Sohini Moksha

About Sohini

sohini

Sohini Roychowdhury, Indian dancer, choreographer, visionary, philosopher and professor of Natyashastra, is the founder of Sohinimoksha World Dance & Communications and Sohinimoksha Artes de La India in Madrid, Kolkata and Berlin. Sohini and her multinational Sohinimoksha troupe´s world-view, and mission, is Connecting Civilizations, and enriching lives, through art, music and dance. A premier ambassador of Indian culture for the last several years, Sohini´s performances – solo and with her multinational troupe, have been garnering tumultuous audience appreciation, and rave critical reviews all over the world.

Groomed under the classical Tanjore style, Sohini combines the best of two worlds - a classical conservative training and a modern innovative outlook. Her dedication and special talent as an exponent of India’s oldest classical dance, Bharatanatyam, her unique choreography and stagecraft, her ability to adapt and fuse the best that the world of International dance and music has to offer with her Bharatanatyam based choreographies, her culture and language bridging communication skills, have all combined together to create the unique world of Sohinimoksha.

A regular speaker on Natyashastra, Dance, Gender Empowerment, Motivation through the Arts and related topics, Sohini is a visiting Professor at a number of Universities and institutes in Europe, the Americas and India.

Sohini is a winner of the “Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Samman” by The House of Lords, British Parliament; the Priyadarshini Award for Outstanding Achievement in Arts, New Delhi; Exceptional Women of Excellence Award by the Women Economic Forum, New Delhi and has been a European Brand Ambassador for India Tourism´s “Incredible India” campaign.

Sohini has been called “a revolutionary in the world of music and dance” by the Hindustan Times and “remaking history in the footsteps of Uday Shankar” by the Times of India.

Born in a family of illustrious musicians and artists, in Kolkata, India, Sohini took up training in Indian classical dancing, at the tender age of eight, under Thankamani Kutty and Guru Venkitt, renowned and respected gurus of Bharatanatyam and Mohiniattiam.

Notable performances by Sohini and Sohinimoksha World Dance

  • • The premiere of “Slumdog Millionaire”, on the request of its director Danny Boyle
  • • Bollymadrid Festival, Madrid
  • • Asia Festival Barcelona
  • • Tirol Cultural Council performances, Innsbruck, Austria
  • • La Noche en Blanco, Madrid
  • • Performance for the Indian Ministry of Tourism at FITUR, MADRID
  • • Fnac Madrid
  • • Indian Embassy performances at Madrid, London, Berlin & Moscow
  • • Times of India Festivals in India
  • • Off-Broadway performances in New York City
  • • NIIT event at Villa Magna, Madrid
  • • Teatro Conde Duque, Madrid
  • • International Anthropological Museum, Madrid
  • • International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) - Madrid, 2016
  • • Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Kerala, India (on the invitation of the President of India)- January 2013
  • • National Geographic, Madrid - 1st dance troupe to perform LIVE at this prestigious venue – May 2013
  • • Inner Voyage Event, Dubai – Signature “Flamenconatyam” themed performance at the prestigious Inner Voyage Event at Dubai – June 2013

Recent Key Performances and Productions

  • • Performance at the Press Conference to announce the first ever El Clasico Legends exhibition football match between Real Madrid and Barcelona in India – The Ritz, Madrid, June 2014
  • • Closing ceremony Performance at Asia Pacific INFOCOM – ITC Sonar, Kolkata – December 2014
  • • Indian Republic Day Performance, hosted by the Indian Ambassador to Spain – The Ritz, Madrid, January 2015
  • • Performance at Museo del Traje, Madrid to celebrate Women's Day – March 2015
  • • Diplomatic Conference in Madrid in the presence of Reina Sofia, Queen of Spain – April 2015
  • • Hard Rock Café, Madrid – Exclusive performance in aid of Vicente Ferrer Foundation – July 2015
  • • “Essence of Bengal” performances - specially choreographed performances inspired by the works of Rabindranath Tagore – in India and Spain – 2015
  • • 1st Indian Dance troupe to perform in the historic and iconic Cabalgata de Reyes Madrid (Cavalcade of Kings) – leading Europe's largest street parade with 30 performers in front of a live audience of 50,000 and Live TV audience of millions – January 2016
  • • IIFA Madrid 2016 - performance at the IIFA Flashmob in Madrid City Center and opening act at the IIFA 2016 Launch Press Conference presided by the Mayor of Madrid and IIFA Brand Ambassadors Hrithik Roshan, Anil Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha.
  • • Performance for Queen Sofia of Spain at the 2016 AIDE Feria Diplomatico, Madrid – April 2016
  • • Sohinimoksha performance at the Opening Ceremony of the 29th Maharashtra State Police Games, in front of a live audience of 20,000 – Aurangabad - January 2017
  • • Performance-Workshop at the Times of India Happy Streets Festival, Kolkata – February 2017
  • • Sohinimoksha performance at the iconic Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, Mumbai, Asia´s largest street festival – February 2017
  • • Solo performances for the Tirol County Council across Austria, including UNESCO schools – May 2017, 2018, 2019
  • • Opening Ceremony performance by Sohinimoksha at GRAM Kota, Rajasthan, for Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia – May 2017
  • • Sohinimoksha performance at the Bloomsbury Festival 2017, London; School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) London University; Cambridge University – October 2017
  • • Sohinimoksha performance at GRAM Udaipur, Rajasthan, for Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia – November 2017
  • • Sohinimoksha performance at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival – February 2018 – a repeat performance at Mumbai's iconic street festival.
  • • Lecture Demonstrations at various UNESCO schools for Tirol Culture Service, Austria – May 2018, 2019
  • • Solo performances and Lecture Demonstrations – University of Leipzig and Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany - June 2018
  • • Sohinimoksha performance at The Bengal Club, Kolkata – August 2018
  • • Bharatanatyam solo performances and Master Classes at Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan, New York; Ananda Ashram, New York; Philadelphia and Washington DC – September/October 2018
  • • Sohinimoksha performance at Loreto House Kolkata to celebrate the global “1 Billion Rising” movement to empower battered women – Valentine’s Day, 2019
  • • International Advertising Association World Congress 2019 at Grand Hyatt Kochi (Kerala) – Sohinimoksha performance at the Opening Ceremony – February 2019
  • • World Women’s Day Conference at World Trade Centre, Mumbai – Sohinimoksha performance – March 2019
  • • Bharatanatyam solo performance at The Tagore Centre, Embassy of India, Berlin, Germany – May 2019
  • • Bharatanatyam solo performances, workshops and Master Classes for UNESCO in Austria and Italy – May 2019
  • • Bharatanatyam Master Classes for the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Belgium in Brussels and Namur – May 2019
  • • Choreographer and Dance Director – “Sundays with Chitra and Chaitali” by renowned playwright Isheeta Ganguly
  • • Workshop on “Storytelling through Dance” – Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival 2020 – January 2020
  • • Online in The Time of Corona – A virtual Sohinimoksha production of “Dancing with Shiva”, to celebrate World Dance Day, broadcast on FB Live from New York - for Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan, New York and The Consulate General of India in New York – April 2020

Sohini on the Talk Circuit

A regular speaker on Natyashastra, Dance, Gender Empowerment, Motivation through the Arts and related topics, Sohini is a visiting Professor at a number of Universities and institutes in Europe, the Americas and India. Some of her notable presentations have been at:

  • • Visiting professor - Freie University, Berlin; Leipzig University; Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg - Germany
  • • School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London
  • • University of Los Andes, Bogota
  • • Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Centre, Moscow
  • • Complutense University, Madrid
  • • INK Youth Talks, ICCR Kolkata
  • • Library Talk at The Tollygunge Club, Kolkata
  • • Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan, New York
  • • House of Lords, British Parliament, London
  • • University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
  • • UIMP, Santander, Spain
  • • Casa Asia, Madrid, Spain
  • • Alfonso X El Sabio University, Madrid, Spain
  • • UNESCO schools for the Tirol Culture Council, Innsbruck
  • • Women Leadership Forum of Asia, Mumbai – Keynote Address

Awards and Accolades

  • • 2011, Madrid, Spain - Felicitation by Shri Vayalar Ravi, Indian Cabinet Minister for Overseas Indians and Civil Aviation - in recognition of Sohini´s path-breaking work in taking India to the World through her craft
  • • 2013, London, UK - MAHATMA GANDHI PRAVASI SAMMAN at the HOUSE OF LORDS, BRITISH PARLIAMENT, LONDON, awarded by Baroness Verma, British Minister for Environment and Climate Change
  • • 2015, New Delhi, India – Priyadarshini Award for Outstanding Women Entrepreneur – by the Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs
  • • 2019, New Delhi, India – Exceptional Women of Excellence Award – by Women Economic Forum (WEF)
  • • 2019, Namur, Belgium – “Governor’s Commendation” for Distinguished World Artiste - by the Governor of Namur Province, Belgium

Brand Ambassador

  • • Satya Paul – 2019 Brand Ambassador for the Folklure Collection of India’s foremost designer saree and accessories brand
  • • Byloom – 2018 Brand Ambassador for one of India’s most prestigious handloom and handicraft brand
  • • IAMKHADI – 2019 Brand Ambassador for 150 Years of Mahatma Gandhi’s fabric of choice – Khadi - “Weaving Peace” at The World Trade Centre, Mumbai
  • • Incredible India - 2010 European brand ambassador for India Tourism’s “Incredible !ndia” campaign