Sonal Mansingh has lived a charmed life, her passion for dance rivalled only by her passion for life. This book attempts to understand the woman and the artist behind the celebrated persona. What emerges is a portrait of a beautiful, sensuous woman who was perhaps years ahead of her time, whose life has been as tempestuous as it has been path-breaking, as fascinating as it has been heartbreaking. Sonal Mansingh is widely adored, not just as a classical dancer with a legacy that spans three dance forms?Bharatanatyam, Odissi and Chhau?but also as an exemplary choreographer, teacher, composer, scholar with immense knowledge of the classical arts, and above all, a true friend. As a result, this book is as much about the contemporary history of India?s classical arts as it is a deeply personal biography.