Sukalyan Bhattachraya at one of his sessions with the Vatika Honey and Saffron Soap Sananda Tilottama contestants in Calcutta. Picture by Pabitra Das

Calcutta, May 29: He lives in Toronto and is married to Manipuri dance, an art he has sworn to spread the world over.

Sukalyan Bhattacharya, dancer and choreographer, was in Calcutta to choreograph a number for Saturday?s Vatika Honey and Saffron Soap Sananda Tilottama contest, where he won immense appreciation for infusing traditional Manipuri martial arts moves with contemporary dance forms.

Having established five Manipuri dance schools in North America, Bhattacharya is a name to reckon with.

Born in an artistically-inclined family ? his mother was a classical singer and father was a tabla player ? Bhattacharya?s tryst with dance began early.

He received an award from Mother Teresa for his very first performance when he was only four years old.

But a chance meeting with Guru Bipin Singh and Kalavati Devi at a workshop in the early Nineties changed his life forever.

Says Bhattacharya, ?What attracted me most in this dance form was the distinct characterisation of masculine and feminine moves, the tandav and the lashya, which can either be performed in isolation or combined to form the ardhanarishwar, the ultimate symbol of power.

While still a student of Manipuri Nortonalaya, Bhattacharya enrolled in the contemporary dance classes run by Manjusree Chaki-Sirkar and her daughter Ranjabati. Inspired by his gurus, he won the National Scholarship in Manipuri dance, which took him to Manipur for the first time.

But his big break came when members of the University of Alberta spotted him at a dance show and invited him to hold a workshop in Canada. Once in Toronto, there was no looking back.

His workshops became immensely popular among both Indians and Canadians. Grants and awards poured in ? including awards from the Japan Foundation of Toronto, Canada Council of Art and the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute.

With performances at various international festivals, including the Tagore Festival in England and Scotland, Bhattacharya?s fame soared, as did the popularity of Manipuri dance.

Having established himself as an exponent of Manipuri dance, Bhattacharya began experimenting with the genre, injecting it with the powerful moves of the Manipuri martial arts form, Thang ta, and the flowing grace of contemporary dance forms he had picked up from Ranjabati Chaki-Sirkar.

But his real feat, he feels, was directing dance numbers for an off-off Broadway production, Nuruluddin?s Lifetime, and a Canadian film, The Sun, The Moon and The Waves, using Manipuri moves.

A visiting lecturer at the University of Georgia, Bhattacharya dreams of introducing shows similar to those in Broadway to the Indian audience. ?For that you need funds. If you are wondering why I don?t come back to India, that is one of the primary reasons. Dance is an expensive profession. Nobody will provide you with the costume, the jewellery, the stage and the other related infrastructure. I need to earn all the money I need abroad, so that I can arrange shows in India without any monetary hitch.?

An enviable career ranging from stage, theatre to films and international fame later, what is that one thing this dancer still dreams of achieving? ?There are two things. I want to choreograph a few Bollywood numbers using Manipuri dance and Thang ta and I want to work with Madonna at least once,? smiles Bhattacharya.