Bijayini Satpathy

Bijayini Satpathy is an Odissi dancer, choreographer, teacher, and scholar from Odisha, India. She began learning Odissi in Odisha at age seven and developed an early technical foundation at Orissa Dance Academy in Bhubaneswar. She later joined Nrityagram in 1993, where founder Protima Bedi selected her to become part of the institution and its performing ensemble.

Satpathy spent 25 years at Nrityagram, from 1993 to 2018, serving as a principal dancer, soloist, teacher, research scholar, administrator, and Director of Training and Outreach. Her long artistic collaboration with Surupa Sen became internationally recognized through Nrityagram Dance Ensemble duets. At Nrityagram, she also developed an integrated conditioning approach for Odissi drawing on Odissi practice, Yoga, Natyashastra, Kalaripayattu, anatomy, kinesiology, and western physical-training methods.

Since beginning an independent solo path in 2019, Satpathy has expanded her choreographic practice while remaining rooted in Odissi. Her debut self-choreographed work, Abhipsaa - A Seeking, premiered at Duke Performances in 2021 and subsequently had its New York premiere at Baryshnikov Arts in 2023. Her later creative work includes Doha, developed from research conducted during her 2021-22 Metropolitan Museum of Art Live Arts residency, and Trikaya, premiered in 2026 through In Residence at G5A.

Satpathy continues to perform, choreograph, teach, and research Odissi internationally. Her recent scholarly and institutional engagements include a 2023-24 fellowship at the Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU, a 2024 Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Residency, and service as Alma Hawkins Chair at UCLA in 2025. She leads residential Odissi intensives and continues to develop her pedagogical and choreographic work.