AngIkam Bhuvanam Yasya VAchikam Sarva VAngmayam AhAryam Chandra tArAdi Tam Vande SAtvikam Shivam||

We bow to the Satvika Shiva, Whose body is the world, Whose speech is the entire language, And whose ornaments are, The sun, the stars and the moon.

Profile of Lalita Das

Lalita displayed a keen interest towards dance from childhood. Her mother, Ms. Usha Das, started giving her lessons in Kathak from the age of 4. After a year of home tutoring, Lalita was sent to Bharatanatyam classes. As she learnt, she started philanthropic stage performances and won appreciation. At the age of 9, she had excelled enough to handle self-styled choreography of a semi-classical dance.

She performed her Arangetram on 23^rd Nov, 1993 at ISKCON Auditorium, Mumbai in the Vazhuvoor Style under the supervision of her Guru R. Sharma and Guru late P. N. Rajalaxmi. The latter, an exponent in Bharatanatyam and Mohini Attam, is the daughter of renowned Carnatic music exponent late Pazhayanoor Narayana Bhagavathar and disciple of Guru late Rajaratnam Pillai and Guru late Chinnammu Amma.

In the same year, she also completed Master of Dance from Art Society, Mumbai, where she learnt the theoretical aspects of Bharatanatyam. She was also trained in nattuvangam (art of vocally rendering dance syllables) and composition of jatis (sequences of dance syllables) using different talas (time signatures). By 1995, she had started teaching Bharatanatyam professionally in schools of Mumbai. She has trained as many as 150 students over a period of 10 years. She has also served as a judge for many interschool and intercollegiate dance competitions.

She has also been trained in the Kalakshetra style of Bharatanatyam under the tutelage of Guru P. V. Narasimhachari and Guru P.N. Vasanthalakshmi, Kalasamarpana foundation , disciples of the pioneer dancer Smt. Rukmini Devi Arundale.

An inquisitive explorer interested in learning extensively, she chose to learn Kathak - a style in stark contrast with Bharatnatyam under the tutelage of Smt. Shila Mehta, the renowned Kathak dancer and disciple of Pt. Vijay Shankar and Pt. Birju Maharaj. She has also performed under her guidance and won accolades for the grace that she elicited. She has also shared stage with Ms. Shila Mehta, Daksha Mashruwala (Odissi exponent), Darshana Javeri (Manipuri exponent) and many other renowned dancers of India.

Her incessant thirst for new styles led her to explore Indian folk dances.  She has performed them in various programmes also.

Apart from having an impressive art life, she has excelled in academics - a third rank holder in M.Sc. (statistics) from Mumbai University (2002) and secured an admission in University of South Carolina (USC) (with assistantship and fellowship) where she currently is a PhD candidate. At USC, impressed by her credentials, the Department of Theater and Dance invited her to give lectures and demonstration on Bharatanatyam in Oct 2004 and also two consecutive lectures in Jan 2005. Her other interests include singing and playing Harmonium. She relishes Mehfils (congregation of artists engaged in artistic exchanges) and directs her humble effort in spreading this beautiful art form to ensure its perpetuation.

Performances in US: Gwinnnet Civic center (2005), Atlanta (Ga), Keenan Theater (sept 2005 and sept 2006), Columbia (Sc), Shamrock Middle School (sept 2005), Atlanta (Ga), Hindu temple (Feb 2006), Columbia (Sc), International Day (2006), Columbia (Sc), Sardar Patel Bhavan (Feb 2006), Atlanta (Ga) and at Berkmar High School (sept 2006), Atlanta (Ga), Swope Park (Aug 2007) Kansas City, MO, Airport High School Auditorium (sept 2007), Columbia Sc , Chinese Moon Festival Celebration (Oct 2007), Columbia SC .

Lalita may be reached at:

Email: daslalita at gmail.com

yato hasta tato drishti; yato drishti tato manah;   yato manah tato bhAva;  yato bhAva tato rasa ||

Where goes the hands, there goes the eyes, Where goes the eyes, there goes the mind, Where goes the mind, there go the expressions, Where goes the expression, there arises emotion.

[Home] [Resume] [Personal] [Dance Profile] [Photo Gallery I] [Photo GalleryII] [Links] [Contact]

This page is maintained by Lalita Das.

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of the page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of South Carolina.