Ellora Patnaik

Early life

She was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the first child of her parents, Promod and Chitralekha Patnaik; she is seven years older than her sibling Devraj Patnaik. Her parents were born in the state of Orissa (now Odisha), India, and emigrated to Canada in the 1960s. Patnaik made numerous trips to India with her family in her youth.

Her parents soon moved to Oakville, Ontario, and then to Burlington, Ontario, where she attended M. M. Robinson High School.

In 1986, she was selected for training by (late) Padmabibhusan Kelucharan Mohapatra, and went to study at the Odissi Research Centre in Orissa, India.

Dance training

Patnaik first and primary dance guru was her mother, who began training her as an Odissi dancer from a very young age. She has also received training from such notables as (late) Padmashri Pankaj Charan Das, (late) Padmabibhusan Kelucharan Mohapatra, Padmashri Sanjukta Panigrahi and Padmashri Gangadhar Pradhan.

Acting

She attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts from 1992 to 1994 and was a member of the company in her third year.

In 2009, she played Jyoti Mehta, Indie Mehta's mother, in the Canadian television series How to Be Indie on YTV, she filmed another season in 2010.

Odissi dance teacher

Patnaik has taught Odissi dance since the mid-1980s. In the early 1990s, she took over as the executive director of the Chitralekha Dance Academy.