Almora

Uday Shankar , the pioneer of modern dance in India, and a world renowned Indian dancer and choreographer, was most known for adapting Western... theatrical techniques to traditional Indian classical dance, imbued with elements of Indian classical, folk, and tribal dance, thus laying the roots of modern Indian dance, which he later popularized in India, Europe, and the United States in 1920s and 1930s and effectively placed Indian dance on the world map. In 1962, he was awarded by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's The National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama, with its highest award, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for lifetime achievement, and in 1971, the Govt. of India, awarded him with its second highest civilian award the Padma Vibhushan. Born Uday Shankar Chowdhury, in Udaipur, Rajasthan, to a Bengali family with origins in Narail . His father Shyam Shankar Chowdhury, a noted barrister, was employed with the Maharaja of Jhalawar in Rajasthan at the time of his eldest son's birth, while his mother Hemangini Devi, descended from a Bengali zamindari family.
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Prasoon Joshi is an Indian lyricist, screenwriter and advertising copywriter. A prolific writer and poet, he published the first of his 3 books,... "Main aur Woh", when he was just 17. He has won the respected Filmfare Best Lyricist Award, twice, consecutively, in 2007 and 2008. He is also the Chairman of McCann Worldgroup India. Prasoon Joshi spent his earliest years in Almora, Uttarakhand, India. His father, D. K. Joshi,a [[Kumaoni Brahmin ], served as a PCS officer with the Civil Service of the State Government, and later became the Additional Director of the State's Education Service. These early years all across the North, and spending time in culture and art-soaked places like Almora, Nainital, where his extended family and relatives still live, Tehri, Chamoli Gopeshwar, and later Rampur, Meerut and Dehradun. gave Prasoon that remarkable feel for the real Indian pulse that he is now celebrated for in his lyricism and advertising. His mother, Sushma Joshi, a lecturer in Political Science, also performed for All India Radio for over three decades.
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Ananda Shankar was a Bengali musician best known for fusing Western and Eastern musical styles. He was married to Tanusree Shankar. Born in Almora... in Uttar Pradesh, India, Shankar was the son of Amala and Uday Shankar, popular dancers, and also the nephew of renowned sitarist Ravi Shankar. Ananda did not learn sitar from his uncle but studied instead with Lalmani Misra at Banaras Hindu University. In the late 1960s Shankar travelled to Los Angeles, where he played with many contemporary musicians including Jimi Hendrix. There he was signed to Reprise Records and released his first self-titled album in 1970, featuring original Indian classical material alongside sitar-based cover versions of popular hits such as The Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and The Doors' "Light My Fire". Returning to India in the early 1970s Shankar continued to experiment musically and in 1975 released his most critically acclaimed album, Ananda Shankar And His Music, a jazz-funk mix of Eastern sitar, Western rock guitar, tabla and mridangam, drums and Moog synthesizers. Out of print for many years, Ananda Shankar And His Music was re-released on CD in 2005.
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