dance

Alice Richardson

About: 

Alice Richardson met Ananda Coomaraswamy around 1910, most probably at a recital of folk songs given by pupils of the collector of folk songs and cultural revivalist, Cecil Sharp. Richardson accompanied Coomaraswamy on a trip to India in 1911 and became his second wife. They lived on a houseboat in Srinagar, Kashmir, whilst she studied Indian music with Abdul Rahim of Kapurthala, and Coomaraswamy researched Rajput painting of northern India.

Once back in London, Alice Coomaraswamy became noted for her recitals of Indian music which were often introduced by an explanatory lecture given by her husband. She performed widely in the UK (including at the Theosophical Society Summer Schools) under the name Ratan Devi and in Indian dress. When the Coomaraswamys first went to the US, it was for her concert tour. Alice had two children (a boy, Narada, and a girl, Rohini) by Coomaraswamy before their divorce and his subsequent marriage to the American dancer and artist, Stella Bloch.

Published works: 

Thirty Songs From the Panjab and Kashmir, Recorded by Ratan Devi with Introduction and Translations by Ananda K. Coomarswamy and a Foreword by Rabindranath Tagore (Old Bourne Press, 1913)

Example: 

Tagore, Rabindranath, 'Foreword', in Thirty Songs From the Panjab and Kashmir: Recorded by Ratan Devi with Introduction and Translations by Ananda K. Coomarswamy (Old Bourne Press, 1913), pp. vi-ii

Content: 

Rabindranath Tagore describes his experience of hearing Ratan Devi sing.

Connections: 
Contributions to periodicals: 

Modern Review (October 1911)

Reviews: 

Asiatic Review

New York Times

Extract: 

Sometimes the meaning of a poem is better understood in a translation, not necessarily because it is more beautiful than the original, but as in the new setting the poem has to undergo a trial, it shines more brilliantly if it comes out triumphant. So it seemed to me that Ratan Devi’s singing our songs gained something in feeling and truth. Listening to her I felt more clearly than ever that our music is the music of cosmic emotion...Ratan Devi sang an alap in Kandra, and I forgot for a moment that I was in a London drawing-room. My mind got itself transported in the magnificence of an eastern night, with its darkness, transparent, yet unfathomable, like the eyes of an Indian maiden, and I seemed to be standing alone in the depth of its stillness and stars.

Secondary works: 

Clayton, Martin, and Zon, Bennett, Music and Orientalism in the British Empire, 1780s-1940s: Portrayal of the East (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007)

Crowley, Aleister, The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, ed. by John Symonds and Kenneth Grant (London: Jonathan Cape, 1969)

Lipsey, Roger, Coomaraswamy, 3 vols, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1977)

Archive source: 

Stella Bloch Papers, Princeton University Library, Princeton

Other names: 

Ratan Devi

Alice Coomaraswamy

Uday Shankar

About: 

Uday Shankar was an artist, dancer and choreographer who popularized Indian dance through his effective use of western theatrical techniques in combination with classical Indian dance. Uday Shankar arrived in London in 1920 to study art at Royal College of Art under the tutelage of William Rothenstein. While in London, William Rothenstein sent him to the British Museum to study the reproductions of paintings from the caves of Ajanta and Ellora. The Russian ballerina Ana Pavlova convinced Shankar to turn to dance, winning a fiercly fought battle with Rothenstein over the future artistic direction of Shankar. His performances with Pavlova, partnering her in the ‘Radha Krishna’ ballet and ‘Hindu wedding’ in her programme titled ‘Oriental Impressions’, caused a sensation when first performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in September 1923 and they toured extensively through Europe and the US. Uday Shankar returned to London in 1923 and struggled to make a living by trying to find engagements in London cabaret clubs. In 1925 he moved to Paris, where he had more success. In 1926 he was joined by the French dancer Simkie, whom he taught classical Indian dance and who joined him on subsequent tours of Europe.

Shankar returned to India in 1927 and toured all major cultural centres in India to fire his imagination. At that time he also met Rabindranath Tagore. In 1930 he formed a new troupe of dancers and with a new programme returned to Paris in 1931 and subsequently toured with the programme to London and other major European cities. These performances in the early 1930s had a huge impact on art lovers in particular and led to a rediscovery of the cultural heritage of India. Shankar returned to India in 1935 and then toured Europe from 1936-8 with a new troupe, which included the dancers Shanti Bardhan, Simkie, Zohra Sehgal, and Uzra, once again taking all the big European cities by storm. During this time the troupe perfomed a charity performance at the Hindustani Social Club in London. In 1939 Shankar established the ‘Uday Shankar India Culture Centre’ at Almora, India, which continued until 1943 – it  had to be closed down because of the impact of the Second World War and financial difficulties. From 1943-7 Shankar worked on the dance film ‘Kalpana’, which was widely acclaimed and which he personally presented in Europe, the USSR and the USA in 1948. He went on a two-year tour of Europe and the US in 1949/1950 to raise funds for a new dance school in Calcutta. He died in Calcutta in 1977.

Published works: 

S. Hurok presents Uday Shan-Kar and His Hindu Ballet (New York City: Nicolas Pub. Co., 1938)

Example: 

Review in The Truth (14 July 1937)

Date of birth: 
08 Dec 1900
Reviews: 

Daily Herald (8 March 1937)

Daily Herald (10 March 1937)

The Daily Telegraph (10 March 1937)

Evening Standard (10 March 1937)

The Times (10 March 1937)

Evening News (10 March 1937)

Morning Post (10 March 1937)

Daily Mirror (12 March 1937)

The Observer (14 March 1937)

Sunday Times (14 March 1937)

Sketch  (30 June 1937) 

World Film News (July 1937)

The Times (28 Jun 1937)

Evening Standard (2 July 1937)

The Daily Telegraph (6 July 1937) 

Evening News (6 July 1937)

The Star (6 July 1937)

The Times (6 July 1937)

The Stage (8 July 1937) 

New Statesman and Nation (10 July 1937) 

The Observer (11 July 1937)

The Times (13 July 1937)

Extract: 

Tradition and Nationalism:

Their art, therefore though it is founded upon the traditional themes, is much more than merely a revival of traditions. It is a development of them as well, and herein lies their importance not so much for us in West as for Indians. These dancers and musicians may be regarded as one of the manifestations of that rising spirit of Indian nationalism which the British Government has lately recognised in the Government of India Act. It is pleasant, therefore, to see that so very Western an institution as Dartington Hall is supporting them in their ambition to found a Dance and Music Centre at Benares the function of which will be to acquaint the people of India with an inheritance they have so nearly lost and to foster development in these arts.

Secondary works: 

Banerji, Projesh, Dance of India (Allahabad : Kitabistan, 1942)

Banerji, Projesh, Uday Shankar and his Art (Delhi: B. R. Publications, 1982)

Ghosh, Dibyendu (ed.), The great Shankars: Uday, Ravi (Calcutta : Agee Prakashani, 1983)

Khokar, Mohan, His Dance, his life: a Portrait of Uday Shankar (New Delhi: Himalayan Books, 1983)

Relevance: 

The extract offers an interesting observation on Shankar's art and places it firmly into a context of Indian nationalism, which adds a different dimension to  the nature of his performances. These comments are unusual as they establish a political context for Shankar's performances, rather than discussing the exoticism of his ballet which other reviewers tend to overemphasize.

Archive source: 

Uday Shankar Performance Scrapbooks, Nehru Memorial Library and Museum, New Delhi

City of birth: 
Udaipur
Country of birth: 
India
Date of death: 
26 Sep 1977
Location of death: 
Calcutta, India
Date of 1st arrival in Britain: 
23 Aug 1920
Dates of time spent in Britain: 

1920-5

Location: 

London

Ayana Deva Angadi

About: 

Ayana Angadi came to Britain in 1924. His original intention was to prepare for the ICS examination but instead he became involved in political activism, writing, and lecturing about imperialism and India. As well as contributing to a range of journals in Britain, he wrote several political pamphlets under the pseudonym Raj Hansa. A committed Trotskyist, he joined the Labour Party and worked as a lecturer for the Central Advisory Council for Adult Education in HM Forces and then for the Imperial Institute, travelling to schools and colleges around the country to speak about Indian matters. He also travelled to Scandinavia to lecture and was there suspected of being a Cominform agent (L/PJ/12/518, p. 48).

Arguably, Angadi's most significant achievement while in Britain was the establishment with his wife Patricia Fell-Clarke of the Asian Music Circle in 1946. This organization introduced Indian music, dance and yoga to the British public, paving the way for musicians such as Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan.

Published works: 

(as Jaya Deva) Japan’s Kampf (London: Gollancz, 1942)

Numerous pamphlets written under the name Raj Hansa

Example: 

'Secret’ IPI memo, 1 February 1949, L/PJ/12/518, India Office Records, Asian and African Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras, pp. 42–3

Date of birth: 
12 Mar 1903
Content: 

This file contains British government surveillance reports on Ayana Angadi’s activities in Britain and Europe during the period 1937–47.

Connections: 

E. F. Bramley (CPGB), R. F. O. Bridgeman, Benjamin Brittan, J. R. Campbell (CPGB), Patricia Fell-Clarke, George Harrison, B. K. S. Iyengar, Krishna Menon, Yehudi Menuhin, Shapurji Saklatvala, Ravi Shankar.

Contributions to periodicals: 

New Leader

Spectator

Time and Tide

Extract: 

AYANA VEERAYASWAMI ANGADI has lived mainly in the United Kingdom since 1930. He is an individual of ordinary status who has made a livelihood as a lecturer and journalist. His book 'Japan’s Kampf' attracted the favourable attention of the Ministry of Information during the war and for a time he was engaged as a lecturer to troops. However he was relieved of this occupation because he introduced his political views into the lectures.

ANGADI is described as being a revolutionary Communist. His record includes a sentence in 1937 of a month’s imprisonment for stealing a typewriter.

Since 1946 ANGADI has toured and lectured in the Scandinavian countries more than once and many of his lectures have been marked by a strong anti-British bias. He has made himself unpopular both in Norway and Denmark and the former has decided to refuse him a visa should he apply for one again.

It has been stated that his visit to Norway in February 1947 was under the auspices of the Imperial Institute, and has been suggested that the Institute should be told about his undesirability. You may be able to find out if it is correct that the Institute sponsored ANGADI in any way, and may be able to tell someone in the Institute about the kind of individual he is.

Secondary works: 

Massey, Reginald, Azaadi! Stories and Histories of the Indian Subcontinent After Independence (Abhinav Publications, 2005)

Visram, Rozina, Asians in Britain: 400 Years of History (London: Pluto, 2002)

Relevance: 

The detailed documentation kept on Angadi and his activities while in Britain is evidence of the high level of surveillance of South Asians who were politically active during this period. This in turn suggests the anti-imperialist campaigning of Angadi and his contemporaries was considered dangerously effective. The extensive travel Angadi undertook, both within Britain and beyond, is evidence of a keen commitment to educating the British and Europeans about imperialism and to mobilizing for the struggle for Indian independence and international socialism.

Archive source: 

L/PJ/12/518, India Office Records, Asian and African Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras

Asian Music Circle 1954–1960: Correspondence with Ayana Deva Angadi, founder and director, regarding the Circle’s programmes, with copies of leaflets and programmes, MSS 157/3/MU/A/1/1–26, Papers of Victor Gollancz, Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick Library

Involved in events: 

Numerous concerts and lectures

India League meetings

City of birth: 
Jakanur, Mysore State
Country of birth: 
India
Other names: 

Ayana Veerayyaswami Angadi

Raj Hansa

Jaya Deva

 

Date of death: 
01 Oct 1993
Date of 1st arrival in Britain: 
01 Jan 1924
Precise 1st arrival date unknown: 
Y
Dates of time spent in Britain: 

1924-?

Subscribe to RSS - dance