Uday Shankar Biography In English Pdf Life Story 1900-1977

• Uday Shankar was an Indian dancer and choreographer, known for creating a fusion style of dance
• Indian classical dance adopted European theatrical techniques, influenced by elements of Indian classical, folk and tribal dance.

Birth Details –

Place – Udaipur, Rajasthan

Date of Birth – 8 December 1900

Marital Status – Married

Nationality – Indian

Family –

Mother – Hemangini Devi

Father- Shyam Shankar Chowdhary

Brothers – Rajendra Shankar, Debendra Shankar, Bhupendra Shankar and Ravi Shankar

Wife- Amala Shankar

Son – Anand Shankar

Daughter- Mamta Shankar

Early Life –

• Uday Shankar Chowdhury was born in Udaipur, Rajasthan, the eldest son of a Brahmin family that originated in Narail (present-day Bangladesh).
• His father Shyam Shankar Chowdhury, a noted barrister, was employed with the Maharaja of Jhalawar in Rajasthan at the time of his eldest son’s birth, and his mother Hemangini Devi came from a zamindari family.
• Uday’s younger brothers were Rajendra Shankar, Debendra Shankar, Bhupendra Shankar and Ravi Shankar.

• In 1918, at the age of eighteen, he was awarded J.J. School of Art and then was sent to Mumbai for training at Gandharva Mahavidyalaya.

• By now Shyam Shankar had resigned from his post in Jhalawar and had gone to London. Here he married an English woman and practiced law, introducing Indian dance and music to Britain, before becoming an amateur impresario.

Personal Life –

• Uday is Ravi Shankar’s elder brother. He married his dance partner, Amala Shankar, and together they had a son, Anand Shankar, born in 1942, and a daughter, Mamta Shankar, born in 1955.
• With his uncle, Ravi Shankar, and over time became known for his fusion music, which incorporated both European and Indian musical styles.
• Mamta Shankar, a dancer like her parents, became a famous actress working in the films of Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen.
• She also runs ‘Udayan Dance Company’ in Kolkata, and travels widely across the world.

Career –

• Uday Shankar has not taken formal training in any Indian classical dance. Nevertheless, his presentations were creative.
• From a young age, she was exposed to both Indian classical dance and folk dance as well as ballet during her stay in Europe.
• He decided to bring elements of both styles together to create a new dance, which he called High-Dance.
• Shankar returned to India in 1927 with a French pianist, Simon Barbier, who was now his disciple and dance partner, and a Swiss sculptor, Alice Bonner, who wanted to study Indian art history.
• He was welcomed by Rabindranath Tagore himself, who also persuaded him to open a performing arts school in India.

• On his return to Paris in 1931, he founded Europe’s first Indian dance company with Alice Bonner, who by now had become one of his disciples.
• In 1938, he made India his base, and established the ‘Uday Shankar India Cultural Centre’ at Simtola, 3 km from Almora in the Uttarakhand Himalayas
• Uday Shankar settled in Ballygunge, Kolkata in 1960, where the “Uday Shankar Center for Dance” was opened in 1965.

Awards –

• 1960 – Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
• 1962 – Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship
• 1971 – Padma Vibhushan
• 1975 -Deshikottama, Vishwabharati University

other information –

Date of Death – 26 September 1977

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