September 27, 2008 7:00 pm Indian classical-folk fusion dance was born in the 1920s, in Bengal, India, under the patronage of India’s Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore.

It has grown greatly in popularity since its inception and is now an internationally acclaimed dance-form. This style blends contrasting classical Indian dances with elements of various Indian folk dances to create a unique and truly ‘Pan-Indian’ style. The philosophy behind this dance is inclusiveness, and it welcomes participants from all national, cultural and religious backgrounds. 
‘Notinee’ (an Indian word meaning ‘The Dancer’) is the first dance-group to bring this dance style to Alabama. Its founder, Bisakha ‘Pia’ Sen, grew up in India and started training in dance when she was 6 yrs old. She had numerous stage and TV performances to her credit, and was earning recognition as a choreographer, when she moved to USA in 1992 to pursue a PhD in economics. She continued to regularly perform, choreograph and teach dance, and has performed in many large cities in USA as well as in London, UK. In 2002 Pia moved to Alabama with a faculty position at UAB. In 2006, she officially established Notinee. Notinee embodies the inclusive spirit of this dance-form, and we describe ourseleves as “a very international dance-troupe that performs a uniquely Indian dance form.” The main student-troupe includes members from 4 different continents, with the age-range going from less than 12 years to the mid-40s, and there is also an extremely diverse children’s group. Notinee members regularly perform in most major International and Indian dance festivals in Alabama, and have also participated in major dance events in Georgia, Florida and Ohio.