Alokananda Roy is a danseuse from the city Kolkata a rapturous river of rhythm who has not only left an indelible mark on the canvas of dance but even on the social works that she has so uniquely taken care of. For fifty years she has fashioned form, with feet of grace, a person who has given dance a splendid, beauteous face, sculpted, chiselled, planned, configured, amazing form and feel performing with an inner fire with total zeal and zest.
Early Life of Alokananda Roy
Alokananda Roy born in the year 1951 started her part in life`s stage as a dancer at the tender age of four, at the Children`s Little Theatre (CLT). She has the experience of travelling and performing all over India with CLT. From the age of eleven she has been a professional performer. Life flowed on like a river for her accumulating debris all the way. With her journeys she not only she had enriched herself but even her environment around.
Career of Alokananda Roy
Her formal training in dance started under Manjulika Das in 1963 who had been her siksha guru. A long spell of training for five years started learning BharatNatyam with Maruthappa Pillai from 1965 to 1969 to 1997; she was the disciple of Sanjukta Panigrahi. It was with Sanjukta Panigrahi`s inspiration that Alokananda Roy started her own dance school `Chandanaloke", where certificate course in Odissi Dance is personally taught to a select group of students.
Alokananda Roy was awarded a Diploma in Rabindra Sangeet by Dakshinee, Calcutta, in 1968; and a Diploma in Pianoforte by Trinity College, London, in 1967. Alokananda has been a one time winning candidate for the Miss India title.
Alokananda Roy has performed in numerous shows each time hogging the limelight towards her for her earnest dedication to dance. She has performed all over India she has toured extensively and repeatedly all over the UK, Europe, USA, Japan, Singapore and other countries. She has been a member of the cultural delegation to the United Kingdom for the Sanskriti Festival and the 125th Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. She has performed at the Edinburgh Festival in 1985, the Asian Festival in Japan in 1986, and the India Festival, again in Japan in 1988, the Sanskritic Festival at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, in 1985 and the Banga Sanskriti Festival in USA in 1987. She has conducted workshops and lecture demonstrations in different institutions in UK in 1991, 1992, 1996 and 1997. Television has added a further dimension to her audience. She has appeared in countless programs on prime-time National Television.
Achievement of Alokananda Roy
Alokananda has a dance School of her own `CHANDANALOKE` in which she takes personal care and from which school and Inspiration Foundation are drawn member of her troupe. She is closely associated with numerous school and colleges and enjoys the assignment of directing the school dance productions.
She is presently working with convicts of Presidency Correctional Home, Kolkata and other Correctional Homes of West Bengal in `Dance Therapy`. The inmates will also perform even outside the boundaries of the prison wall. This is to bring back their self respect and bring out the best in their personality to give them a better life within them. Through all her successes over the years, Alokananda Roy has remained an assiduous learner - an artiste who continuously hones and enriches her skills and understanding of her art form.
