Leena Mohanty Biography 
Leena Mohanty is one of the leading exponents of Odissi dance. A senior dancer with wide national and international experience, she has numerous students also. She has choreographed dance pieces and ballets and performed across the globe receiving wide acclaim. Ustad Bismillah Khan Youth award, the Mahari award, the Sanjukta Panigrahi award etc are some of the honours received by her. She teaches students in Bhubaneswar, Kuala Lumpur and New York, and performed in many parts of the world apart from them. She curated and was the artistic director for Odissi Dance Festival Anjali in Kuala Lampur , Malaysia 2009.
Leena Mohanty was born and brought up in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. She belonged to a family with no links to art world. Her father Rabinarayana Mohanty is a businessman while her mother Swarna Mohanty, a poet. She was raised in a spiritual and cultural family. For the same reason she was introduced to the classical dance form of Odissi at a very young age of 4. Deba Prasad Das was her first guru. After her guru’s demise in 1986 she continued learning Guru Durga Charan Ranbir. After that she started her career as a professional dancer. Apart from performances on stage, she also teaches students at different locations.
At the age of eleven to twelve, she acted in the Odiya movie "Basanta Rasa". But later she fully dedicated her life towards Odissi dance. She was a recipient of Junior Fellowship in dance from Ministry of Human Resource Development and Senior National Scholarship in Odissi dance from Department of Culture, both given by government of India. She is a recipient of the first ever Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar 2006 from Sangeet Natak Akademi New Delhi, Mahari award and many other honours. She is the artistic director of Trinayan Dance Theater, NYC, USA and is the director of the professional training program.
Published: January 14, 2019
Updated: January 14, 2019
