Aruna Mohanty is a senior disciple of Guru Gnagadhar Pradhan and an established dancer of Orissa. She has also received training from Guru Kelucharan mohapatra. She first made a mark in the early 1980s and gained fame for her duet performances with Nandita Patnaik, another leding disciple of her guru. An accomplished soloist, she has a fine grasp of dance technique and maturity in abhinaya.