Cinemaazi remembers Uday Shankar on his death anniversary.
26 Sep 1977
Cinemaazi remembers Uday Shankar, the pioneer of Indian non-classical dance forms, on his death anniversary. Born on 8 December 1900 in a feudal family of Bengal based in Rajasthan, Shankar began as a young practitioner of Fine Arts and went to Royal College of Arts in London to study painting. While dancing was still looked down upon in his family, Shankar went on to become a great dancer and met Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova in London in 1923. He trained under Pavlova for a year and also choreographed performances. Inspired by both Western and Indian classical style of dancing, Shankar formed his own dance form, a mix of ballet and classical dance. He formed his own Ballet group and travelled across India. He also made India's first dance-centric film Kalpana in 1948, starring Amala Shankar, his wife. He passed away on 26 September 1977.
