Tara Chaudhri was an exponent of Indian classical dance. Believed to have hailed from Lahore, she trained under different maestros of dance, and went on to be acclaimed for her versatility and contributions to the dance forms of

Kathak Kathak ( hi, कथक; ur, کتھک) is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. It is the classical dance from of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern Ind ...

, Manipuri,

Kathakali Kathakali ( ml, കഥകളി) is a major form of classical Indian dance. It is a "story play" genre of art, but one distinguished by the elaborately colourful make-up and costumes of the traditional male actor-dancers. It is native to the M ...

and Bharathnatyam. She was described as the " Pavlova of Punjab" and earned acclaim and respect from international contemporaries.

Early life

She traveled to

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

in 1943 to train further in South Indian dance forms of Kathakalli. Her initiation to Bharathnatyam remains a bit of a mystery, as per some accounts she might have learned the dance during her stay in South India, but according to a 1942 pamphlet, she ran a dance school and taught ‘Bharata Natya’ in Lahore, the cultural capital of North India before Independence. She is known to have trained under Guru Meenakshisundaram Pillai, considered as the prominent founder of Pandanallur style of Bharatanatyam, Indian dance.

Tours and recognition

As the principal dance partner of Ram Gopal, an Indian modernist dancer and choreographer, she traveled throughout India and

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Her natural grace and supple movements, along with an ability to express a repertoire of emotions awed audiences and garnered acclaim from art critics, though her modernist style was criticized by some.

Later years

She founded and maintained a dancing school in Madras for a few years. She trained her students and worked on introducing new ballets and numbers based on traditional dance techniques. She also envisioned the establishment of a Dance University in India, which would focus on research and propagation of Indian folk and classical dancing in its myriad forms

References

{{Reflist Indian dancers Classical dance genres of India Performers of Indian classical dance 2013 deaths