Tanushree Shankar (born 16 March 1956)
is an Indian dancer and choreographer. She is based in
Kolkata, India
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commerc ...
. 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.
Tanushree Shankar now leads the
Tanushree 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
Huyen langlon is an Indian martial art from Manipur. In the Meitei language, means war while or can mean net, knowledge or art. consists of two main components: thang-ta (armed combat) and sarit sarak (unarmed fighting). The primary weapo ...
" (
Manipuri Sword dance
Sword dances are recorded throughout world history. There are various traditions of solo and mock-battle (Pyrrhic) sword dances from Africa, Asia and Europe.
General types of sword dance include:
*solo dancers around swords – such as t ...
).
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 Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
's music.
Family
Tanusree Shankar was born in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...
, her father was a doctor in
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four ...
. Her husband, the late
Ananda Shankar, was a music
composer who experimented with
fusion music. He was the son of dancers Pandit
Uday Shankar
Uday Shankar (8 December 1900 – 26 September 1977) was an Indian dancer and choreographer, best known for creating a fusion style of dance, adapting European theatrical techniques to Indian classical dance, imbued with elements of Indian cla ...
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 medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form i ...
maestro
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North In ...
. she has a daughter
Sreenanda Shankar.
Awards
*
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: 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 recognit ...
, 2011
References
External links
Tanusree Shankar Dance Companyaccessed 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
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