Sanjeevini Dutta

🪔 About

Sanjeevini Dutta is a prominent figure in Indian classical dance, particularly Odissi, based in the United Kingdom. She trained in Odissi with Guru Shankar Behera in Bombay (now Mumbai) and later with Madhavi Mudgal in the UK. Dutta has been actively involved in the South Asian dance sector for over four decades, taking on diverse roles as a performer, educator, curator, promoter, and editor. In the early 1990s, Sanjeevini Dutta co-founded Kadam Asian Dance and Music in Bedford, UK, with Sujata Banerjee. She jointly led Kadam from 1991 to 2000 and has since served as its director. Kadam, incorporated with charitable status in 1995, became nationally recognized for its Kadam Dance Summer School, which set a standard for cross-training and technique classes. Dutta also played a crucial role in researching the link between South Asian dance and the National Curriculum for PE and Dance in 1990. As a performer, she was one half of Sanchari with Bisakha Sarker, touring nationally with productions like "Rhythms of Life" and "Tending the Fire." Under her directorship, Kadam produced and toured significant works including "Mahabharata" (1997), "At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers" (2000), "My Soul is Alight" (2016), and "Sacred Shapes" (2018). From 2007, she curated the South Asian dance offerings at the Hat Factory and led "Unlocking Creativity" summer courses on choreography from 2008 to 2010. Sanjeevini Dutta is also widely known for her editorial leadership. She took over as editor of Pulse, a dedicated magazine for South Asian dance and music, in 2008, transforming it into a quarterly publication with greater popular appeal and full-color photography. Between 2008 and 2017, she commissioned 39 issues of Pulse. For her extensive contributions to dance, Sanjeevini Dutta was awarded an MBE (Members of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen's birthday honours of 2022. Her student, Katie Ryan, has also become a notable Odissi dancer and choreographer. Awards & Honours: MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) (2022).