Dr Ileana Citaristi is an Italian born Odissi and Chhau dancer, guru, and choreographer, based in Bhubaneswar, India since 1979. Dr Citarasti is the author of five books; ‘The Making of a Guru: Kelucharan Mohapatra, His Life and Times’ (2001), ‘Traditional Martial Practices in Orissa’ (2012), ‘My Journey, a tale of two births’ (2015), ‘Odissi and the Geeta Govinda’ (2021) and ‘Indian Traditional Martial Arts’ (2022).
She is imparting training in Odissi and Chhau dance in her institution Art Vision in Bhubaneshwar, founded by her in 1996. In 2006 she was conferred with the Padma Shri Award by the President of India for her contributions to Odissi.
The presentation shows her journey in Odissi as a student first, then as a choreographer and lately as a guru. This will be depicted via brief narrations and presentations of personally choreographed Odissi compositions.