Roosha Mandal
Instructor - Bharatanatyam & Navanritya
Roosha Mandal has been training in Bharatanatyam for the past 13 years and Navanritya for the past 7 years at the Nandanik Dance Academy. As an assistant instructor from 8 years ago she has blossomed into a regular instructor teaching the junior levels for the last 5 years. In India, Roosha attended master classes under Gurus Kalamandalam Venkitt and Preetha Venkitt of Calcutta. In addition, she has completed workshops under Guru Dr. Sonal Mansingh in Abhinaya (expressions), Sanjib Bhattacharya in Chhau and Manipuri, Padmashree Guru Darshana Javeri in Manipuri, and Pavitra Bhat and Sucharita Sharma in Bharatanatyam. Roosha also underwent rigorous training in jazz-lyrical, modern, ballet and hip-hop dance at the Thomas Studio of Performing Arts and The Academy of Dance by Lori for several years and performed these dance forms in annual recitals. In 2012-13, she completed an intensive apprenticeship program at Kelly-Strayhorn Theater in contemporary dance with renowned travelling companies. Roosha has used her versatile dancing skills in the Confluence, collaborating with local dance organizations like MillerDance and Afrika Yetu.
Over the years, Roosha travelled with Nandanik Dance Academy and Troupe to perform in different corners of the USA such as Raleigh, Dallas, Houston, Baltimore, New York, New Jersey, Huntington, Parkersburg, Meadville, Johnstown, Columbus, and Weirton. She played key roles in the Nandanik dance productions such Prakriti, Card Country, Shyama, Chitrangada, Raja, and Tomari Matir Konya. She has performed in many international festivals - the Three-Rivers Regatta, Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, Western PA School for the Blind, Phipps Conservatory, Bayer International, Pittsburgh International Folk Festival, India Day, Bengali Association of Pittsburgh, North American Bengali Conference, and at numerous schools and colleges in the Greater Pittsburgh area through the World Affairs Council. She also taught Indian dance to children in a summer camp at the Thelma Lovett YMCA in Pittsburgh in 2015.
Roosha is also trained in Hindustani classical music under Srimati Nidrita Mitra-Sinha and Rabindrasangeet (Tagore songs) under Srimati Banani Ghosh. Roosha played the viola for seven years as part of the middle and high school string orchestra. A true artist at heart she also excelled in the literary art form, having published poetry in statewide student anthologies and winning poetry competitions. She is an active fundraiser for the Light the Night Walk organized by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of western PA. An avid community leader, Roosha has volunteered several hours as a Teen docent at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and as a physician's shadow at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Hillman Cancer Center in Pittsburgh.
Roosha is a freshman in the Sciences and Humanities Scholar program and a recipient of the Jack G. Buncher Memorial Presidential Scholarship at the Carnegie Mellon University. In her free time, Roosha enjoys making bracelets, knitting, origami, crafting with her little sister, and reading.