Odissi and Indian Arts Workshops
Jaya Mehta offers interdisciplinary Odissi and Indian arts workshops for children, adults, schools, universities and cultural institutions. Past workshops have been held at Delhi Public School Vasant Kunj, Sun City World School Gurgaon, and the Ashakiran School of Dance in Rotterdam. To enquire about a workshop, email odissidivine@gmail.com.
Enquire about a workshopWorkshops for Children and Adults
With a rich education in Fine Arts, history and Indian aesthetics, Jaya Mehta creates innovative workshops to connect Indian culture lovers worldwide. Her workshops express the joy of being Indian, like her books, 'Nritya Katha - Indian Dance stories for Children' and 'The Poetic Saree - Dance Poems from India'.
For Adults, her workshops illustrate the beauty of Indian dance with the nuances of Indian miniature painting, temple sculpture, mythology, regional music, Sanskrit and vernacular poetry. These workshops aim at introducing dance as a daily spiritual practice, as nourishment for the body, mind and spirit, enhanced by the Rasa of Indian art.
The Children's workshops created by Jaya Mehta are a means of travelling richly and deeply into the heart of India. They celebrate being Indian through its multiple art forms and explore Indian art and culture in an inter-disciplinary way: through audio- visual presentations, art and craft projects, storytelling through dance, and performances in the Guru Surendra Nath Jena Odissi style.
To create workshops for your institution contact :
odissidivine@gmail.com
CHILDREN
Mum, ME and Odissi
This unique, world class workshop introduces children and parents to the 4 main aspects of Indian classical dance : The angikam, vachikam, aahaaryam and satvikam. These series of 4 workshops include audio-visual presentations, live musicians, trying on Odissi costume and jewellery, enacting poems with mudras and complex art and craft projects
Discover INDIA workshops
These workshops introduce children to Vasant, Greeshma or Varsha ritu (spring, summer or monsoon) in India through its festivals and associated art forms.For example, The Vasant workshop introduced children to the Indian festivals of Basant Panchami and Holi festivals, the symbolism of Saraswati, and the colour-play of Radha and Krishna at Holi. The medium was dance, art projects, illustrating shlokas and showing audio-visuals.
Performing Poetry
This workshop introduced children to performing poetry as a part of Book Week at The British School, New Delhi. The children explored an Odissi dance vocabulary to express the poem 'Boulder Being' by Jaya Mehta, and discovered the artiste's creative process.
Introduction to Odissi
Held at the Ashakiran school of Dance in Rotterdam, this workshop introduced the dance students to fundamentals of Odissi and a demonstration of the Odissi Mangalacharan dance.
Connecting with Nature
Titled 'Connecting with Nature through Indian Classical Dance', this workshop was a part of Environment Week at Delhi Public School, Vasant Kunj. It enhanced children's associations with nature through dancing to Tagore's poem 'Champa Tree' and an Odissi dance sequence of Krishna and his friends on the Jamun tree.
Sculptures in my Body
Through this Art week event at Sun City World school Gurgaon, children understood that sculpture is not a static entity but finds movement in dance. Children explored how classical dance is like painting on a canvas, where space is the canvas, and the dancer's movement and emotions are her lines and colours.
ADULTS
Holi Utsava workshop
Held at the Hague school of applied sciences, this workshop about the Holi festival, created a dynamic workshop, with audio-visual, dance demonstration and the creation of a Holi dance piece by all participants.
KalaYogi workshops
The four KalaYogi workshops explored Odissi and its connection with Sculpture, Nature, Costume and Emotions. Held in The Hague, they introduced the participants to the deeper aesthetics behind Odissi dance.
Dance Travels in Barcelona
A special Odissi workshop in Barcelona in participants enjoyed a different cultural context and the poses and emotive gestures of Odissi. Like Yoga, it highlighted the awareness of the body through Odissi and the many sculptural postures within.
Nourishing Your Inner Selves
A special workshop for adults that illustrates classical dance as a beautiful way to create physical, spiritual and mental well-being in our inner selves. The workshop created a heightened awareness of the body through experiencing movements in classical dance, silencing the mind, and connecting with our deepest selves. Meant for absolute beginners with classical dance, it gave an understanding of how classical dance is a fantastic tool for one's complete well-being, working on the body, mind and soul.
Frequently asked questions
Answers to common questions about Jaya Mehta, her Odissi practice, books and teaching.
Children, adults, school and university students, and cultural institutions — no prior dance experience is required for introductory formats.
Odissi fundamentals, dance as moving sculpture and painting, connecting with nature through classical dance, and India's dance heritage through storytelling.
In New Delhi and on invitation internationally; previous workshops have run in India, the Netherlands and Spain.
Email odissidivine@gmail.com with your institution, audience and preferred dates.