HINDUSTANI

CARNATIC

Rekha received the major part of her training in Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra’s style of Odissi from Shrimati Madhavi Mudgal at Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, New Delhi. Herperformances have taken her to many parts of the world, including USA, Brazil, most of Europe, the Middle East and Japan, as well as South Africa. She has also acted and danced in “Prerna”, a film produced by Doordarshan and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage.

Rekha’s choice of Odissi as a medium of expression stems from her love for its sculptural quality and lyricism. She has explored her subject not only through dance, but also through a study of architecture and art history, in which she has a Bachelor’s degree from the School of Planning and Architecture, and a Master’s degree from the National Museum Institute in New Delhi. This has given her a deep respect and knowledge for its rich historical background.

She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in dance at the Laban Center for Movement and Dance in London which explores Odissi from choreological perspectives. She has developed a method of teaching Odissi which, through parallel studies in yoga and classical aesthetics, introduces movement within a spiritual context. Her workshops have been enthusiastically received for four consecutive years bystudents at the Laban International Summer School.

Rekha is theArtistic Director of Dance Routes, an organisation dedicated to exploring new choreographic directions with traditional forms of dance, and creating awareness about the use of dance in mainstream education and therapy.

She now lives and works with her husband and collaborator Michael Weston, dividing her time between Bhuvaneshwar, New Delhi and London.

OTHER