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.
