Madhavi Mudgal is an Indian classical dancer known for her Odissi dance style. She has won several awards, including the Sanskriti Award, 1984, President of India's award of Padma Shri, 1990, the Orissa State Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 1996, Grande Medaille de la Ville by Govt. of France, 1997, Central Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 2000, Delhi State Parishad Samman, 2002 and the title of Nritya Choodamani in 2004.
Early life and training
Madhavi Mudgal was born to Professor Vinay Chandra Maudgalya, the founder of Gandharva Mahavidyalaya; one of the most famous dance schools for Hindustani music and classical dance in New Delhi. Professor Vinay Chandra Maudgalya is best remembered today for the lyrics of the song Hind Desh ke Niwasi in the animation film Ek Anek Aur Ekta by Vijaya Mulay which won the National Film Award for Best Educational Film. She inherited a deep love towards art and dance from her family and under the proper guidance of her guru Shri Harekrishna Behera, the world soon came to know about her extraordinary skills. She gave her first public performance at the age of only 4. Initially she learnt Bharatnatyam and Kathak, but finally she chose Odissi as her medium of expression. Her Odissi art skills were refined to finest under the tutelage of legendary Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. In a response to Interview on Why she chose Odissi although she was trained initially in various other forms, she said, She holds a Diploma in Architecture and often writes for various magazines and books.
Career
She is widely acclaimed worldwide for her deep insight into the art of choreography and her commitment to train and encourage new dancers to finer nuances of Odissi. The dance festivals featured throughout the world have critical acclaim for her choreographic works, these include the Edinburgh International Festival, U.K.; Festival of India in United States; the Cervantino Festival, Mexico; Vienna Dance Festival, Austria; Festival of Indian Dance, South Africa; Festival of Indian Culture, São Paulo, Brazil; Days of Indian Culture, Hungary; Festival of Indian Arts, London; the Avignon Festival, France; Pina Bausch's Festival, Wuppertal and Berlin Festpiele, Germany; and festivals in Italy, Spain, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan and the Indian subcontinent. She played a leader role is establishing Odissi as one of the major classical dance forms of India through audio-visual presentations, concerts as well as with the organisation of widely appreciated specialised dance festivals in India. Her credibility can be established from the following quote, She thinks that the most memorable day in her life is the moment when Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra accepted her as his disciple.
