Pioneers of Indian Dance

The Ashish Mohan Khokar Pioneers of Indian Dance Series is a historical analysis and compilation on the life and times of dancers of India who steered a distinctive and independent course. The series searches out contexts and continuities in the lives of these dedicated artistes.

As dance historians to the nation, the late Prof. Mohan Khokar and his son and successor, Ashish Khokar, represent nearly a 100 years of unbroken documentation of dance in India.

This series is a record of those dancers who have contributed significantly to the understanding and enrichment of the art form they have chosen to make their life. These books are part of an exclusive publishing line dedicated to gurus, legends and pioneers of Indian dance.

GURU MAYA RAO ranks amongst those leading lights who mastered both tradition and contemporary art and furthered the cause of dance appreciation and education. Her life is a study in the evolution and growth of classical dance shifting base from traditional families to educated ones. Born to a prominent family of Mangalore, which shifted to Bangalore, Maya Rao moved to Jaipur and later Delhi to learn Kathak from the Masters. She was the first student of Guru Shambhu Maharaj. After this, she was sent by the Indian Govt. to Moscow to learn choreography, another first. As the first south-Indian Kathak dancer and first properly trained choreographer, her place in dance history is assured. Her, over 500 students worldwide, only enhance her work as a teacher and her daughter Madhu Nataraj Heri carries on her mantle. A must-read for those who think dancing is easy!

GURU M.K.SAROJA is featured as a dancer who did not wish to be! A bhakta of Bharatanatyam, this veteran guru and dancer has maintained the purity of the form as it was known in the earlier days.

A career of distinction and a life lived with dignity has made this “unpretentious doyenne of Bharatanatyam(India Today)” the most sought-after teacher by those who wish to get deeper into the art, not merely for performance.

Married to India’s leading dance scholar and collector, Prof. Mohan Khokar, her life traces the history of the form as it went north to Baroda and Delhi. FORTHCOMING
 

UDAY SHANKAR the father of modern Indian dance was trained to be a painter but became a dancer and created a whole new genre of Indian dance. He was the first truly international dancer of India and captured imagination worldwide.

His school and students are a legion and he was a genius who made the first full-length feature film on dance. The book assesses his role as a pioneer and a legend. It is also a history of his life and times, more than a mere biography. FORTHCOMING

RAM GOPAL THE LEGENDS OF INDIAN DANCE is the first title of India’s first exclusive dance publishing line set-up by Ashish and Elisabeth Khokar. Called EKAH BOOKS & BIOS, it has published the Dance Annual of India–attendance–for 5 years now. Ram Gopal is the first title under production. He strode the dance scene like a giant and lived like a king. This book is more a history of Indian dance through his life and times rather than his biography, which he authorized Ashish Khokar to do. FORTHCOMING

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10x10, Hardbound, 120 pages, German matte
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