Kolkata, Dec 8 (UNI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today remembered legendary dancer and choreographer Uday Shankar on his birth anniversary

“Remembering legendary dancer and choreographer Uday Shankar on his birth anniversary,” Ms Banerjee posted on her social networking page,

Born on December 8, 1900, at Udaipur in Rajasthan, Uday Shankar was the pioneer of modern dance in India, and a world renowned Indian dancer and choreographer.

He was most known for adapting Western theatrical techniques to traditional Indian classical dance, imbued with elements of Indian classical, folk, and tribal dance, thus laying the roots of modern Indian dance, which he later popularized in India, Europe, and the United States in 1920s and 1930s and effectively placed Indian dance on the world map.

Uday Shankar didn't have any formal training in any of the Indian classical dance forms, his presentations were creative.

Though from a young age, he was exposed to both Indian classical and folk dances, as he was to ballet, during his stay in Europe, much impressed he decided to bring elements of both the styles together to create a new dance, which he called hi-dance.

He went on to translate classical Indian dance forms and their iconography to dance movements, which he studied the Rajput painting and Mughal painting styles at the British Museum

The turning point came his way as a meeting with legendary Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. She was looking for artists to collaborate on India based themes. This led to the creation of ballets based on Hindu themes, 'Radha-Krishna', a duet with Anna, and 'Hindu Wedding', for inclusion in her production, 'Oriental Impressions'.

The ballet was presented at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in London. Later he continued to conceive and choreograph ballets, like one based on Ajanta Caves frescoes, and performed across USA, along with her, and in time his style of dance came to be known as 'hi dance' in those days, though later he called it 'Creative dance '.

He worked with Anna for one and a half years, before starting out on his own in Paris. Shankar returned to India, in 1927, along with by a French pianist, Simon Barbiere, who was now his disciple and dance partner, and a Swiss sculptres nl:Alice Boners, 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 returned to Paris in 1931, he founded Europe's first Indian dance company, along with Swiss sculptress Alice Boner, a former disciple. There, along with musicians Vishnu Dass Shirali and Timir Baran, he created a new template for music to accompany his newly devised movements.

His first series of dance performances was held on March 3, 1931, at the Champs-Elysees Theatre in Paris, which was to become his base as he toured through Europe and also felicitated his interaction with French dancers and choreographer.

Soon he embarked on seven-year tour through the western world -- Europe and America, along with his own troupe, titled - 'Uday Shankar and his Hindu Ballet', under the ageis of impresario Sol Hurok and Celebrity Series of Boston of impresario, Aaron Richmond.

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