The Founder
Sukanya Tagore Mukherji has a Master of Dance degree from Rabindra Bharati University, Calcutta, India, and is the recipient of the gold medal. She is the founder and the Artistic Director of Mayur Dance Academy - Maryland, USA, and is totally dedicated to her students and the newly formed company. She constantly works on new ideas for children and creates new productions for the Company.
She started her dance training when she was three, at the Children’s Little Theatre (CLT), India, a leading cultural institute for children since 1952. Her grandfather, Sri Samar Chatterjee, was her mentor. One of her first teachers was Sri Balakrishna Menon, who taught dance as a language and as a form of communication. Later she trained for Odissi with the late Padmabibhushan Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra.
Sukanya believes that while maintaining the core concepts of traditional methodologies, for any dancer to be versatile, an additional milieu of creative dance should be included. She also believes that for children, dance should start as fun and enjoyment, and through it, should be mastered the rudiments of music, rhythm, and the art of performing.
She worked closely with the organizers of the folk life festival, held by the Smithsonian every year. 1985 India festival was her first, and she has since worked and performed for the Smithsonian many times. In 1995, she performed at the Kennedy Center, at a special performance presented by the Ambassador of India, for the President of the United States and the First Lady, Mrs. Hillary Clinton.
Sukanya is an active member of the Indian Dance Educators’ Association (IDEA) in the Washington area. She has performed widely in India and the United states. In December 2006 she traveled with her company to perform at the International Odissi Festival in Bhuvaneshwar, and was featured in Times of India for a performance to remember. She has spoken as a panelist at Prestigious Dance Festivals.