Dona Ganguly

Some Lesser Known Facts About Dona Ganguly

• Dona Ganguly was born into an affluent business family in Behala, Kolkata.

• She developed an interest in dance at a very young age.

• When Dona was just 3 years old, she started learning dance from Amala Shankar (Indian danseuse and wife of the famous choreographer, Uday Shankar).

• After learning dance from Amala for a while, Dona started receiving training in Odissi dance from Guru Giridhari Nayek.

• Later, she got trained under the guidance of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. Under his guidance, Dona received several opportunities to enhance her skills and prove her talent.

• Her dance guru, Kelucharan Mohapatra, was very much impressed with Dona’s dancing skills and considered her to be an ideal student.

• After noticing her love for dance, her guru started visiting Kolkata to teach her dance.

• At the beginning of her dance career, Dona accompanied her guru in Pakwaj.

• She also participated in many dance festivals and programs nationally and internationally.

  

• In 1992, she was applauded for her performance at India International Centre in Delhi. Praising her dance performance, The Hindu published,
  

  The young Odissi dancer being groomed under Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra in the sculpturesque anga suddhi of her dance brings to mind Sanjukta Panigrahi dancing at tender age.”

• Dona has showcased her dancing skills at many dance festivals in India like “Dover Lane Music Conference” in Kolkata, “River Festival” in Kolkata, “Bharat Bhavan” in Bhopal, “Beach Festival” in Digha, and “Haldia Utsov” in Haldia.

  

• She has also made her mark internationally by performing at the international events like “15th North American Bengali Conference” in New York and “India by the Nile festival” in Egypt.

• Apart from being a dancer, Dona also owns a dance institution called ‘Diksha Manjari,’ where she teaches dance to youngsters and adults.

  

• Dona is the head of the Odissi department of Bharati Vidya Bhavan, Kolkata and Techno India Schools.

• She is also a well-known artist of Doordarshan.

• Dona and Sourav’s first date was at the Chinese restaurant, Mandarin, in Kolkata. While on their date, Dona was surprised to see Sourav ordering a lot of food and eating it all.