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Draft:Piyali BiswasDe 1.0

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Piyali BiswasDe
NationalityIndian
EducationMA in Economics, Business Analytics
Alma materJadavpur University Wharton School
Occupation(s)dancer, choreographer, business analyst, data analyst, program manager, dance instructor
Known forfocusing on specific art forms and their impacts on the community, especially assisting marginalized artists broaden their outreach.
Websitewww.linkedin.com/in/piyali-biswas-de-0222718/

Piyali Biswas De is a Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer, instructor, artistic entrepreneur, and IT professional in the Greater Seattle region. Classically trained in Bharatanatyam from Kolkata, India, she is known for her versatility, creativity, passion and physical fitness. She is also trained in Rabindranritya, a dance form created in Bengal by the first non-European literature Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore. She founded Dance Tantra[1], an Indian dance academy based in Greater Seattle region to promote Bharatanatyam, Rabindranritya and Indian Classical contemporary dance. In 2019, Piyali also founded Sadhana[2], a non-profit organization dedicated in highlighting and exploring ways art forms can be used to create social campaigns and awareness to impact the community.

Education and Training

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Biswas De pursued a robust higher education, earning her MA in Economics at Jadavpur University, and later did a specialization in MPHIL Women’s Studies at Jadavpur University. She later attended the ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education in Hyderabad. She furthered her education in the US, doing an online Software Testing course in the University of Washington, and a Business Analytics program from the Wharton School of Business.

Biswas De was classically trained under Anita Mullick and Guru Thankammi Kutty(Sangeet Natak Akademi Amrit winner). She recently took advanced Abinaya training from Smt Priyadarshini Govind (Sangeet Natak Akademi winner) who founded nonprofit Navadarshana.

Corporate Industry career

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Biswas De started her corporate career working in Liberty Mutual Insurance. She then joined BECU for the next few years. Biswas de later moved to PACCAR, where she has been working for the last few years. She has occupied roles as a business analyst, data analyst, and program manager and has had a corporate career for 17 years.

Dance/performing arts career

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Piyali has been performing, choreographing, directing, and producing dance productions in the US since 2008 after relocating there in 2006 from India. She also performed and directed fundraising shows for local nonprofits and cultural organizations. such as Pratidhwani, Amrita-Seattle, NWFL, CRY Seattle, Asha Seattle[3], Uttoron Seattle Bengali Association, etc. However, Biswas De started her formal career teaching Indian classical dance in 2015. She founded her own Indian classical dance academy, DanceTantra, in 2016, in which she taught over 100 students over the last eight years. She believes dancing is complete when you understand and emote to every song's beat and lyrics. Dance Tantra welcomes both new bees and experienced ones to take their dancing skills to the next level. She is known for quality teaching and unique choreography based on students' skills.

Biswas De founded her nonprofit, Sadhana, to focus on different art forms and how they can impact the art community and beyond. Biswas De has done many projects supporting marginal artists and artisans, such as Pratishrusti, a project related to improving the social lives of marginalized artists and artisans in India. Under Sadhana, she curated the recurring annual "Rabindra utsab- where the mind is without fear"- a multi-art, multi-genre, and multi-generation Tagore festival[4] to celebrate the life and legacy of first non-European Nobel laureate poet Kabi Rabindranath Tagore, which is one of its kind in the pacific northwest since 2023 with grants from Bellevue City Arts Commission[5], Renton city Arts commission and Renton Lodging tax grant.

She is also a Washington State humanities speaker[6], accredited presenter, and dancer in 2024-25 for her popular presentation "Beyond words- storytelling through Indian classical dance,"[7] through which she is traveling all over Washington state to spread the love for Indian classical arts. Also, she has been selected as a master artist with her first arangetram student, her own older daughter Tonoya Biswas, as an apprentice for the "Heritage Arts apprenticeship"[8] in Rabindranritya by "The Center for Washington Cultural Traditions," and "Humanities Washington” & “Washington State Arts Commission" in 2024-25. Piyali is an author and dance critic focusing on heritage art and culture.[9]

Performances & Choreographies

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  • "Awakening Devi- the divine feminine power"- a solo Bharatanatyam production: Bharat Sanskriti Yatra organized by The Hindusthan Art & Music Society (HAM) at Shri Nagari Natak Mandali, Varanasi, UP, India, March 2024.[10]
  • "Nritya Kavya Chitra- a garland of dance, poems and art": Artist at Center, at Armory, Seattle Center, Seattle, Feb 2024[11]
  • "Sanglaap- a dialogue between Tyagraja & Tagore"- A Bharatanatyam duo production: Dhrupad Jhankaar 2023, Juanita Performing Arts Center, Kirkland, WA, Dec 2023[12]
  • "Prakritim Paramam- a quest for cosmos within nature," a Bharatnatyam trio production based on Rabindranath Tagore's poems and songs: "Rabindra utsab, where the mind is without fear", International School, Bellevue, WA, May 2023 & Dhrupad Jhankaar 2023, Kirkland Performance Center, Kirkland, WA, Nov 2023.[13]
  • "Mukti- a quest for freedom" - A solo contemporary Bharatanatyam production: Indian Habitat Center, Stein Auditorium, New Delhi, in Aug 2022 and "Uttar-Yatra- A contemporary Classical Indian dance festival," Cleveland, OH, Nov 2022.
  • "Dhrupad Jhankaar 2021" - Directed and produced by Piyali Biswas De - Issaquah Village Theatre, Issaquah, WA, Nov 2021[14]
  • "Raja- The King of Dark Chamber," a Tagore dance drama - Producer and dance director for Asha Seattle at Theatre at Meydenbauer Center, Bellevue, Sept 2018.
  • "Art201- A Love Story- fusion Opera":  A dance drama for CRY Seattle;  Choreographer, dancer, and dance director, at Lake Washington High School, Kirkland, WA, Sept 2015.
  • "Heer Ranjha- a Love Story," a musical for Amrita Seattle - Writer, choreographer, and director, at Lake Washington High School, Kirkland, WA, March 2015
  • "Nakshi Katha- the Story of Embroidered Quilt," a musical for Amrita-Seattle-  Writer, choreographer, and director, at Lake Washington High School, Kirkland, WA, March 2015[15]
  • "ACT Theatre, Seattle- Ramayana preview by Pratidhwani"- choreographer and dancer "War dance," Nov 2011.
  • "Chitrangada—the warrior princess," a Tagore dance drama, by Pratidhwani, Choreographer, and Storyteller soloist dancer, August 2010.

Guided Bharatanatyam Arangetrams

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  • Bharatanatyam Arangetram of Nandika Devarajan, Giya Agarwal and Ishrita Vrashney (2024)
  • Bharatantyam Arangetram of Tonoya Biswas and Yashika Bansal (2023)[16]

References

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  1. ^ "DanceTantra-Home". www.dancetantra.com. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  2. ^ "Sadhanaworld". www.sadhanaworld.org. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  3. ^ Asha Seattle: KODC Asha Seattle (2018-09-11). Asha Seattle | The King of the Dark Chamber | Rabindranath Tagore | Promo Video. Retrieved 2024-08-27 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ "Review/Report - Rabindra Utsav: Where the mind is without fear - Latha Sambamurti". narthaki.com. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  5. ^ https://bellevuewa.gov/sites/default/files/media/pdf_document/2024/city-of-bellevue-2024-project-grants.pdf
  6. ^ "Beyond Words: Storytelling through Indian Classical Dance - Piyali Biswas De". Humanities Washington. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  7. ^ "Beyond Words: Storytelling through Indian Classical Dance with Piyali Biswas De - Bainbridge Island Museum of Art". www.biartmuseum.org. 2024-01-24. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  8. ^ admin (2024-08-13). "Meet the 2024-2025 Heritage Arts Apprenticeship Pairs". Humanities Washington. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  9. ^ "Piyali Biswas De". India Currents. 2023-05-27. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  10. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  11. ^ "Artists at the Center: Dance Tantra". www.seattlecenter.com. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  12. ^ "Review/Report - Dhrupad Jhankaar 2023 - Latha Sambamurti". narthaki.com. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  13. ^ Sharma, Dr Vasudha (2022-12-16). "One With the Divine: Tagore's Poetry Inspires Prakritim Paramam". India Currents. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  14. ^ Moon, Eva (2021-11-30). "Dhrupad Jhankaar Raises Funds For Marginalized Artists in India". India Currents. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  15. ^ Dance Tantra (2015-06-05). Nakshi Kanthar Math ( The Field of Embroidered Quilt)- Dance Drama. Retrieved 2024-08-27 – via YouTube.
  16. ^ Nagarjuna, D. (2023-07-20). "Tonoya's 'sadhana' in Bharatanatyam to take off!". All Under The Sky. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
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