(Photo courtesy of Sam Fink)

To his closest friends and colleagues, 34-year-old Amarnath Ghosh could be described in one word, “intensity.” From his gratitude for life, empathy towards others, passion for dance, and curiosity to learn, Ghosh is remembered by his commitment to giving his all to everything he did. 

Ghosh was in his final year as an Master of Fine Arts (MFA) student studying dance in Washington University’s Performing Arts Department (PAD) when he was killed on Feb. 27, near the Third Degree Glass Factory on Delmar Blvd, just a few months shy of completing his degree. 

Originally from Suri, in West Bengal, India, Ghosh dedicated his life to the study and performance of dance. After graduating from the Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai and studying dance at the Kuchipudi Art Academy, he became an expert in a range of Indian dance styles, including Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, Manipuri and Kathak. 

In India, Ghosh received accolades for his work from the International Dance and Music Festival in New Delhi and the International Cultural Ministry in India. He came to St. Louis to study dance at WashU, where he expanded on previous skills and began to study other forms such as ballet, modern, jazz, and dance history. 

David Marchant, ​Professor of Practice in Dance, described Ghosh as a unique human being and student. 

“He had such a purity of joy and enthusiasm and openness to learning new things,” Marchant said. “He was completely, unselfishly there and giving for everyone else.” 

Ghosh was in an MFA student cohort with Emily Duggins Ehling and Carol Gonsalves Bertho, who saw him as someone who “lit up the world around him.”

Ehling and Bertho recounted the tight-knit bond they all formed even before Ghosh came to America, saying that they had a group chat where Ghosh would refer to them as his sisters.

“From the beginning we were a family, the three of us,” Ehling said. “We were so overjoyed, having him there. The three of us together made the cohort complete.”  

Ehling described him as caring, kind, and funny, the type of person who always wanted to know how they were doing. She said she was also struck by his excitement to learn. 

“I think he always wanted to learn something new and every single thing that he learned was the most exciting thing to him,” she said. “Every day in class there was something that would make him say, ‘Wow, this was beautiful.’”

Bertho said that Ghosh was unashamed to show his gratitude for his education.

“What I remember the most was how grateful he was in every class, how he was not ashamed of thanking every professor as many times as he felt that he could,” Bertho said. 

Already familiar with the art of performing when he came to America, Ghosh continued to take the stage by dancing at events like the prestigious American College Dance Association (ACDA) 2023 National Dance Festival and the Battery Dance Festival. 

Of his performance at Battery Dance, the Tribeca Trib described Ghosh’s performance as gifted. 

“[His] performance was notable for its remarkable dynamic range: lightning footwork with diamond-sharp rhythmic attack counterposed with fluid arm gestures, painting the sky as the sun set, and a final pose with hands clasped in prayer, eyes and arms directed upward at the heavens, with one leg bent underneath, the other fully extended on the floor,” the article read. 

Marchant recalled traveling to California with Ghosh last year for his performance in the ACDA show, saying it was an honor.

“He performed for dancers, professionals, people who really know dance, and he was electrifying,” Marchant said. “The audience recognized immediately what they were seeing — something truly rare. In every performance he gave, he received an uproarious standing ovation.” 

As a second-year MFA student, Ghosh spent the year both taking classes in the Performing Arts Department and teaching undergraduate students. 

Joanna Das, who was Ghosh’s advisor as well as the Director of Graduate Studies of MFA Program in Dance, said that it was a pleasure to watch him teach.

“He just was such a clear communicator,” Das said. “He was funny, he understood the students, and he was just a master at art forms, but he also was just so good at teaching them to people, even if they had zero context or background.”

Das spoke of Ghosh’s commitment to teaching, saying that he not only taught his required undergraduate classes but also held informal classes for graduate students in other disciplines and led online classes for students back in India. 

“He would wake up at 4 a.m. every morning, teach Zoom classes, come here and do his full day of classes, in the evening he would teach class again to the grad students, it was incredible,” Das said. 

Marchant described his teaching style as one that put students at ease.

“He just had this infectious joy and sense of humor about it, even though what he’s teaching is incredibly difficult and he was a master at it; when he was in the room with someone brand new, he made them feel like they could do it,” Marchant said. 

Ghosh’s colleagues, who became his close friends, said that he brought light and joy to the department. 

“He was so grateful to be in America, to be in this program, to learn the things he was learning,” Bertho said. “He was living a dream, he would tell us how he loved everything that he was doing here.” 

Ehling said that she really admired how Ghosh connected with the people he met.

“He valued every single person he came across for what they could teach him and what they could bring to him,” Ehling said. “He was so humble that every person with him, ever, felt valued, because he wanted to be with you and that was the most important thing.” 

Bertho said that Ghosh left his mark for who he was — a wonderful person and a great performer with a strong personality. 

“When [international students] get to America, I see a lot of people trying to fit in here and they change themselves, how they think, to be here,” Bertho said. “He was genuine in where he came from and how he thought about the world. He worked hard to understand America and how he could fit in here, but as himself. That’s something I’m going to take with me.” 

Ghosh was scheduled to perform in a concert for graduating MFA students as a culmination of his work over the past two years at the end of the month. In preparation for the event, he made a short film depicting some of his dances centering around Rabindranath Tagore’s collection of songs, “Seasons of Life.” Das said that the Performing Arts Department plans to show Ghosh’s work on his final project at the event on March 22 and 23.