of France, 1997, Central Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 2000, Delhi State Parishad Samman, 2002 and the title of Nritya Choodamani in 2004.

[3] She inherited a love of art and dance from her family and under the guidance of her guru Shri Harekrishna Behera, the world soon learned of her extraordinary skills.

Later, in my teens, the language barrier with Bharatanatyam and the showmanship of Kathak made me switch to Odissi which had begun to be taught in Delhi just then.

[5] She is globally acclaimed for her deep insight into the art of choreography and her commitment to train and encourage new dancers to finer nuances of Odissi.

[6] Her credibility can be established from the following quote, Madhavi Mudgal tells us how it feels to dance – anticipation, endurance and closure can be read on her face.

[8][9] Her niece Arushi (34), daughter of Madhup Mudgal[10] and a former student of Carmel Convent School batch of 2004 in Delhi, trained by Madhavi at Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, made her stage debut as a solo Odissi dancer in 2003.