Jaya Mehta is a multi-media artiste who expresses her art in many art forms : dance, poetry, children's fiction, written articles, innovative workshops, lecture-demonstrations and dance productions. Her work powerfully bridges the binaries of the traditional and explorative, bringing out the modernity of tradition and the rich roots of tradition in the explorative. Her aesthetic examines the stillness, flow and awareness in our lives, marrying it with the powerful current of Navarasas, the nine aesthetic emotions.
Jaya Mehta's dance has the poetry of sculptural lines, beautiful, natural movement, powerful expression and a deep spiritual resonance. She dances the traditional Odissi of the Guru Surendra Nath Jena style and dance compositions of her own English poems, which she calls 'dance-poems'. She dances traditional Odissi (in the Guru Surendra Nath Jena style) imbibed from her Guru Pratibha Jena Singh.
Jaya Mehta has created spectacular productions like 'The Boulder Being', 'Swayam Khoj', 'Odissi Yatra' and 'Konark Kala Sangam' at prestigious international venues like the Korzo Festival in the Hague, the International Poetry Festival in Rotterdam, the Agung Rai Museum of Modern Art in Bali, the Gandhi Centre in the Hague, the Nehru Centre in London, the Indian cultural center in Istanbul and the International Odissi festival held in Odisha and New Delhi. Her highly innovative Odissi workshops have won over audiences in Barcelona, the Hague, Rotterdam and India alike. She was awarded the ‘Odissi Jyoti’ title at the Naveen Kalakaar festival in Orissa in 2008.
As an Odissi dancer and poet, she has penned a collection of dance-poems in English titled, 'The Poetic Saree'. She has also lent her voice and narration to these poems in a unique audiobook on SoundCloud. Her poetry is powerfully multi-dimensional : it has been danced at the India Dance Festival and the International Poetry Festival in the Netherlands, published by the Levure Litteraire and filmed as 'The Poetic Saree Video project' by film maker, Shabani Hassanwalia.
Her insightful articles on Indian art and culture have appeared 'The Sunday Guardian', 'The Morning Standard', The Times of India, the Hindustan Times, the Economic Times and Pulse : UK’s leading magazine on south Asian dance. She has also written a first of its kind, 'The Indian book of Dance Stories', currently under publication with the National Book Trust of India. She aims to connect young children with India's rich dance forms through fiction.
In her dance process with children, she has created pioneering Indian culture workshops like 'Mum, Me and Odissi'(about Odissi dance, music and costume) and the 'Discover India' series (about Indian festivals and seasons). She guides an ensemble of young dancers at her dance school, 'Odissi Kalaa Ashram', to become classical dancers who can span the traditional and explorative with equal ease.
Odissi danseuse Jaya Mehta
Jaya Mehta's dance journey in her own words:
"Odissi felt to me not just an aesthetics of the sculpturesque, but a much deeper commitment to the higher consciousness within. Artistes with their art, seek to understand the higher energies and mysteries of the universe. Today while dancing I revel in the 'satsang' that Odissi is. It is like Odissi takes my hand and leads me into a deeper journey into the cosmos, where our ancient rishis and sages meditated, for an eternally fragrant glimpse of the divine. As a performer, I feel deeply motivated to a process of linking many more individuals to the divinity of Odissi as an aesthetic and deeply transformative experience.
In this journey, I began to look for new ways of looking at Indian Art. Through the dances of the Guru Surendra Nath Jena tradition, I realised that the Indian visual and performing arts come together like one beautiful painting. This resulted in discoveries like the 'Mum, ME and Odissi' workshop, 'Dance Travels' series of performances and many multi-disciplinary events connecting dance to trees, sculptures, nourishment, travel, the Hindi alphabet, etc. As the journey continues, traversing forever between the ancient and modern, the cultural and the universal, I take Lord Jagannath's blessings and continue with this dance odyssey of discovery."
Jaya Mehta's education, performance, workshop and research experience:
EDUCATION:
- Masters in Ancient History from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
- Bachelors in Fine Arts (Painting) from College of Art, New Delhi.
- ‘Appreciation of Indian Art and Culture’ capsule course from National Museum, New Delhi.
TRAINING AND AWARDS:
- Trained in the Odissi dance style of Guru Surendra Nath Jena from Guru Pratibha Jena Singh at the Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi.
- Received training in the Odissi dance percussion instrument ‘Mardala’ from Guru Prafulla Kumar Mangaraj.
- Was awarded the ‘ODISSI JYOTI’ title at the Naveen Kalaakar festival at Bhubhaneshwar (2008).
PERFORMANCES:
- Presented her solo dance production, 'The Boulder Being, at the launch of her book of dance-poems, 'The Poetic Saree' at the Bikaner House in New Delhi(2019)
- Performed a dance production 'Tree of Life', with Odissi dancer, Swaati Chattopadhyay, at the International Scientists Conference, at the ICGEB, New Delhi (2018). The theme of the conference was 'Plant responses to Stress' and the dancers connected the study of nature by artists and scientists.
- Performance to her dance-poetry 'Sakhi', with Kathak dancer Anima Jhagroe-Ruissen, at the 'Stories of Kathak' festival in Hague, Netherlands (2019).
- Created and danced a residency based-production 'Swayam Khoj', at the India Dance Festival at the Korzo Theatre in the Hague, with Kathak dancer Anima Jhagroe-Ruissen. (2017)
- Presented a duet Odissi recital, 'Odissi Yatra' with Swaati Chattopadhyay at The Nehru Centre in London (2017)
- Presented a solo Odissi recital at The Gandhi Centre in Hague, Netherlands (2016)
- Presented a solo Odissi dance recital titled, ‘Odissi Yatra’, in the tradition of Guru Surendra Nath Jena at the Centre Mandapa in Paris, France (2015).
- Created and performed the 'India Yatra' dance production at the International Poetry Festival in Theatre de Bakkerij in Rotterdam, and the Fayant Theater in the Hague. With Anima Jhagroe-Ruissen (2017)
- Presented 'Konark Kala Sangam', an illustrated performance of poetry and Odissi dance with Swaati Chattopadhyay, (about the depiction of the Konark temple in dance and literature) at the Manushi Seminar in the World Book Fair, New Delhi. (2017)
- Presented a solo Odissi dance recital titled, ‘Odissi Rasa’ in the tradition of Guru Surendra Nath Jena at Agung Rai Museum of Art (ARMA),Ubud, Bali (2014).
- Presented a solo Odissi recital titled, ‘Krishna Calling’ at the India Cultural Centre, Istanbul, Turkey (2013).
- Performed an Odissi recital titled, ‘Nritya Darpan’ with Odissi dancer Swaati Vivek at the India International Centre, New Delhi (2015).
- Presented Odissi at the ‘Shilp Yatra 2015'- an Odissi recital in the tradition of Guru Surendra Nath Jena at the India International Centre, New Delhi.
- Presented ‘Dance Travels- into the heart of love and devotion’, a special Odissi event at Atelier, costume designer Sandhya Raman’s studio in New Delhi (2014).
- Presented Odissi at the 'Nritya Dhara 2014'- an Odissi recital by three generations of students of Guru Surendra Nath Jena at the Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi.
- Performed the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ at the Hanuman Jayanti celebrations at the temple on Anjanadri hill, Hampi(2013).
- Presented Odissi at the Vedic Swar Concert 2013 at the India International Centre, New Delhi.
- Presented an Odissi recital with Swaati Vivek at ‘Vasant Utsav’ the annual cultural festival at Bharati College, New Delhi (2012).
- Presented a special Dance Travels event, ‘Trees in Indian classical dance’,at the Zorba the Buddha, New Delhi (2012).
- Presented a special Dance Travels event, ‘Decoding Abhinaya’,at the Attic, New Delhi (2012).
- Presented a special Dance Travels event, illustrating Indian classical dance for the NGO Manzil, New Delhi (2012).
- Presented a special Dance Travels event at the Kunzum Travel Café, New Delhi, illustrating classical dance as window into the culture of a place (2012).
- Performed at the Jagannath Rath Yatra 2012, at the Sri Jagannath Mandir, New Delhi.
- Performed solo at the International Odissi Dance Festival 2011, held at Bhubhaneshwar, Orissa.
- Presented ‘Divyanjali’, an Odissi dance recital with Swaati Vivek at the India International Centre, New Delhi (2011).
- Performed Odissi at the International Odissi dance festival, Bhubhaneshwar (2010).
- Performed ‘Shraddhanjali’ – a tribute to late Guru Surendra Nath Jena at Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi (2007).
- Performed at Sangeet Natak Akademi’s cultural programme, highlighting the work of its annual awardee for 2007:Guru Surendra Nath Jena. (Meghdoot Theatre, 2007)
- Performed in group choreography on ‘Ramayan’ , composed by Guru Surendra Nath Jena, at ‘Nrityaradhana’( Triveni Chamber Theatre, 2007)
- Performed Odissi recital titled ‘Bhakti Sandhya’ ,an evening of compositions on bhakti, at Triveni chamber theatre, new delhi (2005).
- Performed a Trigalbandi with Bharatnatyam and Kathak dancers in a programme in aid of Tsunami victims in New Delhi (2005).
- Performed in a Trigalbandi with Bharatnatyam and Kathak dancers at JNU Founders Day Programme (2004).
- Odissi recital titled ‘Nrityopasana’ at triveni chamber theatre, New Delhi (2004).
- Odissi recital titled ‘Odissi Sandhya’, an evening of Guru Surendra Nath Jena’s dance compositions at Triveni chamber theatre, New Delhi –(2003).
- Odissi recital at the Convocation ceremony of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi (2003).
LECTURE DEMONSTRATIONS AND WORKSHOPS:
- Conducted a workshop about the festival of Holi, (through an illustrated talk, performance and improvisation) at the Hague University of Applied Sciences, as a part of the 'Stories of Kathak Festival' 2019.
- Conducted the 'KalaYogi workshops' for adults (connecting odissi dance, sculpture, nature, emotions and yoga) at the Saktisha studio, Hague university square, Netherlands (2017)
- Conducted an 'Odissi Intensive' workshop for the students of the Ashakiran school of Dance in Rotterdam, Netherlands (2017)
- Conducted a children's workshop on 'Connecting with Nature through Indian classical dance' at the Environment Week in Delhi Public School, Vasant Kun, New Delhi (2017)
TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
- Taught dance to children with special needs at Very Special Arts, vasant kunj, New Delhi (2005).
- Created a new methodology for teaching Odissi, which is implemented in the Odissi workshop ‘Mum, ME and Odissi’, conducted in New Delhi.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE:
- Research articles written for ‘Pulse’, UK’s leading magazine on south asian dance:
- Presented a solo Odissi dance recital titled, ‘Odissi Rasa’ in the tradition of Guru Surendra Nath Jena at Agung Rai Museum of Art (ARMA),Ubud, Bali (2014).
- ‘Many Coloured Strands’, cover feature for Pulse summer ‘2005.
- ‘..about dancers finding a place in history’, Pulse autumn ‘2005.
- February 19: Book Launch of 'The Poetic Saree' book of dance-poems at the Bikaner House, New Delhi by Prof. H S Shivaprakash.
- March 21: Dance Workshop on 'Holi Utsava' for the students of the Hague university of Applied Sciences.
- March 24: Dance Performance of 'Sakhi' with Anima Jhagroe-Ruissen at the 'Stories of Kathak' festival at Rabarber theatre in Hague.
- June 25: The London book launch of 'The Poetic Saree', at The Nehru Centre, followed by the worldwide premier of the dance production ' The Boulder Being', narrated and performed by Jaya Mehta.
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