BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, October 4, 2007: The Odissi dancers’ community across the globe has come together in aid of the US-based veteran Odissi dancer Ms. Asako Takami who is suffering from cancer. The community has further appealed to the practitioners, patrons and admirers of the Indian classical dances to rise to the occasion. Founder of the Pallavi Dance Group in San Francisco Bay Area, Asako has been staying in the US for the past 15 years performing, teaching and promoting Odissi. Although she learnt Kathakali, Manipuri and Bharatnatyam, she remained hooked to Odissi after watching the performance of the legendary Sanjukta Panigrahi in Tokyo.
A disciple of New Delhi-based versatile Odissi dancer Ms. Kumkum Lal and Lal’s legendary guru, Kelucharan Mohapatra, she used to visit Bhubaneswar every year for training, except for the past four years as she was diagnosed with cancer. “Both as a dancer and a human being, she is simply beautiful,” narrated US-based Odissi dancer Niharika Mohanty of Orissa who is instrumental in mobilizing the support of the Odissi dancers’ community through odissiyahoogroup being hosted by another US-based dancer. For further inquiry, friends of Asako can be contracted on dancing_odissi@yahoogroups.com and nmohanty@hotmail.com.