‘Dance was like prayer for Uday Shankar’

The way the people of Bangladesh respect and love dance maestro Uday Shankar is unparallel, said Indian actor-dancer Mamata Shankar while delivering a lecture on the flamboyant life and works of her father.
Mamata was addressing the lecture at capital’s Indira Gandhi Culture Centre on Friday evening.
The programme was attended, among others, by Indian envoy in Dhaka Pankaj Saran, actor Hasan Imam, dance artistes like Laila Hasan and Lubna Marium.
She said her father was not just a dance artiste, he was very humble, decent and down-to earth.

“His dance productions were understandable from the connoisseurs to the commoners. To him, dance was not just an entertainment; it was also part of his soul and source of intellect,” Mamata said talking about her father.
“Uday Shankar did not believe in performing religious rites but dance was a prayer for him,” she added.
Dance legend Uday Shankar had been a leading figure in the renaissance of Indian dance who, paved the way for stars such as Ram Gopal and established a school in Kolkata. In 1948, he choreographed and directed the dance film ‘Kalpana’, which was to be the forerunner of the Bollywood musical.
A mixture of European theatrical techniques to Indian classical dance, filled with elements of Indian classical, folk, and tribal dance, his dance style got popular in India, Europe, and the United States in 1920s and 1930s.