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
[edit]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
[edit]- 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
[edit]- Padma Shri by the Government of India, 1971[11]
- Sangeet Natak Akademi - given by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama, 1970 [2]
- Kalidas Samman for Classical Dance of Government of Madhya Pradesh, 1993-94 [3]
Bibliography
[edit]- Sunil Janah; Ashoke Chatterjee (1979). Dances of the Golden Hall: Photographs of the Indian classical dancer Shanta Rao. Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
References
[edit]- ^ "Shanta Rao". Sahapedia. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
- ^ a b "SNA: List of Akademi Awardees". Sangeet Natak Akademi Official website. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Dr. Sunil Kothari (16 May 2008). "Remembering the one and only Shanta Rao". Narthaki. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
- ^ a b "The Sunil Kothari Column - Remembering the one and only Shanta Rao - Dr. Sunil Kothari". narthaki.com. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ Kothari, Sunil (17 June 2019). "Paucity of archival material threatens legacy of Kathakali dancer Shanta Rao". The Asian Age. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ a b c "676 Ashoke Chatterjee, A perfect stillness: the art of Shanta Rao". www.india-seminar.com. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ Interview with Shanta Rao, 25 March 2021, retrieved 28 March 2021
- ^ "Shanta Rao". Sahapedia. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ "Padma Awards Directory (1954–2013)" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- Indian female classical dancers
- 1930 births
- 2007 deaths
- Artists from Mangalore
- Bharatanatyam exponents
- Artists from Bengaluru
- Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts
- Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
- Kuchipudi exponents
- Kathakali exponents
- Dancers from Karnataka
- 20th-century Indian dancers
- 20th-century Indian women artists
- Women artists from Karnataka