Ananda Shankar Jayant
| Ananda Shankar Jayant | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1961 (age 55–56) Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, India |
| Occupation | Classical dancer Choreographer |
| Years active | Since 1972 |
| Known for |
Bharatanatyam Kuchipudi |
| Spouse(s) | Jayant |
| Parent(s) | G. S. Shankar Subhashini Shankar |
| Awards |
Padma Shri Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Kala Ratna Award Nritya Choodamani Kalaimamani Award Natya Illavarasi Nritya Choodamani Nritya Kalasagara Natya Kalasagar Guru Debaprasad Award Indian Express Devi Award Alliance University Nritya Saraswati Vidya Tapasvi Award |
| Website | anandashankarjayant |
Ananda Shankar Jayant is an Indian classical dancer, choreographer, scholar and bureaucrat, known for her proficiency in the classical dance forms of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. She is the first woman officer in the Indian Railway Traffic Service and her 2009 TED talk is ranked among the top twelve Incredible TED talks on cancer. She is a recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Kalaimamani Award of the Government of Tamil Nadu and Kala Ratna Award of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2007, for her contributions to arts.
Ananda Shankar, born in a Tamil Brahmin family from Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu to G. S. Shankar, an officer with Indian Railways and Subhashini, a school teacher and a musician, was brought up in Hyderabad where she did her early education at St. Ann's High School, Secunderabad. She started learning classical dance at the age of 4 under Sharada Keshava Rao and, later, K. N. Pakkiriswamy Pillai, and in 1972 at the age of 11, she joined Kalakshetra of Rukmini Devi Arundale where she trained in Bharatanatyam under teachers such as Padma Balagopal, Sharada Hoffman and Krishnaveni Laxman. After six years of study, she secured her diploma and post graduate diploma from the institution in disciplines of Bharatanatyam, Carnatic music, veena, dance theory and philosophy. She returned to Hyderabad at the age of 17 and founded Shankarananda Kalakshetra, a dance school with eight students, which has since grown into a dance academy, associating such artists as Partha Ghose, Mrunalini Chunduri, Sathiraju Venumadhav and Dolan Banerjee among others. In Hyderabad, she also learned Kuchipudi under Pasumarthy Ramalinga Shastry. Concurrently, she pursued her academic studies and after completing her master's degree in Indian History and Culture from Osmania University, she passed the civil services examination to join the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS), thus becoming the first woman officer of the service. While serving IRTS, she continued her studies to secure an MPhil in Art History on a UGC research scholarship and a doctoral degree (PhD) in tourism; her thesis being Promotion of Tourism in India - Role of Railways.
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