RESUME OF GURUJI

                                       CURRICULUM VITAE

Name: Guru Bichitrananda Swain

Date of Birth: April 07, 1961

Education: Master’s in Music and Dance (M.Mus.), Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, India.

Contact Address: Plot No-B1/72, Lingaraj Vihar, Pokhariput, Bhubaneswar 751020

Email ID: bichiodessey@gmail.com

Tel No: +91 8895700005

Guru Bichitrananda Swain has achieved worldwide recognition as an outstanding performer, a brilliant choreographer, and an exceptional teacher, who has earned the distinction of generating remarkable talents year after year. Widely acclaimed as one of today’s prominent choreographers of Odissi, he is known for his distinctive body of work that echoes his knowledge and understanding of dance as a medium of expression. His compositions are energetic, thought-provoking and inspiring. He is acknowledged by critics, connoisseurs, gurus (senior and contemporary alike), and dancers (peers as well as others) for having unleashed a wave of renewed dynamism in the presentation of Odissi.

Guru Swain has been, for over two decades, creating outstanding dancers through a holistic approach to dance that includes developing body discipline (through yoga and pranayama), allowing for creativity (through theoretical and practical training), and enhancing sensitivity (through appreciation of aesthetics). His dance institution, Rudrakshya Foundation (established in 2001), has emerged as one of the most successful training centers for aspiring dancers from India and abroad. Some of his students who lack the financial means to pursue dance as a profession are provided with free education, food, and lodging for as long as they wish to be in his gurukul-like institution.

Guru Bichitrananda Swain and his students have performed in major cities of South Africa, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, the United States, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, China, and South Korea. Besides, he has conducted various workshops in most of these countries, apart from those in India.

Training:

Guru Bichitrananda Swain has had the rare opportunity to study Odissi with the chief architects of Odissi - Padmashri Guru Pankaj Charan Das, Guru Debaprasad Das and Padma Vibhushan Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra- also known as the “trinity” of Odissi.

 As a student of Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, he trained under Guru Pankaj Charan Das and Guru Debaprasad Das. Alongside, he trained at Odissi Research Center under the direct supervision of Padma Vibhusan Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra; and received thorough and extensive training at Orissa Dance Academy from PadmashriGuru Gangadhar Pradhan.

 He has also trained with stalwarts like Padmashri Guru Sanjukta Panigrahi and Guru Ramani Ranjan Jena. Although Guru Bichitrananda Swain has not been formally trained in Gotipua, he learned his first steps in dance from famed Gotipua guru Sri Birabara Sahoo.

Present Title:

Executive Trustee, Rudrakshya Foundation, Bhubaneshwar Odisha, India

Past Major Titles:

• Principal and Chief Instructor, Orissa Dance Academy, Bhubaneswar
• Visiting Instructor at Nrityagram, Bengaluru, Karnataka

Skills:

• Performer
• Teacher
• Choreographer
• Administrator (Executive Trustee of Rudrakshya Foundation)
• The organizer of Dance Events (Ninaad, Barnali)
• The promoter of Dance (Founder of Rudrakshya Foundation)
• Yoga Practitioner and Instructor

Work Experience:

• As Performer: Guru Bichitrananda Swain is a performer of exceptional talent, having danced in major festivals in India and abroad. Apart from India, he and his students have performed in South Africa, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, United States, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, China, and South Korea. He has also conducted workshops in almost all of these countries. Guru Swain has performed in the major dance festivals of India and abroad, the latest among which is the Articulate Festival Bangalore on 29^th March 2019. In 2018, Guru Bichitrananda Swain collaborated with Guru Ramli Abraham (of Malaysia) to create an enthralling presentation of Odissi (known as ‘Odissi on High’), featuring the senior male dancers of Rudrakshya Foundation as well as the talented dancers of Ramli Abraham’s ‘Sutra Foundation’. This year (in April-May, 2019), they will be taking the performance to multiple venues all over India and Malaysia. Among his other upcoming performance tours (along with his senior students) is one to China, which will be spread across various cities in China beginning October 15, 2019.

• As Teacher: Guru Bichitrananda Swain has made a mark as a world-renowned Odissi dance teacher. He served as Principal and Chief Instructor at one of the world's leading institutes of Odissi dance, the Orissa Dance Academy, from 1988-2002, before establishing his own institute, Rudrakshya, in 2000. Guru Swain has also served as a visiting instructor for Nrityagram in Bangalore; the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry; Oxford University in Oxford (United Kingdom); the Chitralekha Dance Academy in Toronto, Canada; Shantiniketan Society in Brazil; and India Performing Arts Promotions in Washington DC, among others. Having trained some of the leading artists of today's generation of Odissi dancers, Guru Bichitrananda Swain is a proud teacher. He has the distinction of creating some of the best-known soloists of today. Many of his students are recipients of the prestigious Senior National Scholarship awarded by the Government of India. A number of awards and titles have been bestowed upon his students, including the Mahari Award, the Sanjukta Panigrahi Award, and "Sringarmani."

• As Choreographer: Guru Bichitrananda Swain has won many accolades for his innovative choreography. He is recognized as one of the most original choreographers of the current time. He demonstrates deep technical knowledge and creative flair both in the pure dance and expressional dance works of Odissi. However, Guru Bichitrananda Swain has been widely acknowledged as an exceptional performer long before his innovative masterpieces made him one of the most honoured choreographers of Indian classical dance. Guru Bichitrananda Swain’s approach to dance represents a distinctive flavour through the male and female bodies respectively. His innovative pieces are characterized by the“staggered entry” of dancers from different directions, using dancers in all possible formations, clever use of space, symmetry, and circles with high aesthetics quotient and new and fresh use of steps, postures, and movement. Guru Swain is a multifaceted artist who possesses a deep understanding of not only ancient texts but draws inspiration from modern texts and abstract themes for choreography. His choreography reflects a philosophy that goes beyond the oft-repeated. Not only does he exhibit his expertise in the technique, but he also has a cultured sense of music and rhythm as well.

              (List of Choreographed Items is attached as Annexure-1)

• As Administrator (Director of Rudrakshya Foundation) and Promoter of Dance: Guru Bichitrananda Swain founded Rudrakshya Foundation in 2000 to develop and promote new and innovative works in Odissi, while simultaneously serving as a platform for young artists, especially male dancers, to showcase their talents. Through Rudrakshya Foundation, Guru Swain aims to preserve, the integrity of this art form, building upon the foundation which the forefathers of Odissi dance worked on painstakingly to reconstruct and develop. Guru Bichitrananda Swain aims to carry forward the vision of these great pioneers of the Odissi dance tradition. The organization is dedicated to the enhancement of the dance (Odissi) style, with special emphasis on developing dynamic choreography. He nurtures the Rudrakshya Foundation to promote a wider acceptance of the male aesthetics in what is predominantly a female dance form. Today, Rudrakshya Foundation is one of the important dance institutions catering to international sensibilities, while being rooted firmly in the traditions established by the founding fathers of Odissi. With immense hard work, proficiency, wide research and studies, Guru Bichitrananda Swain has given a new dimension to the Indian classical dance of Odissi. After years of relentless study and keen observation of the temple carvings, he presents basic movements with a fresh approach and method, providing further elegance to the already graceful dance form. Acknowledged as one of the finest Odissi gurus of today’s generation, Guru Swain not only trains students from India and abroad, but has developed a gurukul system within the Rudrakshya Foundation premises. The students are given free food and lodging facilities. The daily training includes yoga, pranayama, and meditation. As Director of the leading dance institution, Rudrakashya Foundation, Guru Bichitrananda Swain has worked with and has been a visiting faculty at several national and international organizations. Guru Sri Bichitrananda Swain has won several national and international awards, titles, and accolades for excellence in work and for his contribution to the field of Odissi, the most recent among which is the prestigious Nalco Kharavela Award for 2018.

                    (List of Awards Received, attached as Annexure-2)

 

No. of Items                 Year                 Name of the Choreographed Item 

MANGALACHARAN
        
1.                                   2015                Shadadhara Chakra
2.                                   2010                Saraswati Vandana
3.                                   2009                Sri Ram Stutee
4.                                   2000                Surya Stutee
5.                                   1997                Bhaje Brajeika Mandanam
6.                                   1997                Meenakshi Pancharatnam

PALLAVI

ABHINAYA

MOKSHYA

DANCE DRAMA

 

 STATE

1. Nrutya Madhuram: 2019

2. Nalco Kharavela Award: 2019

3. Saptashajya Lifetime Achievement Award: 2018

4. Malhar Samman: 2018

5. Nrutyarchana Samman: 2018

6. Nrutya Samman:      2018

7. Bimohana Kala Samman: 2017

8. Padmashri Guru Gangadhar Pradhan Smruti Samman: 2017

9. Chakradhar Samman: 2016

10. Amaravati Nrithyotsav: 2016

11. Utkal Pratibha Samman: 2015

12. Gotipua Aradhana Samman: 2014

13. Nrutya Natraj Award : 

14. Shrie Award by Parichay Foundation: 2020

 NATIONAL

1. Srinath Jagannath Samman 2019 (Rajasthan)

2. Odissi on High by Alap 2019 (Narad Gana Sabha, Chennai)

3. Natya Samgraha by Indian Classical dance Festival 2016 (Hyderabad)

4. 60th Birth Day Celebration of Sri Mata Amritanandamayi (Kerala)

5. Adyasha  Award by Adyasha Odissi Ensemble (Bangalore)

6. Alvas Award (Mangalore)

7. Sarada Award (Vijayawada)

8. Amaravati Award (Vishakhapatnam)

9. Chhandakutsav (Indore)

 INTERNATIONAL

1. Jagannath Society of America (Nashville, USA): 2008

2. Star of Odissi (Odia Community of Austin, USA): 2008

3. Governor’s Commendation (Oklahoma, USA): 2008

4. Star of Odissi, Austin: 2008