Susmita Bhatacharya, a well known Indian Classical Dancer and an Artistic Director, Founder Of Payal Kathak Joy, who has been performing for more than 30 years in India, USA and in Canada. Susmita, a Gold Medalist in Indian Classical Dance, Kathak directs and produces dance productions and performances with the help of the local best talented performers in the Bay area to help local communities grow with their cultural need, requirements, programs and celebrations.

PAYAL KATHAK JOY provides Susmita with the best opportunity to teach young children and adults Indian Classical Dance and this brings her the utmost joy seeing talented performers performing on stage and creating enriched cultural environment. Beautiful choreography and the artistic direction carefully created allow her to bring rich cultural heritage of India all the way to the land of United States.

Susmita, a Gold Medalist in Indian Classical Dance - KATHAK, has choreographed many eclectic collection of dance items, each unique in its own way. She combines the grace and elegant beauty of Indian Classical dances along with the dynamic and powerful rhythms and speed of Kathak Dance. She has produced and directed many dance productions like 'Nritya Tarang', 'Sur-Chand', 'Nritya-Chanda' where Bay area's best dancers have performed and brought power of dancing on stage making beautiful waves of dances patterned with rhythm and speed. Next production is ‘Nritya Prem’.

Susmita's incredible artistic creation - "The Bridge" where dance items are on Western Symphony music, Latin music combining Indian Classical dance moves along with Tap. She has performed in the west for many different Community Organizations, Charity Organizations, Social Service Organization, Universities, Community College –EVC, San Jose Public Library, San Jose County Office. Susmita has been very successful at bridging the grandeur of Western Classical and Latin Music with the grace and power of Indian Classical Dance. Payal Kathak Joy's performances show this aspect of Indian Classical Dancing in a great deal where dancers perform with total energy, devotion and dedication.

Susmita's very recent artistic venture - "Soulful Musical Stretching" is a creative expression of musical meditation joy, an artistic freedom through musically enriched and empowered graceful stretching movements help making the 'mind-body- soul' connections bringing our inner strength, mindfulness and emotional positive energy to the present moment, musical mediation presence experiencing the power of musical meditation journey joy.

Susmita has also performed in Bengali Dramas locally and in India. One of her most important cultural goal was to direct a Drama. Her dream and her passion theme was always 'Swami Vivekananda'. Dream became a true reality with this project when she joined her local friends Sushmita Datta, Sumona Bagchi and many other talented Bay Area young artists to take this artistic idea to a realistic venture doing a drama on this great Indian leader - Swami Vivekananda and to spread his great message “Service for Humanity is Service to God” to the next generation, our children and for the community as well as for herself. Susmita thinks this project became her life time dream came true. Not enough words to appreciate this very precious moment at present, according to Susmita, with this project, she has reached the peak of her philosophical and spiritual journey where she considers this as one of her biggest cultural achievement to realize ‘Jivey Puja Koray jejon, shejon shevichey Ishwar’--- THE MANTRA SHE BELIEVES IN AND PRACTICES --- ALL THE TIME --- ‘Serving Mankind is serving God’.

Susmita, an Electrical Engineer working for Silicon Valley Corporate Giant, Global Engineering Program Manager and a mother of an angel daughter and a dear wife who maintains a very busy schedule balancing between family, work, dance, performances, rehearsals and the community volunteering services. Susmita enjoys doing cultural projects and productions where she works with a great team bringing artistic creativity - a reality on stage with the help of a very talented pool of people who are extremely helpful and supportive, great performers and excellent audience. She was the coordinator and the Opening Ceremony Director for a huge convention called NABC, North American Bengali Conference held in SF in the year 1999. Close to five thousand people attended this conference in the heart of Silicon Valley at Santa Clara Convention Center.

Susmita appreciates and thanks everyone for their tremendous help and kind support. She wishes all her friends and family members the very best. Susmita considers all this as God's blessings and she THANKS her family, her husband, her angel daughter, dearest parents and in-laws, her family members and dear friends and co-workers for their guidance and teachings which lead her to be the person she is today. It is all because of them her life journey path becomes a beautiful reality with dreams come true. She is so very fortunate and blessed for this wonderful gift, God's blessings indeed --- making her life journey a wonderful experience that she treasures every second and every moment, she is ever thankful and ever grateful. Musical journey with soulful global connection in today’s world reaching far beyond where sky is no longer a limit, rather it is indeed ‘Beyond Cloud’.