Origins of South Asian Dance First South Asian Dance in the UK South Asian Dance since 1945 South Asian Dance Forms

Uday Shankar

The Bayadères

The first Indian dancers to be seen in Europe were the Bayadères (Indian temple dancers), who appeared at the Adelphi Theatre, London in 1838. Audiences were familiar with temple dancers in ballet and Marie Taglioni had appeared in a ballet entitled Le Dieu et la Bayadère (God and the Temple Dancer) earlier in the decade. However this was the first time that real Bayadères had appeared in London.

Listen to a review of the Bayadères at the Adelphi theatre in 1838 [Download]

Read a review of the Bayaderes at the Adelphi Theatre in 1838.

The Bayaderes at the Adelphi

Uday Shankar

In 1923 Anna Pavlova invited Uday Shankar, a young dancer from Udaipur in Rajastan, to collaborate and appear with her in the ballet, Radha Krishna. They had met when Pavlova toured India in 1923. Uday Shankar had no formal training in classical Indian dance but encouraged by the Maharaja of Jhalawar (to whom his father was secretary) he had a great knowledge of Indian art.

Anna Pavlova and Uday Shankar

Pavlova and Shankar

It was Uday Shankar who really introduced the West to Indian dance. After touring across India learning folk and classical dance he travelled to Paris in 1931. Here he began to choreograph his modern Indian dance. His work influenced many modern dance choreographers of this period, including Martha Graham and Ruth St Denis. Shankar toured extensively across Europe and visited London on many occasions.

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Journal of Indian Arts