Devraj Patnaik

Devraj Patnaik (born October 28, 1975) is a Canadian-born music composer, musician, percussionist, and dance choreographer, teacher, and performer. Patnaik was born in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. His siblings, including Ellora Patnaik were born in the state of Orissa, India, and emigrated to Canada in the 1960s. The sheer volume of his created works makes him the most prolific composer and choreographer of Odissi works in his generation.


Career

In 1993, he took over as Managing Director of the Chitralekha Dance Academy.[1] In 1994, Devraj co-founded Chitralekha Odissi Dance Creations (now Chitralekha Odissi Dance Creations Incorporated or CODC Inc.) with his mother and sister, Chitralekha and Ellora Patnaik. [2] In 1995 they inaugurated the presentation of major Odissi works on a hitherto unprecedented scale in North America, with Glaanisanghaar, or 'the destruction of evil' a dance drama which detailed the ten incarnations of Vishnu in accordance with the Gita Govinda or the twelfth century poet Jayadeva. He starred in major production of Odissi dance each year thereafter, and participated in numerous local and international dance festivals (notably the Can-Asian Dance Festival,[3] the Vancouver International Dance Festival, and the 2000 Odissi Festival) as well as several collaboratie works and plays, notably in the Rasik Arts' production of Girish Karnad's Naga Mandala.

Created works

In 2001, CODC Inc. began presenting works which consisted entirely of Devraj's original dance choreography and music composition.[4] These works premiered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with the assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, and the Laidlaw Foundation. They included: Panchadeva (2001), his magnum opus Shiva Naba Rasa (2005), and Jai Sri Rama (2006), as well as the four-year epic called the Mahabharata Vira Quadrilogy from the Kurukshetra Chronicles: Bhishma (2003), Drona (2004), Karna (2005), and Arjuna (2006).[5]

References
  1. http://www.garamchai.com/canada/artculture.htm
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-10-24. Retrieved 2010-02-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-01-16. Retrieved 2010-02-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. http://www.asiancanadian.net/2005/01/chitralekha-odissi-dance-creations.html
  5. Fellay, Catalina (16 October 2004). "Four Years, Four Warriors". The Dance Current. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
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