Born and brought up at Balasore, Odisha Alpana Nayak began her training in Odissi Dance at the age of seven at Nrutya Sangeeta Kala Mandira, Balasore, under Late Guru Deva Prasad Das and Guru Sudhakar Sahoo. She gained her a€?Nritya Shreea€? degree at the tender age of thirteen and a€?Nritya Visharada€? in Odissi Dance at nineteen. She has enriched her Odissi style under Late Guru Hare Krishna Behera.

Alpana has performed Odissi Dance Solo and along with her group in most of the major cities and cultural festivals of India. She has also performed widely in different countries of the world such as Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, England, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Russia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Alpana is so far the only Odissi dancer to perform Odissi dance based on a Sinhalese song at Jaffna Peace Festival organised by Jaffna University, Sri Lanka in 2013 and Odissi Dance based on Russian music at Moscow, Russia in 2018. She along with her disciples presented a ballet a€“ a€?Tathagata€? on the life of Lord Buddha at the International Buddhist Academy, Kandy, Sri Lanka in May 2015.

She performed in presence of Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, the Hona€?ble President of India in the Rashtrapati Bhawan as a special invitee in April 2006.

Guru Alpana is a graded artist of Doordarshan Kendra Central Unit, empanelled on ICCR and a recipient of Fellowship from Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India. She has done M.A. in Economics and B.Ed.

Along with her performing career Guru Alpana is also a dedicated teacher. She has taught Odissi Dance and different Indian folk dances in several cities of India, England, Japan, Bhutan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Russia and Sri Lanka. Her Odissi dance disciples include Persons with Disabilities as well. She has been conferred with Usha Rani Samman in 2012 by her alma mater Nrutya Sangeet Kala Mandir, Balasore, Balasore Nakshyatra award in 2014 by Dr. Rabindramohan Das Foundation, Odissa, Vishishta Odia Samman in 2015 by Jatiya Odia Sammilani, Delhi and Paras Mani Award in 2019 by S.U.N.A.INA (Society for the Upliftment of National Arts of India), Delhi.

Her New Choreographies

Alpana has contributed immensely to promote Indian culture in India and abroad by conceiving, developing and presenting many new Choreographies in Odissi style such as:

VICHITRA VARNA a€“ Six Facets of womanhood
PANCHA NAYIKA a€“ Five Different Emotions (Bhavas) of a woman taken from the epics of Kavi Samrat Upendra Bhanja, the great Oriya Poet of sixteenth century
TATHAGAT a€“ A Ballet in Odissi style based on the life of Lord Buddha, the preacher of non-violence
GANGA AVATARAN a€“ The descent of the sacred river Ganga from the Heaven on this Earth
MAITREE - A fusion ballet in Odissi and Sri Lankan dance forms
MANCHA - A Salute to the Stage based on a€?Sabha Lakshyanama€? from Acharya Nandikeshwara€?s a€?Abhinaya Darpanaa€?
NARTAKI - A special choreography based on "Patra Lakshyanam" from Acharya Nandikeshwara's a€?Abhinaya Darpanaa€?
SHUNYA SE SHUNYA TAK - PANCHA MAHABHOOTA a€“ A ballet in Odissi style based on five basic elements of the universe such as earth, water, air, fire and space
VRINDAVANI SAARANG PALLAVI a€“ A Pallavi based on raag Vrindavani Saarang
GURU PADMA SAMBHAVA a€“ A fusion ballet on the life of Lord Padma Sambhava in Odissi and Bhutanese Dance styles
Charukeshi Pallavi - A Pallavi enlivening the romantic bhava in a moonlit night based on Raag Charukeshi

She has delivered lectures on performing arts, Indian heritage, education of children with special needs and also conducted workshops and lecture-cum-demonstrations at different places such as MS University, Vadodara; Devi Ahilya University, Indore; Anti Racist Forum, London; Woolwich College, London; Institute for Mentally Retarded Adults, Tokamachi, Japan; Temple of Fine Arts, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; University of the Visual and Performing Arts, Sri Lanka; The Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, New Delhi; Arts University, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Nehru-Wangchuk Cultural Centre, Bhutan and India Culture Centre, Sydney, Australia. She has authored many articles on Odissi Dance, Chhau Dance & Dance Therapy published in different Journals.

Her disciples have won the prestigious national cultural talent scholarships in 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2018 and 2019 awarded by the CCRT, Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

Alpanaa€?s work essays the cause of spreading awareness among todaya€?s youth about rich, inclusive and composite cultural heritage of India. She is the Founder President of Association for Learning Performing Arts & Normative Action (A.L.P.A.N.A.) which has made significant contribution to its espoused cause of spreading awareness among todaya€?s youth about the rich cultural heritage of India, particularly Odissi Dance, Hindustani Vocal and Instrumental Music.

Many National and International TV channels such as Doordarshan, Loksabha Channel, NDTV India, Pragya TV, Sahara Samay, Focus TV etc and the All India Radio have documented and telecasted/broadcasted her life and work. The former Ambassador of the USA in New Delhi, HE Timothy Roemer invited Alpana Nayak to the US Embassy and encouraged her work in the area of disability and culture.