In the sphere of Indian Dance, the name of Udaysankar is imprinted with an indelible ink. This legendary dancer had taken Indian Dance to dizzying heights and was highly acclaimed all over the globe.

Udaysankar was born on 8th December 1900 in Udaypur, Rajasthan. He was the eldest child of Pt. Shyamsankar Chowdhury and Hemangini Devi. Their original surname was Chattopaddhay. They were conferred the title of 'Harchowdhury' by the Nawabs. But Udaysankar's father used the surname chowdhury minus 'Har.' In the initial stage of his life and career, Udayshankar used the surname chowdhury. Later he dropped the surname immensely popular as Udaysankar.

Uday's father Pt. Shyamsankar was an erudite scholar in Sanskrit. He graduated with honours from the Calcutta University and the Oxford Univrsity. Later, he became a Doctor of Philosophy. He had a profound love for music and possessed a mellifluous voice. The Maharaja of Jhalwar was very fond of him and not only employed him but developed grave responsibilities on his shoulders life and could not spend much time his family. Hence, Udaysankar spent his childhood in his maternal uncle's house at Nasbatpur with his mother and brothers.

In the early years, Udaysankar too had an itimerant life. He went to Nasratpur, Gazipur, Varanashi, Jhalwar and all those where his father went on official assignment. Consequently, his studies were interrupted and became erratic. As a lad, Udayshankar was very agile and naughty to some extent. Although he had an apathy for studies, he had a sincere fondness for drawing and painting since his childhood. In this regard. Udaysankar got the patronage of Ambika Charan Mukhopaddhay, the Drawing and Crafts teacher in Gazipur School. It is Ambika Charan who also taught uday the basic lessons in music, magic and photography.

Since his tender age, Udaysankar had the opportunity to watch several dance forms in various places. He was particularly fond of 'Matadin,' a favourite rustic dance of the cobbers, the Gangaur festival and its dances in Rajasthan and the dance of Rukki Bai in Jhalwar. He observd that these dances were not only highly appreciated by the masses but were inextricably intertuined with different aspects of their lives. Later, when he became a fully-fledged dancer, his dance patterns saw the reflections of all that he had seen and acquired from different places since his childhood.

1917 was the begining of a new and prosperous chapter in Udayshankar's life. He was sent to the renowned J.J.School in Mumbai to learn drawing and painting. He finished the 5 year course in merely 2 years and came out with distinction. Then, on 23rd August, 1920, he became the pupil of Sir William Rondenstein in the Royal College, Udaysankar received a special award for making an excellent self portrait. In another instance, he received a covetous award for an outstanding piece of painting entitled 'Dance in Moonlight' which showed the gorgeous dance of Lord Krishna and Radha with the Gopis of Vrindaban. Au reste, he received the 'Prix-de-Rome' scholarship and became eligible for going to Rome in Italy for advanced studies in art.

At this point when he was shiming brightly in the firmament of art and Sir Rodenstein was seeing in him an artist with immense potential, Udayshankar met Ana Pavlova the the renowned Russian dancer. The illustrious dancer asked him to conceive and compose a novel dance pattern following typical Indian traditional dance for her dance troupe. Accordingly, Udayshankar conceived and choreographed two dances viz., 'Radha Krishna' and 'Bharatiya Bibaha.' These two dances were performed for the first time in the Royal Opera House in Convent Garden, London by Pavlova and her troupe. In the 'Radha Krishna' dance, Udaysankar even participated with Pavlova and portrayed the role of Krishna. That was the beginning of a legend.

Before this, however, on the eve of 'India Day,' the maestro had performed solo dance in an exclusive dance programme which was arranged by Mrinalini Sen and Lady Dorabjee Tata. Sir GeorgeV was also present on that occasion and was fascinated to see the brilliant performance of dance by Udaysankar. This splendid programme was held on 30th June, 1922 in Regent Park, London. It deserves special mention here that in spite of having no formal training or background in dance and being a solely devoted student of art at that stage, Udaysankar had conceived, choreographed and even performed himself as a dancer in a spectacular way. It was clear as daylight that a dancer of a different genere had arrived who would soon write the history of Indian Dance in his own terms.

On 9th October, 1923, Udaysankar went to America with Pavlova and her dance troupe for nine months. Their maiden performance in the US was in Manhattan Opera House, New york. During this tour, Udaysankar wished to learn occidental dance from Pavlova but she advised him to cultivate and learn the multitude of Indian dances after returning to India. She told him that India is extremely rich is cultural heritage and so is dance in India. Then Pavlova suggested that Udaysankar should rather explore the world of colourful dances and present them with their pristine glory to the people of the west. After this the maestro went to England. Here he decided to adopt dance as the sole means to earn his livelihood.

At this juncture, Udaysankar was going through acute financial stringency. His mind was shattered and his health was showing signs of decline. To fill his maws, he started to teach Indian Dance to Socky and Abelaide, two occidental dancers. After some time, they clubed together and formed 'Trio,' a dance troupe. They got their first break to dance in a cabaret at the Edward Hotel in Piccadilly, London. Udaysankar's performance was highly acclaimed. But the hotel-owners wanted more 'bite,' glamour and flamboyance in the dance emphasized solely on the commercial aspect. Udaysankar's dance was excellent and refined but devoid of that pomp and gliter. Soon he lost his job. Next, the trio went to Paris and started to perform cabaret dances regularly. From 1924 to 1929, they performed in various places of Europe.

During his stay in Paris, a small incident tormented him which cast a profound influence on his later life. Earlier, when he was in Boston (USA) with Ana Pavlova and her troupe, noted philosopher and artiste Ananda Kumar Swami gifted him a wonderful look entiled 'Mirror of Images.' He had not really bothered to read it and it was lying untouched in his suitcase. On that night he was flipping the pages of the look and fortuitously came across a photo of 'Nataraj' (an image of Lord Shiva while dancing the devastating 'Tandava' in order to destroy this creation as he was blind in range at the premature demise of his beloved wife Sati). He looked at the photo of Nataraj with wide open eyes and the more he saw it, the more enchanted he felt!

Suddenly it occured in his mind that this exquisite dancing gesture of Nataraj did not evolve out of the blues. It must have something forceful and relevant preceding this particular gesture. He started to ponder over it and cogitated for hours. Obsessed with this thought, he started to dance. He danced incessantly and in the process went to a state of trance. A new colourful world of imagination opened itself in front of him. As he was contriving several dance patterns, he composed the 'Sword Dance,' 'Nautch Dance,' 'Hindu Dance,' 'Water Carrier' etc.

Soon afterwards, Ceyman Berbiyar, a female pianist joined Udaysankar's troupe. She had immense potential as a dancer. In course of time, she blossomed as a fabulous dancer and became the chief aide of the maestro while performing on stage. The maestro used to fondly call her Ceymki.

Udayshankar and Ceymki performed at various places in Europe from 1926 to 1929 and were highly acclaimed. During this time, Alice Bonar, an ace sculptor saw their performance and was so infatuated to Indian dance that in 1930, he left his home and country and came to India with Udayshankar. Alice had actually recognised the rich heritage of our composite culture. Together they visited several temples and caves. Alice sketched the exquisite sprcimens of sculpture and the mural paintings in certain grottoes. Another thing which engrossed them very much were the colourful folk dances of India. Udayshankar had acquired a galaxy of experience during this tour with Alice which have been contained in a book entitled '4 ARTS ANNUAL' (1935). It was redacted by Haren Ghosh.

Alice Bonar rendered financial assistance to Udaysankar with the latter founded a dance troupe in Calcutta. In October, 1930 Udayshankar went to Paris. It was then that the popular 'Udayshankar Style' came into being. The maestro, then, was churning his grey cells to evolive simpler methods to teach the art of dance and in the process he conceived some simple but effective ways through Exercise, Movement and Choreography. Groomed with the new and innovative techniques, 'The Udaysankar Hindu Dance and Musicians,' the new troupe of the maestro, rehearsed sedulously for four long months and gave their first brilliant performance on 3rd March, 1931 in Paris. The programme was held at the 'Santje Litze' auditorium.

In August, 1931, a remarkable exhibition, 'Exposition Coloniale Paris' was held in Paris. Udaysankar's troupe performed here no less than sixteen times. The people simply loved to watch him performing with his team. Here, the maestro met Ms. Amla Nandi who was keenly interested to join his troupe as a dancer. He was moved to see her love for dance. Accordingly, he inducted her in his troupe, taught her with great care and affection and took her with him in the next trip. For Amala, Udaysankar became immensely popular. In course of time, Udaysankar went to Almora and started teaching dance at the 'Udaysankar Cultural Centre' founded by him. Amala went there too and joined the maestro in upholding his task. On 8th March, 1942, Udaysankar tied the nupital Knot with Amala.

Earlier, in 1931, the maestro went to Germany after his extensive Paris tour. From 8th November, 1931 to 20th March, 1932, Udaysankar roomed about in different cities of Germany. After this, till 26th January, 1933, he performed with his troupe in America.

Udaysankar returned to Calcutta after attaining unprecedented success in the occidental countries. Till September 1933, he performed with elan in different parts of India. En masse, he performed in forty-two dance programmes. On 18th June, 1933, he was given a warm and cordial reception at the Town Hall, Calcutta. This function was presided by Abanindranath Thakur. The legendary Sachin Dev Burman captained the audience with his dulcet voice. On 6th July, 1933, Udaysankar performed at the Maddan Theatre in Calcutta. Rabindranath Tagore had graced the occasion on that evening. He was so overwhelmed to see the maestro's dance that he invited the latter to come to Shantiniketan.

Udaysankar achieved considerable fame, reputation and honour in India as a quintessontial dancer. Then he took the blessings of Rabindranath and went to America with his troupe on 20th October, 1933. After winning the heart of America, the maestro went to Europe. He gave spectacular performances in London and Paris and was crowned with success. Then he returned to his motherland.

Udaysankar had an intense desire latent in his heart to found a dance institution. He started making preparations for founding this dream insitution in Almora in 1939. Accordingly, the 'Udaysankar India Culture Centre' came into existance in 1940 at America. Leonard Elmheirst donated 20,000 pounds for building this institution. It was a sort of pilgrimage for the aspiring young dancers where stalwarts of Indian Dance came to teach from all over the country.

This legendary dancer breathed his last on 26th September, 1977.