International Performing Arts Festival
Puri, 2024Ensemble performances presented at the International Performing Arts Festival in Puri, alongside artists and academies from across the country.
Odissi Dance Academy · Puri, Odisha
Sukumari Kalakendra
Established 2025
Classical Odissi training in the temple city of Puri — taught with rigour, patience and a place on stage for every student.
The Academy
A living tradition, taught with patience
Sukumari Kalakendra is an Odissi dance academy in Puri — the temple city where this classical form has been nurtured for centuries. Established in 2025, the academy offers structured training in Odissi for students beginning their journey in the dance.
Classes move steadily from the fundamentals — chauka and tribhangi, the two foundational postures of Odissi — through hand gestures, eye movements and footwork, into abhinaya, the expressive storytelling at the heart of the form.
Students are prepared to perform, not merely to practise. Stage exposure, costume discipline and ensemble timing are built into the training from the earliest years, so that a performance on the day feels like a natural extension of the rehearsal room.
01
Foundations
Posture, rhythm and alignment taught slowly and correctly, so that technique is never unlearned later.
02
Abhinaya
Expression and interpretation of poetry — the storytelling that turns movement into meaning.
03
Stagecraft
Ensemble discipline, costume and presence, developed through regular public performance.
One troupe, from the youngest student to the senior dancers.
Guru & Founder-Director
The Guru
Itishree Pattnaik
Guru & Founder-Director of Sukumari Kalakendra
Itishree Pattnaik founded Sukumari Kalakendra to give students in Puri a rigorous, unhurried grounding in Odissi — a form that rewards discipline far more than it rewards haste.
Her teaching is built around close personal correction: posture adjusted by hand, a gesture repeated until it is right, and a piece taken apart line by line until a student understands what they are dancing rather than only what they are doing.
Under her direction the academy's dancers have performed at festivals in Puri and elsewhere in Odisha, and have represented the academy on stage alongside senior practitioners of the form.
“Odissi is learned in the details — in the line of a finger, the lift of the chin, the stillness before the movement begins.”
Events & Achievements
On stage, and recognised for it
A selection of performances, festivals and honours from the academy's recent seasons.
National-Level Cultural Festival
Odisha, 2024The troupe took part in a national-level cultural festival organised with rural marketing and cultural bodies in Odisha, performing before a full house.
Mementoes & Recognition
On stagePerformances acknowledged with mementoes presented to the academy and its dancers at festival venues.
Full-Troupe Showcases
Regular seasonsLarge-ensemble productions staged across the year, giving every student — from the youngest to the senior dancers — a place on stage.
Gallery
Performances, portraits and the ensemble
Photographs from rehearsals, portraits and stage seasons.
Contact
Enquire about joining
For class enquiries, performances or collaborations, reach the academy directly or send a note below.
- Studio
- 153, Khakimatha NuasahiPuri, Odisha
- Phone
- 90408458307750013232
- 9040845830
- sukumari_kalakendra
Send an enquiry
Fill this in and your mail app will open with the message ready to send to sukumarikalakendra@gmail.com. Or simply call or message the academy directly.