Shanti Bardhan (1916 - 1954) was born in Birampur, Tripura. Since his early childhood, he felt an intense inclination for learning dance as an art form. This urge brought him to Calcutta in 1947. Here he got admitted in the Sangeet Vidyalaya and took lessons in modern dance. Later, he learnt Kathakali dance from the ace dancer Mani Bardhan in Tripura. Pt. Manishankar Bhattacharja was his guru in Bharat Natyam, Katthak, Manipuri and Folk Dances.

With his innate proclivity learning dance, gifted talent and tenacity, he soon acquired fame as a dancer par excellence. He even joined as a dance teacher in the 'Indian Cultural Centre' founded by Udaysankar, in Almora. In course of time, he conceived some unique dance patterns based on the folk music of different regions in India.

Shanti Bardhan founded his own dance school in Andheri, Mumbai. He had close links with the I.P.T.A. (Indian People's Theatre Association) in Mumbai. He conceived a unique puppet dance form based on the 'Ramcharitmansa' by Tulsidus. He also conceived and composed the spectacular dance form based on Jawaharlal Nehuru's 'Discovery of India.' It was performed in New Delhi on the Independence Day in 1948 and was highly acclaimed. In 1952, he founded the 'Little Ballet Troupe' in Mumbai. Noted dancer Guna Bardhan the author of 'Nritya Bigyan' was his spouse.