Uday Shankar Chowdhury

Uday Shankar Uday Shankar is one the most well-known Indian fil >> Read More... Chowdhary was an eminent dancer and choreographer born on 8 December 1900 in Udaipur, Rajasthan. His father, Shyam Shankar Chowdhary was a distinguished barrister and was granted a title of “Harchowdhary” by the Maharajas. His mother, Hemangini Devi was a descendent from a Zamindari family. He was born as the eldest son in a Brahmin family, and her younger brothers were Debendra Shankar, Rajendra Shankar A famous Indian screenwriter and dialogue writer R >> Read More... , Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar is a music director cum programmer in >> Read More... , and Bhupendra Shankar. Uday Shankar’s schooling had taken place at different places including Gazipur, Jhalawar, Nasratpur, and Varanasi. He has learnt music and photography at his Gazipur School from his Drawing and Crafts teacher Ambika Charan Mukhopaddhay. In 1917, he began formal art training in Mumbai, and after two years, he moved to London and studied at Royal College of Art, London. He was most widely known for creating a revolutionary fusion of European theatrical techniques with folk and classical dance forms of India.

This dance was later named “Creative dance”. While living in London, he got introduced to ballet and got the idea of fusion. He danced with famous Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova during the 1920s and created two different dances, Hindu Wedding and the duet Radha and Krishna. He returned to India in 1929 and formed his dance troupe. In 1930, the troupe toured Europe and regularly appeared in the United States from 1932 until the 1960s. He also invited some of the foremost potents of different dance forms to teach in the school. After opening his school, he moved to Paris in 1931 and collaborated with one of his adherent, Alice Boner and established the first Indian dance company in Europe. After closely working with Alice Boner, he started a series of dance performances at the Champs Elysees theatre in Paris, which took him to various parts of Europe and America and forged a path for his seven years of tour. He and his troupe performed in around 84 cities across the States. In 1938, he launched his dance and drama school, “Uday Shankar India Culture Centre” in Almora, Uttaranchal. Rabindranath Tagore has played a significant role in shaping his mind and encouraging him to establish the dance school to benefit thousands of aspiring dancers. Though it was closed during World War II World War II is a Malayalam information TV show on >> Read More... , it reopened in Kolkata in 1965. Uday Shankar with his brother Ravi Shankar, prominent Sitar player, explored folk and classical dances and created dance dramas with powerful social comments.

In 1948, he wrote, directed, and produced India’s first movie with classical dancers in the lead role, named “ Kalpana ‘Kalpana’ is a family drama series which was direc >> Read More... ”. Shooting for the movie took place in the well-known Gemini Studios, Chennai, for over five years. In 1976, a documentary was produced on India’s celebrated Bharatnatyam dancer Balasaraswati, named “ Bala Click to look into! >> Read More... ”, directed by Satyajit Ray Biographies reveal bare details about the maverick >> Read More... . In this documentary, Uday Shankar has spoken about his association with Balasaraswati and how she inspired him as a dancer. He was honoured with many awards and recognitions for his impeccable achievements. In 1960, he was awarded with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his extraordinary creation of “creative dance”. In 1962, he received the highest honour given by the National Academy of Dance, Music, and Drama i.e. Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, which was regarded as his lifetime achievement. In 1971, he became the awardee of India’s second-highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan. In 1975, he was awarded the highest honour- Desikottam, bestowed by the Visva- Bharati University.