Soma Dasgupta (dasguptasoma6@gmail.com) is a faculty at Houston Durga Bari Society, teaching Manipuri and Rabindra Nritya at Kala Bhavan.
Soma got her training in Rabindra Nritya from Professor Dr. Sruti Bandopadhyay who is the recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Manipuri classical dance in 2020. Dr. Bandyopadhyay is the Principal of the Sangeet Bhavan at the Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, West Bengal, India. Soma has been teaching Rabindra Nritya for the last two decades in the Houston area and has performed in many esteemed events in Eternal Gandhi Museum Houston, ISKON and many more and got recognition by the Consul General of India in Houston.
Soma Dasgupta is a versatile Indian classical dancer and a choreographer. She got her training in Manipuri classical dance from Guru Khilendra Mukhapadhyay, a disciple of Guru Bipin Singh, and got her Diploma from Prayag Sangeet Samiti. Soma also learnt Bharatanatyam and Kathak and holds a senior Diploma in both. Soma was a regular performer for the National Television in India (Doordarshan), where she performed various classical and folk dances. She has taken her students to perform at the North American Bengali Conference, India Culture Center, Houston Durga Bari Society, Miller Outdoor Theatre, NRG stadium (Howdy Modi) and many more. She envisions propagating Manipuri dance form in the US to a wider spectrum of audience
Anindita Roy (anindita.sroy@yahoo.com) has an extensive background in various genres of Indian music including Hindusthani Classical, Semi-Classical, Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrul Geeti and Modern Hindi/Bengali music. She was born into a musical family and was introduced to Hindustani Classical music at an early age by her grandfather, Sri Nitya Gopal Roy who was a renowned music teacher in West Bengal. Later on, she took Hindustani Classical music lessons from Professor Achintya Roy Chowdhury of Kolkata, a senior disciple of Ustad Amir Khan Shahab of Indore Gharana. She learned Rabindra Sangeet and contemporary Bengali Music from Smt. Mandira Chatterjee, disciple of Smt. Kanika Banerjee. She moved to the USA in 2005 and later became a disciple of Padmashree Pta. Tripti Mukherjee, the senior most disciple of Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj and founder of Pandit Jasraj Institute of Music and Research,USA. She started performing at a very young age in various venues, participated in numerous competitions and won a number of awards, including intercollege and district level. She has also performed in different prestigious places in India and USA. She enjoys sharing her passion for music with the next generation Indian Americans and music loving adults. She is the artistic director of Alankaar School of Music which she founded in 2015. She is also a faculty in Pandit Jasraj Music Institute, New Jersey. She teaches all genres of Indian music, including classical, semi-classical, Rabindrasangeet, Nazrulgeeti and modern Hindi/Bengali music. She has students from all over the USA and teaches in-person in Fulshear, Katy, Houston and online. Anindita is married with two loving daughters. She strongly believes in treating kids with compassion and loves to engage them in the learning process. She seeks to equip students with the theoretical, compositional and performance skills to improve their overall confidence. Her goal is to help students read notations, get a good knowledge of rhythm and understand the language of music. Her training in western music helps her to connect with her younger students while emphasizing basic voice training and voice development.
Smt. Rupchhanda Ghosh (ar_rup@yahoo.com) is the faculty member of Houston Durga Bari Kala Bhavan’s Bangla Elocution & Drama class.
Rupchhanda has been an integral part of Houston’s Bengali cultural scene since 2008. Her journey in Houston began with acting in plays, starting with Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Ghare Baire,’ where she portrayed the character of Bimala, earning her the Best Actress award in HDBS Drama Competition (2011). She has since appeared in notable plays like ‘Bisarjan,’ ‘Nati Binodini,’ and ‘Bhalo Manush’ (NABC 2015), where she played a dual role. In addition to acting, Rupchhanda has hosted events and directed plays for both children and adults.
Rupchhanda has taught at the Durga Bari Bangla School for 7-8 years, teaching Bangla reading and writing and directing plays and various events. Since 2020, she has been teaching Bangla recitation and drama at HDBS Kala Bhavan.
Rupchhanda has coached students and community children in numerous plays and recitation programs, including ‘Lakshmaner Shaktishel,’ ‘Bhimbadh,’ ‘Maharaja Tomare Selam,’ ‘Daakghar,’ ‘Khyatir Birambona,’ and ‘Ak Dhama Aloo’. In response to the pandemic, Rupchhanda successfully directed several online programs and dramas, including ‘Bolo Bolo Dugga Elo,’ ’Abak Jalpan,’ and ‘Coronay Koruna Koro Maa.’ These virtual productions showcased her versatility and dedication to promoting Bengali culture among the next generation.
A professional educator, Rupchhanda received training in recitation under the guidance of renowned elocutionist Smt. Bratati Bandopadhyay and Rabindra Sangeet under Smt. Suchitra Ghosh.
Rupchhanda’s teaching expertise in Bangla extends beyond Houston, as she teaches students of all ages in various parts of the USA and internationally. Her passion for teaching knows no borders, and she takes immense pleasure in making learning fun and engaging for her students.
Supradipta Datta (dipta1@yahoo.com) has been a part of Kala Bhavan since its inception in 2007.
She is one of the senior most disciples of the renowned Odissi dancer Guru Smt. Aloka Kanungo. Her skills in Odissi have been further enhanced by the guidance of legendary maestros like Padmabibhushan Late Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, Guru Smt. Aruna Mohanty, Guru Manoranjan Pradhan, Guru Smt. Sujata Mohapatra and Guru Ratikanta Mohapatra. She has the rare distinction of achieving the Sangeet Kriya Visharad in both the dance forms of Odissi and Bharatnatyam.
As a dancer Supradipta has performed in various prestigious festivals in India including the Khajuraho Festival, the Konarak Festival, the Puri Beach Festival. Her first introduction to the western world as a young dancer came through her Odissi performance which was featured by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in their documentary on Indian culture and Hinduism.
Supradipta moved to U.S.A. in 1997. Along with obtaining her Maters’ degree in Finance, she has continued to perform all around the U.S.A. in prestigious events like the 1st Odissi World Conference (at Washington D.C.), the North American Bengali Conference (NABC), and the North American Odissi Conference. She continues to perform, choreograph and collaborate with other renowned artists for various cultural shows, the latest ones being Chitram with Kanniks Kannikeswaran and Ananta with Sreyashi Dey and Arnab Bandyapadhyay.
In 2003, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra inaugurated her institution Kalaangan, a center of the performing arts, dedicated solely to Odissi. Since 2010, Kalaangan has been organizing a yearly dance festival called Alok Utsav (named after Supradipta’s Guru Smt. Aloka Kanungo) for young Odissi students. A second festival, Nrityanubhav is organized by Kalaangan to give platform to young Odissi dance professionals post their Ranga Praveshes.
By exposing this rich and elegant art of Odissi to its students while preserving its purity and traditional roots, Supradipta strives to instill a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment for every student. Performance recitals by her students are specially recognized for their grace, elegance and masterful technique.
Guru Smt. Arpita Mukhopadhyay (arpitamukhopadhyay@hotmail.com) is the faculty member for Bharatnatyam at Kala Bhavan, the center for performing arts of Houston Durga Bari Society.
Arpita is a very well recognized dancer, choreographer, and teacher. She is the founder and the director of the Payal School of Dance, an institute to attract dancers of all ages to continue with their passion in Bharatnatyam and regional folk dances of India.
Arpita started learning Bharatanatyam at the age of five from Devjani Chatterjee and completed her graduation degree in Bharatanatyam from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad, India, when she was just twelve years old. She also holds a diploma in Bharatanatyam and Rabindra Nritya from Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh. Her quest for learning different aspects of Bharatnatyam continued and she took rigorous training from Pinaki Chowdhury and Kalamandalam Venkitt. She also took lessons in different regional folk dances from various workshops conducted in different states of India. Arpita was also a member of several dance groups in Kolkata and performed all over India and participated in television programs. Arpita had a natural flair for choreography from an early age; a dance choreographed by her at the age of 18 was televised by the Doordarshan of Kolkata.
Arpita has more than thirty-five years of experience as a dance teacher. She started teaching dance at different cultural organizations from 1988 and worked as a dance teacher at the Ryan International School in New Delhi and ran dance schools in Kolkata and Delhi.
At Kala Bhavan, Arpita teaches Bharatnatyam from basic level to senior, preparing her students for graduation and encouraging them in choreography.
Sri Kaushik Chakrabarty (kchak09@gmail.com) is a faculty member and Art instructor at Kala Bhavan, Houston Durga Bari. Kaushik has always had a passion for art and was trained under the great painter-sculptor Late Shambhu Nath Ghosh of Kumartuli, Kolkata. He has been doing art since he was very young and has been involved in many of the projects at Durga Bari, including magazine covers and ground/mural paintings during Durga Pujas.
Kaushik teaches a variety of art mediums and is knowledgeable in many forms of art, with a specialty in pencil sketches and shading. He has been teaching art at Kala Bhavan for the last 6 years, and his students at Kala Bhavan engage in sketching, acrylic painting, watercolor, Prismacolor, and other art types. His classes are characterized by passionate, creative forms of self-expression through art.
Dr. Tathagata (Raja) Banga (tbanga@hotmail.com) is the Houston Durga Bari Kala Bhavan faculty member of Tabla class. While his professional career is in the petroleum industry (Phd in Geology) as one of the ace discoverers of Deepwater Gulf of Mexico exploration for the supermajor Royal Dutch Shell, Raja has also been a very well-known tabla player in the Houston music arena for the last 20+ years. He is the Executive Director of Prana, a private non-profit foundation on promoting regenerative lifestyle, and has maintained a very successful dual career in the realm of earth science, as well as in the world of music.
Raja’s music school at Katy highlights world percussion and was covered by Houston Chronicle in 2009 for this unique contribution to the greater Houston community. He has performed with well-known musicians in India and the US, including Ustad Ashish Khan, Pandit Keshav Ginde, Dr. Paul Katz, Amit Kumar, Abbos Kosimov, Rekha Surya, Dhananjay Kaul.
Raja served as the President of the Tagore Society of Houston (TSH) between 2008 and 2011 and pioneered numerous collaborative projects with esteemed local organizations, such as University of Houston, Asia Society, Museum of Fine Arts, India Culture Center, Bangladesh Association of Houston. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of TSH and designs various domestic and international cultural events for TSH.
Raja teaches various genres of drums at Durga Bari Kala Bhavan & Arya Samaj of Houston. He trains the young performers of Tagore Society Youth Orchestra (https://youtu.be/e5znwHuj7ZA). He has also been part of an experimental fusion band called Essence of Prana.
Rajnita Bandyopadhyay (rajnitab@gmail.com) is an A grade artist of All India Radio Mumbai and Kolkata and was a regular artist of Doordarshan when she was in India. She started her music performance at childhood in Radio and Doordarshan and also one of the finalists of first Bengali reality show by Zee Bangla in 1996. She has performed in Tara Club, Tara TV, Rupashi Bangla, Doordarshan etc in recent times.
Music Albums: She has many music and video albums to her credit. She released a music video album with Nachiketa couple of years back. She also released a CD with Bratati Bandyopadhyay and Shraboni Sen. Few years back, she had opportunity to record her first film music with renowned music director Late Mrinal Bandyopadhyay. It was the last film music direction by Mrinalji. She had few more waiting to be released.
Performances: Rajnitaji performed in various cities in India and USA including Kolkata, Mumbai, Houston, Louisiana, New York, Oklahoma, Tulsa etc and several NABCs.
Rajnitaji received her training in classical music from Pundit Prasun and Meera Bandyopadhyay, disciples of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Saheb and also from Ustad Munawar Ali Khan Saheb, son of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Saheb. She also learned music from Sri Jatileshwar Muljerjee, Smt Purabi Dutta and Sri Sukumar Mitra for decades.
Rajnitaji is very well known classical and semi classical singer in USA and Kolkata. She has established one of the best known classical music schools in Houston – Saptak School of Music.
Kamalpriya Roy (kamroy292@gmail.com) Born and grown up in the open, natural and cultural environment of Santiniketan, Smt. Kamalpriya Roy earned her Masters degree in Sanskrit from the University of Visva-Bharati at Santiniketan. She learned Rabindra Sangeet under the tutelage of one of the most authentic and renowned teachers of Rabindra Sangeet, the late Prof. Nilima Sen. Ever since, Rabindra Sangeet and Rabindranath’s dance-dramas and literature became her passion.
Experience
Accompishments
One of the most celebrated and authentic Rabindra Sangeet singers, and teachers in the Houston area – more than 25 years of teaching experience in Rabindra Sangeet
Rendered the overall music direction and taught Rabindra Sangeet for a group of 35 participants for the program “Bandhan Bhangar Sadhaney Rabi” for the 2012 Durga Pujo which was highly acclaimed by the audiences
Orchestrated the overall music direction and taught the songs from dance-drama Chitrangada for the participants on Tagore’s sesquicentennial birth anniversary celebrated by the Tagore Society of Houston (TSH) in 2011
Undertook the lead role for the Rabindra Sangeet segment of Saptasura at the HDBS Durga Pujo 2010
Undertook the lead role for the Tagore Musical soire for the Kali Pujo night (2010) at Durgabari where the celebrities Partha and Gouri Ghosh participated in recitation
Extensively performed songs and dances in many cities of India , UK and US, e.g. Santiniketan, Kolkata (Rabindra Sadan, Academy of Fine Arts and Belvedere Gardens), Durgapur, Asansole, New Delhi (Kamani Auditorium), Peterborough (UK), Dallas, Little Rock, Memphis, South Jersey and Houston
Directed and choreographed the “Shapmochon”, one of the finest dance-dramas of Tagore in Houston in 1996. This dance-drama had a participation of more than thirty (30) singers, dancers and musicians from within the community
While instructed for the old Bangla Pathshala of Houston for songs and dances during 2001-2003, the school received the best award for performance among the 27 groups of competitors for the Indian Independence Day Celebration in 2002.
Education
Personal
