ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines what Uday Shankar’s style of creative dance entails and its basic tenets. It examines the maestro’s own contention of what his style comprises. This is gathered and collated through his writings in the souvenirs of his productions, as well as his interviews both in print and on television. It moves on to consolidate this narration of what his Ballet Master, Shanti Bose has to say about Shankar’s style and form as he was responsible for perfecting movements of the troupe members during the period 1965–1977. The uniqueness of form and content and the evolution of the style, the introduction of the ballet form to Indian dance traditions, and the focus on body language compared to excessive usage of mudras or hand gestures and facial expressions for the purpose of emoting are highlighted in this chapter. The foundation of the form, which provides the anchor to the creative expression, concepts of symmetry, basic considerations for choreography, the discipline he exacted from his troupe as well as the power of the form are discussed in this chapter as well. Shankar’s creative vision of the performance as it should appear on stage, together with his innate understanding and use of stagecraft – whether it be the usage of lights or costumes or sets, to the best advantage – also finds space for discussion in this section, as does the revolutionary change that he brought in terms of the content, to the stage.
