Eminent Odishi dancer and Padma Shri awardee Minati Mishra passed away in Switzerland on Monday, family sources said. She was 91.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnik took to Tweeter and expressed his deep condolence for the bereaved family members. He said Minati’s lifetime devotion and contribution to the classical dance form is unforgettable.
Born to Basanta Kumar Das in 1929 in Cuttack, Minati started learning dance and music at an early age under the tutelage of Ajit Ghosh, Banabihari Maity and Kabichandra Kalicharan Patnayak. She started learning Odishi under Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra in 1950.
She worked alongside the first-generation gurus of Odishi like Guru Pankaj Charan Das, Guru Deba Prasad Das and Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra during her tenure at the Utkal Sangeet Mohavidyalaya, Bhubaneswar from 1965 to 1989.
A recipient of Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi award for 1975, Minati received the Padma award in 2012.
Besides, Minati acted in a five Odia films, including ‘Suryamukhi’, ‘Jeevan Sathi’, ‘Sadhana’, ‘Bhai Bhauja’ and ‘Arundhati’. She was also an A Grade artist at AIR and a recipient of the Sangeet Prabhakar title for Hindustani vocal music.
Following death of her husband Nityananda Mishra in 1980, Minati retracted from dance performances since 1990. She later settled in Switzerland and devoted her time for dance festivals, lecture tours and workshops in Switzerland, Canada
and India.
