Shanta Rao

Shanta Rao (c. 1925[1] – 28 December 2007) was a dancer from India. She studied and performed Kathakali, Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. She received the Padma Shri, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award[2] and Kalidas Samman for Classical Dance.[3] She was born in 1925 in Bombay (now Mumbai)[4] and lived there and Bangalore. She died on 28 December 2007 at her home at Malleswaram, Bangalore.[5]

Life and career

Shanta Rao was born around 1925 to Saraswat Brahmins. Rao traveled to study at Kerala Kalamandalam with a chaperone in 1939.[6]

She made her debut in Kathakali in 1940 in Thrissur.[7][8]

Rao studied Bharatanatyam from Meenakshisundaram Pillai.[8] She made her debut in Bharatnatyam in the Music Academy of Madras in 1942.[6] Rao studied Kuchipudi under Vempati Chinna Satyam. She formulated Bhama Natyam.[9][further explanation needed]

Performances

  • Sangeet Natak Akademi's Swarna Jayanti Mahotsava, celebrating India's 50th year of independence, organised in Delhi in 1997.[10]
  • Ashta Mahishi, a two-hour Bhama Natyam  composition recounting legends of the eight wives of Krishna.-  (June 2006)[8]

Awards and achievements

Bibliography

  • Sunil Janah; Ashoke Chatterjee (1979). Dances of the Golden Hall: Photographs of the Indian classical dancer Shanta Rao. Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

References

  1. ^ "Shanta Rao". Sahapedia. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b "SNA: List of Akademi Awardees". Sangeet Natak Akademi Official website. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Kalidas Award Holders (Classical Dance)". Department of Culture, Government of Madhya Pradesh. Archived from the original on 9 April 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  4. ^ Selma Jeanne Cohen; Dance Perspectives Foundation (1998). International encyclopedia of dance: a project of Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-512309-8.
  5. ^ Dr. Sunil Kothari (16 May 2008). "Remembering the one and only Shanta Rao". Narthaki. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  6. ^ a b "The Sunil Kothari Column - Remembering the one and only Shanta Rao - Dr. Sunil Kothari". narthaki.com. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  7. ^ Kothari, Sunil (17 June 2019). "Paucity of archival material threatens legacy of Kathakali dancer Shanta Rao". The Asian Age. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "676 Ashoke Chatterjee, A perfect stillness: the art of Shanta Rao". www.india-seminar.com. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  9. ^ Interview with Shanta Rao, 25 March 2021, retrieved 28 March 2021
  10. ^ "Shanta Rao". Sahapedia. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Padma Awards Directory (1954–2013)" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2014.