About Uday Shankar (08.12.1900 – 26.09.1977)
‘A great Indian Dancer’ – Manchester
Guardian, 22 Feb 1937
Uday Shankar ushered in a new era
of Indian dance. He choreographed
and performed innumerable new dances, created in his own style.
He lifted the art of Indian dance to a level of universal recognition.
As early as April 1934 the Manchester Guardian reports:
“The chief dancer, Uday Shan-Ker, is a noble appearance. He can move with the lightness of wind. When he would represent a snake his arms seem to have a thousand joints, so sinuously do they imitate its movements. Every muscle in his body seems to be at his command.”
‘Hindu Dancer Uday Shan-Ker at
the Comedy Theatre’ – Manchester Guardian, April 21, 1934.
Uday Shankar was born on 8th
December 1900 at Udaipur, Rajasthan, the eldest son of Hemangini Devi and Pt.
Shyam Shankar Hara Choudhury. Uday’s
younger brothers were Rajendra, Devendra and Pt. Ravi Shankar, the Sitar
Maestro.
Though Pt. Shyam Shankar Choudhury
was a barrister and an educationist, his eldest son was not particularly
interested in studies. As a child,
Uday was more keen on painting and so, he was sent to Royal College of Art,
London, in 1920. The Principal of
the Art College, Sir William Rothenstein found tremendous talent in young Uday
and arranged for him to visit the British Museum – encouraging him to go
through the section on India, specially Indian’s paintings and sculptures.
It was during this period in London that Uday was inspired by the wealth
of India’s culture.
Uday
Shankar also performed at society events (including a garden party attended by
HMH George V), but it was not until his meeting with Anna Pavlova in 1921 that
he took up the art form on a more professional level. In spite of a lack of formal training in Indian dance,
Shankar performed with Pavlova, choreographing ‘Krishna and Radha’ (in which
he played Krishna to Pavlova’s Radha) and ‘A Hindu Wedding’ for her.
The production ran, to considerable acclaim, in September 1924 at the
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Within less than a decade Shankar left Pavlova to pursue independent projects with his own cast of dancers. After leaving Pavlova, Uday Shankar went through a period of struggle in trying to establish himself. In 1926, Uday met a Swiss lady, Alice Boner, who sponsored his subsequent plans. They came to India in 1929 and travelled all over the country. His first troupe at the time consisted of his three brothers, cousin Kanakalata and her father Kedar Shankar Choudhury, Timir Baran, Annada Bhattacharya, Brojobehari Banerjee, Simkie and Vishnudass Shirali. As they rehearsed for their first show in Paris, Uday’s mother was included in the troupe to look after the household.
In 1931, Uday Shankar met Amala Nandi and her father,
Akhoy Kumar Nandi who were visiting Paris for an exhibition of Indian Jewellery
and Handicrafts. Amala Nandi joined
the troupe for a short tour to Europe.
Between 1929 and 1933, Shankar researched Indian dance,
viewing different styles in India and eventually studying Kathakali with Guru
Shankarayan Namboodiri. At the same
time he was evolving his own style, choreographing new pieces and developing his
own approaches to training. With
financial support from well wishers like Elmhurst of Darlington, he set up his
school in the name of ‘Uday Shankar India Cultural Centre’ in Almora, India.
He devised his own method of training, which included essentials such as
concentration, observation, imagination and improvisation. Amongst the staff,
there were renowned gurus such as, Ustad Alauddin Khan Sahib (classical music),
Guru Shankaran Nambudri (Kathakali), Guru Amobi Singh (Manipuri) and Guru
Kandappa Pillai (Bharatanatyam). In 1944, he made a legendary film ‘Kalpana’.
Uday Shankar married Amala Nandi
on March 8, 1942 and Ananda
Shankar was born to them on 11th December 1942 at Almora.
On
7th January 1955, Mamta
Shankar was born in Calcutta.
Between 1950 and 1968, Uday Shankar travelled extensively
all over the world with his troupe. His
enchanting style of dance delighted audience wherever he performed.
It was Uday Shankar who revolutionised the art of
stage-presentation in India. He was
not only a dancer and choreographer, but also a genius of the age, it must be
kept in mind that Uday Shankar never formally learnt any classical form of
dance. Yet, he was the pioneer in
creating a new ‘GHARANA’ of stage presentation, which is followed by
millions of artistes, big or small. Any
stage or dance presentation in India that deviates from the pure traditional and
classical forms is an offshoot of Uday Shankar’s style.
We must remember that Uday Shankar was the father of “Indian Ballet”
and the person who brought contemporary dance to India and Indian dance to the
world.
About his own work, Uday Shankar
said: “My innovation, if I may put it so, lay in creating an altogether new
technique which was no less important than the previous ones of the older
schools. I always seek in my
dancers, simplicity, power and beauty.”
Uday Shankar, quoted in The Great Shankars: Uday and Ravi, Dibyendu Ghosh,
e.d Calcutta, 1983.
Between 1930 and 1970 he
choreographed nearly 90 new dance pieces:
1930
Indra, Radha Krishna, Sword Dance, Gandharva, Shiva
Tandava,
Snanum, Astra Puja, Kartikeya, Rhythm of Life.
1940
Ram Leela (dance in shadow), Kirat Arjuna, Labour &
Machinery,
Surya Puja, Bidai.
1950
Nirakshan, Lord Buddha, Assam Impression.
1960
Samanya Kshati, Prakriti and Ananda
1970
Shankarscope
Uday Shankar remains a pioneering
force for South Asian dance in Britain. As
the first Indian dancer to engage the British public, Shankar made crucial. Famous music directors who composed music for Uday
Shankar:
