South Point High School’s Divyani Mohanty plans to study commerce while pursuing dance

First dance lesson at the age of two, first solo dance performance at the age of seven, and several prizes going forth — dance has been a part of Divyani Mohanty's life since the time she began to walk and run. The Class XII student of South Point High School, Kolkata, is a trained Odissi dancer who received the Edugraph 18 Under 18 Award recently.

Going solo at 7

Divyani first went up on the stage for a solo performance when she was in Class III. “My dance training began when I was just two years old. My mother is a classical dancer and she would teach me along with the rest of her pupils,” recalled Divyani, who was initially more interested in music and art.

“Dancing off stage was fine but performing on stage was a completely different experience. On stage, it was me alone before a room full of strangers. There was the advantage of being a child as people would appreciate every effort and not be too critical,” Divyani said.

The first award

Divyani was placed first and received the Champion of Champions award — Kalakirti Samman — at the Universal Rang Mahotsav in Dehradun in 2015. Each participant was allowed only six minutes but when Divyani’s performance carried on for four extra minutes, the judges did not stop her. “When I finished my performance, the judges called me and complimented me. They asked me to never stop dancing. The prize distribution was held after four days. I was not expecting to win as it was my first international exposure. But when I won, everyone was happy for me. My pictures were all over the newspapers in Dehradun. That’s when my mother told me to be grounded and not take it as the ultimate achievement,” the young dancer said.

Divyani has since won several other awards, including the National Nritya Pratibha Award Plaque of Honour at the International Dance Music Festival and 8th and 10th Cuttack Mahotsav in 2017 and 2019.

She received the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training Junior Scholarship in 2019 for Odissi.

Dance and studies

Divyani has completed her fourth year in dance, music and art training. She finds time to read and write as well. She has also discovered her interest in brochure designing. Compering is another forte. Divyani doesn’t take any tuition classes and says that saves her the time to do other things. “Whatever is taught at school is adequate for me. I am attentive in class and that helps me to prepare for my exams without additional help. After school I don’t have to go to tuition classes like others and that’s when I practise my dance and do many other things,” said Divyani.

Sutapa Chatterjee, coordinator of co-curricular activities at South Point High School, described Divyani as “a sincere, talented and a very well-mannered pupil”. “She is a perfectionist in whatever she pursues, be it studies or co- curricular activities. We wish her good luck and success in life.”

Career goals

Divyani wants to study BCom and start preparing for CA exams after Class XII. “Dance is my life but I would also want to become a chartered accountant. Dance will always be there but I would like to do other things as well. I would love to be a philanthropist and help others. I want to do something for the society,” the South Point student said.