About Supriya

Supriya Nayak is an Odissi dancer from New Delhi, India. She has been a student of Odissi, a dance style from the state of Odisha in eastern India that draws its movement and repertoire from sculpture, painting, literature, theatre, and ritual practices, since the early 1990s. Supriya is invested in digging deep into the form’s codified and structured world of Odissi through performing, teaching, choreographing, and writing.

Supriya’s trained in Odissi with Kiran Segal (1992-96, 1999-2013) and subsequently under Ambika Panikar and Aloka Paniker (2013-present). She has also taken lessons in the Alexander Technique, T’ai chi, yoga, singing and voicework, which have enhanced her understanding of the art of movement and performance. She has an MA in Modern Indian History from Delhi University (2006).

Supriya’s dance is informed by an ongoing teaching and writing practice. She taught Odissi at Pallavi Odissi Nritya Sangeet Vidyalaya from 2007-2013, and led a research and training project for the Gati Dance Forum, New Delhi in 2012-13. In 2015, Supriya taught a semester-long Odissi course at Ashoka University. She has also conducted workshops and guest lectures for Sahitya Kala Parishad, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, the Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture among Youth (spicmacay), and the University of Toronto, Mississauga’s, Department of Historical Studies, among other organizations. Supriya’s writing has appeared in the Odissi blog Global Rasika.

Supriya’s Odissi performances have received critical praise for ‘an inner joy that communicates effectively’ and ‘the purity of her dance diction’. She is an accredited artist of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and has performed Odissi repertoire in a range of venues in India including the National Centre for Performing Arts (Mumbai), Bharat Bhavan (Bhopal), International Odissi Festival and Orissa Dance Academy (Bhubaneswar), and India International Centre (New Delhi). She has also performed for the premier performing arts department of the Indian government, the Sangeet Natak Akademi. Internationally, she has performed in Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and South Africa. While living in Canada (2015-2020), Supriya has performed Odissi for Anandam Dancetheatre, the Toronto Dance Community Love-In’s ‘PS We are All Here’, Sampradaya Dance Creations, and others. She did a community-building project through Hub14’s Community Chest residency in 2017-18 and the LeSwitch residency at Centre de Création O Vertigo, Montreal, through Dancemakers, Toronto, in 2019. Supriya has had the great pleasure of learning from, collaborating with, and dancing in the works of Deepti Gupta, Brandy Leary, Liz Peterson, Nova Bhattacharya and Lee Su-Feh.

Selected reviews

‘…with an inner joy that communicates effectively, Supriya is one of those quietly captivating dancers.’ Leela Venkataraman, The Hindu, New Delhi, 30.9.2011

‘New star on the horizon.’ Time Out Delhi, September 2011

‘The lyrical beauty of the pure nritta (dance) was presented with chiselled mudra (gesture), bhangi (posture) and chhanda (rhythm).’ Meena Banerjee, The Hindu, New Delhi, 31.8.2007

‘Nayak…impressed with the precision of her movements and the purity of her dance diction.’ Kathakali Jana, Hindustan Times, Kolkata, 30.8.2007

Selected performances and teaching assignments

• PS We Are All Here, The Toronto Dance Community Love-In, ‘Bhairavi’ choreographed by Supriya Nayak, 2017
• Horizon Series, Odissi solo at Sampradaya Dance Creations, Mississauga, 2017
• ‘Ephemeral Artifacts’, Choreography by Brandy Leary at University of Toronto Art Museaum, 2017
• Body Brake, short Odissi solo for Anandam Dancetheatre at Theatre Passe Muraille, Toronto, 2017
• Introduction to Odissi, Workshop at the Drake Underground, Toronto 2017
• Contemporaneity, short Odissi solo for Anandam Dancetheatre at Dancemakers, Toronto, 2016
• Introduction to Odissi, Workshop at the Collective Space, Toronto, 2016
• Canada Odisha Society of America (CanOSA) Convention, Odissi solo, Mississauga, 2016
• Water Portals, Created by Brandy Leary, Teresa Ascensao and Alan Majer for Nuit Blanche Toronto, 2016
• Dance in the Park, Odissi lecture-demonstration for Lost and Found Trust, New Delhi, 2016
• Workshops for Spicmacay, at schools in Kota, Chittorgarh and Bhilawara, India, 2015
• Festival of Young Musicians and Dancers, Odissi solo for Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi, 2013
• Bhavanubhav: Odissi Nritya Par Kendrit Samaroh, Odissi solo at Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, India, 2013
• Yamuna Sutra, Odissi solo at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, 2013
• 35 th Bali Art Festival, Indonesia (tour sponsored by ICCR). Additional performances at Institute Seni Indonesia, Denpasara; SMKN3, Batubulan and Universitas Hindu Indonesia, Denpasar, Indonesia), 2013
• Samrachana, Choreography Festival for Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi, with Kiran Segal and PONSV, Bhubaneswar, India, 2013
• Greeshmakaleen Mahotsav, workshop for school students through Sahitya Kala Parishad, Government of Delhi, 2013
• Workshops for Gati Dance Forum at Bluebells International School and Pathways School, 2012-13
• Site-specific workshops with school students at the Ananya Dance Festival for Seher, New Delhi, 2012-13
• International Odissi Dance Festival, Odissi duet with Madhyama Segal for Odissi Research Centre, Bhubaneswar, India, 2011
• Odissi group performances with Kiran Segal and PONSV for ICCR three-city tour in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, China, 2012
• Nalanda Nrityotsava, Odissi solo for Nalanda Dance Research Centre, Mumbai, India, 2012
• Odissi solo for Seher at India International Centre, New Delhi, 2012
• International Odissi Dance Festival, short Odissi solo for Odissi Research Centre, Bhubaneswar, India, 2011
• Akshara: Poetry in Odissi, (National Centre for the Performing Arts, NCPA), Mumbai, 2011
• Udayaraga Festival (Orissa Dance Academy), Bhubaneswar, 2011
• Divya Namaskar, Odissi group performances with Kiran Segal and PONSV for ICCR three-city tour in Pretoria, London and Port Elizabeth, South Africa), 2011
• Horizon Series (ICCR), New Delhi, 2011
• International Odissi Dance Festival (GKCM Odissi Research Centre), Bhubaneswar, 2011
• Odissi lecture-demonstration at the Embassy of Oman New Delhi, 2011
• Odissi duet with Sumelika Bhattacharya, Epicentre, Gurgaon, 2010
• Navrang Samaroh (Sahitya Kala Parishad), New Delhi, 2010
• Odissi International Festival, Bhubaneswar, 2010
• Chaturang (A collaborative performance featuring four Indian classical dancers that led to a six-city tour in South Africa, produced by Natya Kalalayam School of Dance), Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Cape
• Town, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria and Johannesburg, South Africa, 2010
• Odissi workshop at the Indian Cultural Centre, Durban, South Africa, 2010
• Guru Pankaj Festival, Odissi solo at Rabindra Mandap, Bhubaneswar, 2009
• Music for Peace, Odissi solo for Swaranjali at India International Centre, New Delhi, 2009
• National Programme of Dance (telecast on Doordarshan National Television), 2009
• Khajuraho Dance Festival, Odissi group performances with Kiran Segal and PONSV at Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, 2009
• Festival of New Choreographies, Odissi group performances with Kiran Segal and PONSV at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, 2009
• Layaangikam (A collaborative performance choreographed by Kathak dancer Rajendra Gangani, Layaangikam, created for the Festval of India in Kazakhstan featured 60 artists from across India), Asthana and Almaty, Kazakhstan, 2009
• Nritya Pratibha, Odissi solo for Sangeet Natak Akademi, Shimla, 2008
• LalitArpan Festival, Odissi solo for Shovana Narayan’s Asavari at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, 2008
• Konark Dance Festival, Odissi group performances with Kiran Segal and PONSV, Konark, Odisha, 2008
• Divya Namaskar, Odissi group performances with Kiran Segal and PONSV at Rabindra Utsav, Kolkata, 2008
• Odissi group performances with Kiran Segal and PONSV at Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, 2008
• A Tribute to Africa (A collaborative performance between artists from India and from the African nations) at the Old Fort and and Rashtrapati Bhavan (Official home of the President of India) , New Delhi), 2008
• Kal Ke Kalakar Festival, Odissi duet with Sumelika Bhattacharya, Mumbai, 2007
• Ankur Festival, Odissi solo for Ranan, Kolkata, 2007
• Odissi group performances with Kiran Segal and PONSV for ICCR three-city tour in Chittagong, Dhaka and Jessore, Bangladesh, 2007
• SaMaPa Sangeet Sammelan, Odissi group performance with Kiran Segal and PONSV at Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi, 2007
• Odissi group performances with Kiran Segal and PONSV for ICCR three-city tour in Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto, 2004