaustavi Sarkar is a distinguished Indian classical dancer, choreographer, educator, and scholar, known for her contributions to Odissi and her interdisciplinary approach to dance studies. Born and raised in India, she received conservatory-style training in a multitude of Indian classical dance forms, including Odissi, Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Manipuri, and Kathakali. She also trained in contemporary Indian dance, particularly the Uday Shankar style, under the tutelage of the legendary Amala Shankar. Her Bharatanatyam training spanned ten years under Guru Mousumi Bhor. Sarkar's Odissi journey began with Guru Pausali Mukherjee, and she further honed her skills under the guidance of Guru Ratikant Mohapatra and Guru Sujata Mohapatra, becoming a dedicated practitioner of the Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra style. Sarkar has maintained a dual career in academia and professional performance. She earned a PhD in Dance Studies with a focus on Digital Humanities from The Ohio State University in 2017, following an MS in Economics from Texas A&M University in 2006. Currently, she serves as an Assistant Professor of Dance at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she teaches Odissi technique, Foundations in Dance, and Dance Appreciation. As an artist, Sarkar has performed extensively as a soloist and as an ensemble member with internationally renowned companies like Srjan Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Dance Ensemble and Uday Shankar India Culture Center for over two decades. She is the Artistic Director of the India-based Kaustavi Movement Center and the founder of the Dance N Community Research Institute (dNc), established in 2017, which promotes South Asian dance through research, teaching, and community engagement. Her choreographic works, which blend traditional movement structures with modern compositional strategies, have been featured in various conferences and festivals globally. Sarkar is a prolific scholar and author, with her book "Dance Technology and Social Justice: Individual and Collective Emancipation Through Embodied Techniques" published in 2024. She is also working on another monograph, "Shaping S-Curves: Choreographic Process in Odissi." Her research interests span South Asian Dance Studies, Practice-as-Research, Arts Entrepreneurship, Digital Humanities, and queer theory. She has received numerous accolades, including the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grants, "Nalanda NrityaNipuna," "Singar Mani," and "Odissi Jyoti." She is also the founder of the annual Odissi Odyssey conference at UNC Charlotte, the largest gathering of Odissi artists outside India. Awards & Honours: Jugal Sreemal Annual Scholarship (1999), First in Bharatanatyam Dance Competition (2000), Nalanda NrityaNipuna (2011), Singar Mani (2010), Odissi Jyoti (2010), Parampara Award (2011), National Scholarship holder, Baisakhi Award, Rankholder in senior category Odissi dance, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) recipient (2020), Grant for Arts Projects — Dance (2023).