EARLY ENCOUNTERS WITH THE WORLD

The 1940s and even the ’50s saw pioneers like Uday Shankar, Ram Gopal, Madame Menaka, Rukmini Devi Arundale and Guru Gopinath start companies that toured the world with elaborately mounted ballets, taking Indian dancing far and beyond. By the 1960s, however, ballet as a concept began to fade. Today, mostly governmentfunded institutions like Kathak Kendra in New Delhi, Kalakshetra in Chennai and Kerala Kalamandalam in Thrissur still stage such productions.