Smt. Anita Babu is a famous Odissi dancer based in New Delhi with over 3 decades of dancing and more than 15 years of teaching and choreographing Odissi at her school Odissi Natya Sala in New Delhi. She has learnt Odissi from the famous doyen of Odissi Padmashree Late Gangadhar Pradhan. She is a regular performer at various premier and prestigious festivals across the country as well as outside India. Some of her notable recent performances have been at the FREEDOM@70 celebration of Govt. of India in Africa, International Yoga festival 2015 & 2017, Rishikesh International Film Festival 2017, International Odissi festival 2014, Rukmini Devi Arundale dance festival in March 2014 in Kolkata, IITF 2013, the Shrishti Dance festival in Bangalore in May 2013, Karur Natyanjali in December 2012, Indian classical dance festival at the national dance festival of Kala Academy, Goa in March 2012, St. Louis, USA in April 2012, Bali Spirit Festival 2011, CWG 2010 and many more. Her disciples have also performed at the Guniess Book of World Record performance of 500 Odissi dancers in December 2012 in Bhubaneswar. Anita Babu is also an empanelled artist of ICCR and had toured US of A for 3 months in 2003 under the aegis of ICCR. Both Anita and her students have won accolades wherever they have performed across the length and breadth of India and overseas as well. Anita is a recipient of the REX KARMAVEER GLOBAL FELLOWSHIP (Bronze Chakra in 2015 and Silver Chakra in 2016), the WOMEN LEADERSHIP ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ARTS & CULTURE from the World Women Leadership Congress in 2016 and the FEMINA WOMEN SUPER ACHIEVERS AWARD in 2017.
In her constant endeavour to make classical dance popular among the youth, she has been creating new productions with themes which today’s generation can relate to Water Conservation (Nadi Narayani), Harnessing of Solar Power (Surya Trishna) and Human Trafficking (Agnikanya) and many more which have been widely appreciated by critics, connoisseurs and novices. The latest project she is working on the taboo around women menstruation. It is her sheer passion for Odissi and her desire to contribute to the society at large which gives her the motivation to choose such topics which highlight issues and concerns of today’s society.
Currently apart from performing and teaching regularly, she is working on a plan to take classical dance to unconventional platforms closer to the masses.
