The Faculty

Mrs. Ila Dalal:

An exponent of Classical Indian Dance Forms, she has been an ardent student of Bharat Natyam, Kathak, Manipuri, Odissi, Indian folk dances and contemporary western choreography. She is known for her creative blend of different dance forms to make dance more accessible to children, young adults and even the elderly.

Faculty: Classical Indian Dance- J. B. Petit High School, since 20 years.

Choreography:

‘Made in India’ by Alisha Chinai

This song has been choreographed in more than 25 different ways by Mrs. Ila Dalal for a variety of charitable and commercial shows. Some of these include the AID Awareness Program by the Mukti Foundation and other private shows.

Other shows include a series of events for National Geographic, Kala Ghoda festivals, Hare Rama Hare Krishna Foundation , All India Guides Program, Taal Institute of Performing Arts, the Prem Puri Foundation, Sydneham College of Commerce, St. Cathedral Infant School, Young Ladies High School, SNDT, events for Malhar and other student festivals, Indian Merchant Chambers, Kot Hindu Stree Mandal, St. Anne’s High School for girls among others.

In-house productions: Nach re Payal (1976),Padma Ma (1985 ), Pragati with Prayaas ( )

Shri. Shankar Behra

Shri. Shankar Behra’s journey with Odissi began at the Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalay, Sangeet Natak Academy, Bhubaneshwar in the capacity of a Odissi Nritya Acharya. He later studied Odissi as a Post Graduate subject by the name of Odissi Nritya Prabeen & Odissi Nritya Prabha. He has been a student of Guru Shri Kelucharan Mahapatra, Guru Shri Mahadev Raut, Guru Shri Pankaj Charan Das and Guru Shri Dev Prasad Das.

Professional experience includes thirty three years of professional teaching, Odissi choreography and performances in India, London, Paris, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, the U.K and Mauritiaous. He has also been a teacher of Odissi dance at Gyan Ashram Dance & Music College, Mumbai and the Sur Jhankar Natya Academy, Mumbai.

His personal favourites include Geet, Govind Dasavtaram, Tandav Nachanti, Mangalacharan Kaliya Mardan, Ravan Vadhya, Moksha and Krishna Leela.

His students include noted personalities like Protima Bedi, Jhelum Paranjpe, Soma Anand, Ila Dalal, Neetu Singh, Shobha De and Jaya Dheer.

Meenakshii Srivastava

Meenakshi Srivastava is a graduate in Fine Arts- Dance; Bharatnetyam from the Mumbai University. She also holds a Master's diploma in Bharatnatyam from the Bharatiya

Sangeet Sameeti. Apart from being a passionate performer and choreographer, she has been teaching Bharatnatyam since 2003. She has been an assistant teacher in Classical and Indian Dances for performances at the Sri Kot Hindu Stree Mandal for two consecutive years. Her past projects include choreography in classical indian dance with Sindhu Nritya Sangeet Academy, performances with Anila Sunder and group (SNSA), facilitator/ coach in Classical and Indian Dances Workshop with SNSA.

Meenakshi Srivastava has also performed for different audiences in India and abroad.

Assistant Teachers:

Padma Solanki

Padma Solanki has been a student of Contemporary Indian Dance, Indian Folk Dance and Kathak under the tutelage of Mrs Ila Dalal. She is also a student of Bharatnatyam with Sri Arjun Desai. She has been travelled and performed extensively in Mumbai and Gujurat as an integral part of the IDDA team over the years.

Sapna Patel

Sapna Patel is passionate dancer and has studied Indian and Western Dance styles under the training and guidance of Mrs. Ila Dalal, Bharatnatyam with Sri Arjun Desai and Odissi with Sri Shankar Behra. She also plays a key role in teaching Basic Dance Movements and styles to young students and has performed with the IDDA on various occasions.

Special thanks to:

Eesha Thakkar

Eesha Thakkar is a devout dancer and dedicated student of dance. She has been associated with IDDA performances over a period of eight years and has an unwavering commitment toward her teachers and colleagues. She is an inseparable part of IDDA; her support and participation in IDDA events helps the team in innumerable ways.