Shalini Basu began her Odissi training at the age of eight under Dr. Kaustavi Sarkar in Columbus, Ohio, where rigorous practice was paired with an early invitation to think critically about movement, storytelling, and cultural context. Performing across the state and around the country with her Guru, she developed not only a deep love for the stage but also a sustained curiosity about the form itself—how it travels, how it changes, and how it reflects the worlds dancers move through.

Her devotion to Odissi has been recognized at the national level, including being named a National YoungArts winner in 2021. Recent performances include the Odissi Odyssey Conference (UNC Charlotte, 2025) and the Nitya Nritya Festival in Salt Lake City (2025), platforms that highlight both her technical grounding and her evolving artistic voice.

Shalini’s work is animated by a desire to understand people and the human condition. Dance and academia, for her, are inseparable—two lenses through which she studies humanity and communicates her own questions. She hopes to continue this path toward a Ph.D. in Dance Anthropology, shaping research that can live not just on the page but through performance.

Much of her inspiration comes from her Guru as well as her own experience straddling the cultural worlds of the East and the West. This duality fuels her artistic inquiries, particularly around identity, aesthetics, and the stories women carry. Alongside her dance practice, she works in immigration law, a field deeply personal to her and closely tied to the themes of belonging and transition that emerge in her art.

In the coming year, Shalini will expand her Honors Thesis piece exploring the dissonance South Asian women face within Western beauty standards—continuing her commitment to telling complex, resonant stories through Odissi