Tanusree Shankar (born 16 March 1956) is an Indian dancer and choreographer. She is based in Kolkata, India. She was a leading dancer of the Ananda Shankar Centre for Performing Arts in the 1970s and 1980s. She also acted in various films, like The Namesake. Tanusree Shankar now leads the Tanusree Shankar Dance Company. She has evolved her own modern idiom by marrying traditional Indian dances with modern western ballet expressions. She has been inspired by her lineage as much by the folk and regional dance forms of India. She has drawn extensively from rich local Indian traditions such as the " Thang-ta" ( Manipuri

Sword dance Weapon dances incorporating swords or similar weapons are recorded throughout world history. There are various traditions of Solo dance, solo and mock-battle (Pyrrhic dance, Pyrrhic) sword dances in Africa, Asia and Europe. Some traditions use ...

). She travels with her troupe extensively around the world. Her last notable productions include ''Uttaran'' (Upliftment of the soul) and ''Chirantan'' (The eternal) which is based on

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

's music.

Family

Tanusree Shankar was born in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, her father was a doctor in

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

. Her husband, the late Ananda Shankar, was a music

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

who experimented with fusion music. He was the son of dancers Pandit Uday Shankar and Amala Shankar and the nephew of the

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

maestro

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitar, sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known expert of Hin ...

. She has a daughter Sreenanda Shankar.

Awards

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

, 2011

References

External links

Tanusree Shankar Dance Company
accessed 23 September 2007 1956 births Living people Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Indian women choreographers Indian choreographers Indian female martial artists Indian female dancers Artists from Kolkata Indian contemporary dancers Dancers from West Bengal 20th-century Indian dancers 20th-century Indian women artists Women artists from West Bengal {{India-martialart-bio-stub