Ravi Shankar’s Brother was a ballet dancer

 Did you know Ravi Shankar’s Brother was a ballet dancer?

Famous musician Ravi Shankar had many brothers but one of his brothers was named Uday Shankar. He was a ballet dancer for The Prima Ballerina, Anna Pavlova’s Ballet company. 

Shankar was discovered while attending the Royal College of Art and he was referred to Pavlova by an Indian composer named Commalata Bannerjee, a colleague of Pavlova.

Anna Pavlova was told about a dancer named Uday Shankar. When she saw Shankar dance and how he connected to rhythm like herself; she saw potential in Shankar.

Shankar taught Anna Pavlova traditional Indian dances and she learned about and Indian culture while on her trip to India. She fell in love with Indian culture and wanted to incorporate Indian Dance in her ballet but also be respectful to the culture.

Anna Pavlova asked Shankar to be her dance partner in her ballet. The Ballet was called Krishna and Radha. Shankar helped Pavlova connect with the audience, showing her that the dancers were the focus of the audience.  In Indian Traditional Dancing, there are not a backgrounds like the usual western theatrical backgrounds which Pavlova was used to in her ballets. Instead, Shankar used Indian motifs like an Indian wedding which Pavlova remembers vividly from her travels to India; a memory she found fascinating. Shankar wanted to make Krishna more relatable to the audience and also make a connection to the music and he did this by having Krishna play the flute, putting a whimsical touch to the god. The music of Krishna and Radha ballet was composed by an Indian female composer named Commalata Bannerjee, whose music Shankar and Pavlova connected to immediately.

This ballet was nothing the public had ever seen before, completely exotic and unique.  The public loved it and it was reviewed positively in the newspapers. Pavlova as Radha was seen as sensitive and feminine, while Shankar was seen as powerful and masculine. 

Shankar would continue to tour with Pavlova’s Ballet company until he decided to form his own contemporary Ballet company, which incorporated traditional Indian dance elements into ballet. He would later be called the Founder and Father of Modern Dance in India. 

Uday Shankar died September 26, 1979. Later, Uday Shankar would become the uncle to several well known musicians: Anouska Shankar, Shubhendra Shankar and Norah Jones.

1923- Uday Shankar with Anna Pavlova as Krishna and Radha from the Krishna and Radha Ballet.

"I take the help of the modern to make others understand the ancient."- Uday Shankar