Awards and Achievements

Dr. Daisy Walia

• Founder of the Deptt.
• Awards-3 Best Criticism Literary Book awards from 1984 to 1986
• Vocational excellence & distinguished teacher award by Rotary Club.
• Award of Honour for outstanding contribution in the promotion of Youth Activities by Punjabi University, Patiala from 1997 to 2004.
• Certificates & appreciation letters from India & Abroad.
• Appreciation letter by Ex. Prime Minister Sh. Atal Behari Vajpayee to then V.C. for the Choreography of Ballet Kal Aaj Aur Kal Composed by Dr. Daisy Walia based on the poetry of Sh. Atal Behari Vajpayee.
• Students of Dr. Daisy Walia have been intervarsity National Winners for 9 times & North Zone intervarsity winners for 13 times.
• Directed and choreographed various Dance performances at USSR, Dubai, England, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, South Africa, Pakistan, Singapore, Malaysia, Canada, France, Holland and Belgium.
• Choreographed a dance performance on 11th August, 1997 at the stage of UNO Geneva, Switzerland where more than 1000 delegates from more than 100 countries witnessed the Programme.

Dr. Indira Bali

• UGC/NET qualified / Gold medalist.
• Was honored by the Principal Secretary to Governor of Punjab (Sh. M.P. Singh), the Director NZCC and the Director SZCC for the National choreographic assignment of 200 Artistes at 'Salangai Natham 'Festival 2008-09 at Tanjavor (Tamil Nadu) in March, 2009.
• Was honored by the Governor/Chief Administrator of Lakshadweep, Sh. A.K. Dadoo for the National Choreographic assignment of more than 200 Artistes at 'Attolu Eidu' in November, 2009
• Was honored by the Chief Minister of Punjab Sh. Parkash Singh Badal for the performance of the Punjabi Play 'Sirhind de diwar' at Badal College in June, 2010.
• Is member of CID (International Dance Council) under UNESCO since 2004, 'AAHPERD' / ICHPER-SD (American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sports and Dance) based at Virginia USA. Her research paper on Classical Dance and Aerobics has been accepted for publication in the Journal.
• Was invited to conduct Dance movement workshop at 'Salsburg' (Austria) in August, 2006 and also performed at Beck Theatre, London in September, 2009.
• Has been invited to present paper at Italy, Spain in February, 2011.
• Is a national level Choreographer, Theatre Artiste, T.V. Artiste, Singer and Anchor.

Dr. Simmi

• M.A. Dance Gold Medalist, Nritya Bhaskar.
• NET Qualified.
• Written three books and three under publication, eight research Papers & 12 entries in World Children Encyclopedia, 13 Articles.
• Organized and choreographed for national and international conference.
• Member of Board of Studies Punjabi University in the year 2008-09.
• Guiding two students for writing synopsis to enroll in Ph.D.
• Participated in an International SAARC Youth Festival held at Jammu in 2008.
• Honored as Judge at Kalyani University in the East Zone Youth Festival 'Unifest".

Dr. Aarohi Walia

• UGC/NET qualified / Gold Medalist.
• Chancellors medal for excellence in co-curricular activities for the session 2001-02 from Punjabi University, Patiala.
• Patiala Rattan Award by Punjab Writers Forum in 2001.
• NYCA Eminent Youth Artistes Award 2000-01 by Navyug Youth Cultural Association, New Delhi.
• Appreciation Letter from Deputy Commissioner, Mansa for the Excellent Contribution of Kathak Training given to 64 students of D.A.V. Centenary Public High School, Mansa.Certificate of Appreciation for Valuable Participation in Tapestry 06 in 2006 from Indian High School, Dubai.
• 14 Gold Medals for standing First in different cultural activities in the Inter Zonal University/National Inter University, Youth Festivals organized by AIU.
• 5 Silver Medals for standing IInd in different cultural activities in the Inter Zonal University, Youth Festivals organized by AIU.
• Performed on 11th August, 1997 at the stage of UNO Geneva, Switzerland where more than 1000 delegates from more than 100 countries witnessed the Programme.
• Performed at Dubai, England, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Botswana, South Africa, Pakistan, Singapore, Malaysia.

Dr. Dipanwita S. Roy

• Award of the National Scholarship to young artistes from the Dept. of Culture, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India.
• Sangeet Ratna from BANGIYA SANGEET PARISHAD, KOLKATA.
• Grade A from Doordanrshan Delhi.
• Critical analysis of the National Festival of Kathak Dance 2009 by prepared a Report on it.
• Refresher attended-1 on Tagore & Performing Arts in Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata.
• Was deputed by the Indian Council for Culture relations to represent India as a Kathak Performer to South Korea, Japan and Vietnam from 29-09-08 to 31-10-08. She was deputed for this assignment through proper channel on duty leave.

Staff with Foreign Exposure

• Dr. Daisy Walia
• Dr. Indira Bali
• Dr. Aarohi Walia
• Dr. Dipanwita S.Roy

Students Achievements

UGC/NET qualified

• Aarohi Walia - Dec, 2007
• Mansi Saxena Dec, 2007
• Anju Miglani June, 2010
• Harmeet June, 2010

Gold/Silver Medal Achievements at National intervarsity Youth Festival in Classical Dance as well as theatre & music activities.

• Aarohi Walia 2002-03-04
• Morley Puri 2000-01
• Micky Verma 2002-03
• Mansi Saxena 2003-04
• Karishma 2006
• Vishal 2007
• Shruti 2008

State & National level Achievements of Students

The department's faculty members and students have been contributing in a big way towards this activity which is organized at Interstate and National level by AIU. Since the inception of the department in 2000, the students have been winning laurels for the department as well as the University in All India national level by winning consecutively for the last ten years gold/silver medals and Dance Trophies at All India Inter University Youth Festival Competitions conducted by Association of Indian Universities, thus projecting the cultural richness of Punjabi University at national level.

The students of department of dance contribute in reflecting the cultural ambiance & healthy practices of the university youth community through their performances during various National & International conferences, seminars, symposiums etc. for all the National & International delegates from time to time. The NACC teams & other UGC teams which have visited Punjabi University have highly appreciated the Academic and professional skills of the students and their output within the existing limited resources.

• The Sufiana Kathak composition of Dr. Daisy Walia, based on the poetry of 'Bulle Shah' was highly appreciated by the Indian and Foreign delegates in number of National and International conferences in 2010.
• The Sufiana Kathak composition of Dr. Indira Bali, based on the poetry of 'Bulle Shah ' and 'Prof. Tara Singh' was highly appreciated by the National and International delegates especially the delegates from Pakistan on the eve of International Punjabi conference in April/May, 2008 and September, 2009.
• The Folk compositions of Dr. Aarohi Walia, based on the poetry of eminent Punjabi Singers like 'Pind de Gali', 'Mahia' and 'Mirza Sahiba' was highly appreciated by the National and International delegates especially Mr. Marwaha, NRI delegate from USA in October, 2010.
• The Sufiana Kathak composition and presentation of Dr. Dipanwita S. Roy, based on the poetry of 'Shah Hussian' was highly appreciated by National and International delegated in the Punjabi Conference in September, 2009.

Thus the department of Dance has proactively contributed in preserving and promoting the culture and heritage of Punjab and India on all platforms

Future Plans

The department began with only one course of M.A. in Dance in 2000 with 20 seats and at the present moment there are three more courses being run wherein B.A(hons) school in dance was started in 2006, M.Phil has been started since sep. 2010 along with PhD course work in sep. 2010, thus the combined student intake has increased from 40 to 120.

• Keeping in view the future needs of Academic excellence and research requirements, the department plans to set up a departmental library as per the demands of the students.
• As part of research analysis and teaching, the department plans to provide computer with internet facility to all the faculty members and set up a projector & video room for viewing and listing to Audio-video tapes etc.
• The faculty members have been making efforts to bring in research projects in the field of Dance specific to folk dances of Punjab.
• The department is continuing to collaborate with ICCR to recommend foreign students desirous of learning/joining classical dance Kathak courses to seek admission at department of dance, Punjabi University, Patiala.
• In the year 2007 on student exchange programme around 20 students from Singapore were given training in Folk Dance of Punjab in collaboration with department of Youth Welfare, in continuation of this process the department has designed 3 months certificate course in Folk Dances of Punjab for Indian & International students as part of Culture exchange programmes with Foreign Universities and Institutions and also ICCR (for want of funds this ambitious project has been delayed).
• The department has ambitious plans to organize international conferences by inviting international Dance experts, Professional Artistes and Dance Gurus and Academic experts and professional Artists of international repute from India. However it becomes difficult for the department to invite such highly paid Artistes and therefore holding such conferences has not been initiated.
• The Department plans to organise an annual feature to hold one National Level Dance Festival every year to promote the Indian Danes.