Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c11.s2.t9: Uday Shankar
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c11.s2.t9
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Uday Shankar
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Uday Shankar (December 8, 1900 - September 26, 1977) was an Indian dancer and choreographer. He was good at applying western drama techniques to traditional Indian classical dance, with a large number of Indian classical, folk and tribal dance elements, forming the foundation of modern Indian dance. In the 1920s and 1930s, he vigorously popularised Indian dance in Europe and United States of America, giving it a position in the world.
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*Uday Shankar*
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He was honoured as "the founder of modern dance" in India. In 1962, he won the award of India music and drama club (Sangeet Natak Akademi), and was awarded the Padma Vibhushan by the Indian government in 1971.
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Shankar was born in a Bengali Brahmin family in Varanasi. His father graduated from Middle Temple in London. He was a scholar, and later became a lawyer in London. Shankar was the eldest son. His four younger brothers were all good in art, and the youngest, Ravi Shankar became the world famous sitar player. Shankar has even learned art in some schools in Varanasi and Mumbai, and then went to the Royal College of Art in London to learn painting. Meanwhile, he participated in dance performances off and on. During this period, Anna Pavlova, the most famous ballet dancer in Russia, wanted to have an artiste who could create a dance drama with together with the Indian style, and this changed Uday’s career. They jointly created the dance drama ‘*Oriental Impression*’ based on the story of Radha - Krisha in Hinduism, and its premiere was performed in the Royal College of Art in London. In 1931, Shankar set up the first Indian dance troupe in Europe, performing on tours in 84 cities in Europe and America within seven years. Meanwhile, they also partnered with many famous artistes. Shankar returned to India in 1927, and received a cordial reception and praise from the great poet. Rabindranath Tagore. With the suggestion of Tagore, he finally established Uday Shankar Center in India, in 1938.
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*Uday Shankar during a performance*
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Zhou Enlai meeting the entourage of the distinguished dancer Uday Shankar
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In July and August, 1957, Uday Shankar dance troupe visited China at the invitation of the premier Zhou Enlai. There were 27 dancers in his troupe, and they performed in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. On July 25, in the premiere in Beijing, the dance troupe performed the drama *Buddha Life*, *Labor and Machine*, *Indra*, *Manipuri* and so on, with seven musicians accompanying, receiving high praise from the audiences. In Shanghai, the group performed *Shadow Dance* created by Uday Shankar in 1953, and performed for the first time abroad. With slides setting off the background, such new artistic form reflected the performance made by the actors behind the scenes onto the stage curtain, making the audience appreciate their graceful dancing postures and story through the curtain. Zheng Zhenduo, the Vice Minister of Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China, wrote an article on the performance of *Dance like Sunrise*. During the dance troupe’s visit to China, Zhang Jun learned “Dance of Bouncing the Ball” from Uday, and transformed it into her own masterpiece. The dance presented the fun and loveliness of a girl bouncing the ball, and was very popular among Chinese people.
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Uday Shankar died in 1977, and his cause was inherited by his wife Amala, his son Ananda and daughter Mamata. All of them have their own schools and dance troupes, and have even visited China.
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(*Jin Shanshan*)