Fond of dancing since a very young age, Piyali Ghosh is running a cultural institution where she teaches Odissi dance to her students. She believes that learning classical dance enlightens a person’s life.

Piyali Ghosh is an Odissi dancer. She has also been running an institution to promote our culture in children for the last 25 years.

Piyali was born in Ranchi, Jharkhand but later shifted to Bardhaman in West Bengal. She has done her master's in literature and is now doing a government job as a teacher. Apart from being an academic teacher, she is also continuing her journey as a dance teacher.

Piyali shares that her dance journey started at a very early age. Her family was very supportive of any kind of cultural activities, she says.

Describing her challenges, Piyali says that before her 10th, she used to learn Kathak and Manipuri dance forms. But after 10th, when Piyali decided to shift to Odissi, a completely different dance form, she faced a lot of challenges. Another challenge that is very common for an Indian dancer to face is the questions of society. However, she overcame all the challenges and became a successful Odissi dancer.

When asked about her mistakes, Piyali says that she made the mistake of not finding a professional trainer in the early phase of her journey. Her first five years were not so progressive due to lack of training, she says.

Sharing her achievements, Piyali says that her continued work has got her a lot of students which is an accomplishment for her. Getting several prizes, performing in festivals, and being treated as a celebrity at times are also accomplishments. She has also been listed as an empanelled artist by the Ministry of culture,

Talking about her role models, Piyali says she considers her mother as the biggest role model in her life. Her mother has always taught her to continue working. Despite any difficulty or success, you should never stop working, her mother would say. Also, she considers her guru her role model whose philosophy enlightened her life, she says.

In her free time, she loves reading books and traveling.