Mohit Raj at 20:09, 28 January 2026

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{{Short description|Indian dancer and choreographer (1947–2020)}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox dancer
| name = Astad Deboo
| image = Astad Deboo (cropped).jpg
| alt =
| caption = Deboo in 2009
| full_name =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1947|07|13}}
| birth_place = [[Navsari]], [[Gujarat]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2020|12|10|1947|07|13}}
| death_place = [[Mumbai]], India
| dances = [[Contemporary dance]]{{spnd}}fusion of [[Kathak]] and [[Kathakali]]
| website = 
}}

'''Astad Deboo''' (13 July 1947{{Spaced en dash}}10 December 2020) was an Indian [[contemporary dancer]] and choreographer. He was considered a pioneer of modern dance in India.<ref>{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20030313191645/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2002/12/31/stories/2002123100160200.htm Pioneer of modern dance]}}, ''[[The Hindu]]'', 31 December 2002.</ref> Through his career he collaborated with artists including [[Pina Bausch]], [[Alison Becker Chase]] and [[Pink Floyd]], and performed across the world.<ref name=span>[http://span.state.gov/wwwhspmarapr0859.html Blending the Modern with the Traditional ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418173506/http://span.state.gov/wwwhspmarapr0859.html |date=18 April 2009 }} [[SPAN magazine]].</ref><ref name=toi/><ref>[http://www.norwayemb.org.in/culture/cooperation/danser+til+oslo08.htm Astad Deboo to Oslo] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005193749/http://www.norwayemb.org.in/culture/cooperation/danser%2Btil%2Boslo08.htm |date=5 October 2008 }} [[Embassy of Norway]], India.</ref>

He was awarded the [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] in 1995 and [[Padma Shri]] in 2007, awarded by the [[Government of India]].<ref name=":1">[http://specials.rediff.com/news/2007/jul/13sld1.htm Astad Deboo, 60] [[Rediff.com]], 13 July 2007.</ref>

==Early life==

Deboo was born on 13 July 1947 into a [[Parsis|Parsi]] family in [[Navsari]], in the Indian state of Gujarat.<ref name=":0"/> He grew up in [[Kolkata]] till the age of six after which his family shifted to [[Jamshedpur]], where his father was employed with [[Tata Steel]]. His mother was a homemaker, and he had two sisters, Kamal and Gulshan.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Astad deboo|url=https://www.sruti.com/index.php?route=archives/artist_details&artId=48|access-date=10 December 2020|website=www.sruti.com}}</ref>

At the age of six, he started learning the [[Kathak]] dance form, from the late Indra Kumar Mohanty and the late Prahlad Das. He studied at [[Loyola School, Jamshedpur]], from where he passed out in 1964,<ref name=lo/> after which he moved to Mumbai and joined a [[Bachelor's degree|bachelor's course in commerce]] at [[Podar College]], [[University of Mumbai]].<ref name=":0" />

== Dance career ==
While pursuing his degree in Mumbai (then [[Bombay]]), he happened to see the contemporary dance of the American Murray Louis Dance Company, which left him inspired. Shortly afterwards, artist Uttara Asha Coorlawala who was studying dance in New York, visited Bombay, and helped him join [[Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance]] in New York.<ref name="toi"/> Deboo left Bombay in 1969, on board a cargo boat that set sail from Bombay port, and later hitchhiked his way through Europe to eventually reach New York in 1974.<ref name="toi">[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/delhi-times/astad-deboo-in-step-with-life/articleshow/8183694.cms Astad Deboo: In step with life] [[The Times of India]], 28 April 2002.</ref>

Over the next decade, he went on to attend the [[London School of Contemporary Dance]] where he learnt [[Martha Graham]]'s [[modern dance]] technique and thereafter went on to learn [[José Limón]]'s technique in New York.<ref name=quint>{{cite web|url=https://www.thequint.com/entertainment/celebrities/dance-pioneer-astad-deboo-dies-in-mumbai-at-73|title=Modern Indian Dance Pioneer Astad Deboo Passes Away at 73|date=10 December 2020 |publisher=The Quint|access-date=10 December 2020}}</ref> He also trained with [[Pina Bausch]] in the Wuppertal Dance Company, Germany and with [[Alison Becker Chase]] of the Pilobolus Dance Company, and travelled through Europe, Americas, Japan and Indonesia.<ref name=quint/> On his return in 1977, he studied [[Kathakali]], under Guru E. Krishna Panikar, in [[Thiruvalla]], Kerala, where he eventually performed at the famous [[Guruvayur Temple]].<ref name=quint/> All these explorations led to the creation of a dance style unique to him, an amalgamation of [[Indian classical dance]] and western group dance techniques.<ref name=lo>[http://loyola.edu.in/content/view/120/59/ Alumni arrow Padma Shri for Astad Deboo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020070007/http://loyola.edu.in/content/view/120/59/ |date=20 October 2008 }} [[Loyola School, Jamshedpur]]</ref><ref>[http://www.livemint.com/2007/08/11000939/Astad-Deboo.html?d=1 Astad Deboo: is the most recognizable figure of modern dance here] [[Mint (newspaper)|Mint]], 11 August 2007.</ref><ref name=teh/><ref>{{cite news |title=नवनृत्यनायक |url=https://www.loksatta.com/agralekh-news/editorial-on-famous-dancer-padma-shri-astad-debu-passed-away-abn-97-2352422/ |access-date=28 December 2020 |work=[[Loksatta]] |date=12 December 2020 |language=mr-IN}}</ref>

A turning point in his career came in 1986, when [[Pierre Cardin]] commissioned him to choreograph for [[Maya Plisetskaya]], the prima ballerina of the [[Bolshoi Theater]] ballet company.<ref name=toi/> Over the years he collaborated with [[Pink Floyd]] at the Chelsea Town Hall in London, the [[Gundecha Brothers]], Pina Bausch of the Wuppertal Dance Company, Germany, and the [[Thang-Ta]] – the martial art and [[Pung cholom]] dancers of [[Manipur]].<ref name=quint/> He worked for several years with Tim McCarthy at [[Gallaudet University]] in Washington for the deaf performing arts program, and the production "Road Signs" toured India in 1995, with a troupe drawn from Gallaudet and Deboo's Indian students.<ref name=span/><ref>[http://www.narthaki.com/info/intervw/intrvw33.html Astad Deboo Profile and Interview] narthaki.com.</ref><ref>[http://parsikhabar.net/astad-deboo-awarded-padma-shri/ Astad Deboo Awarded Padma Shri] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107150338/http://parsikhabar.net/astad-deboo-awarded-padma-shri/ |date=7 January 2010 }} By arzan sam wadia, 29 January 2007.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080719164743/http://www.lingalayam.com/node/64 Astad Deboo Profile] Lingalayam Dance Company.</ref>

In January 2005, he along with a troupe of 12 young women with hearing impairment, from the [[Clarke School for the Deaf]], [[Chennai]], and part of the Deboos Astad Deboo Dance Foundation, performed at the 20th Annual [[Deaf Olympics]], at Melbourne, Australia.<ref>[http://www.mid-day.com/news/2004/dec/99244.htm Deaf Olympics: Astad Deboo to perform] [[MiD DAY]], 24 December 2004.</ref> He choreographed the 2004 Hindi film by painter [[M. F. Husain]], ''[[Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Contemporary – Ananya Dance Festival 2009|url=http://www.sehernow.in/ananya2009htmls/Contemporary.htm|access-date=10 December 2020|website=www.sehernow.in}}</ref> In 2009, he performed his production, 'Breaking Boundaries' with fourteen street children from the NGO [[Salaam Baalak Trust]]. These children had trained with his troupe for six months.<ref name=teh>[http://www.tehelka.com/story_main41.asp?filename=hub090509dancing_to.asp Dancing To A Revolution] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308075607/http://www.tehelka.com/story_main41.asp?filename=hub090509dancing_to.asp |date=8 March 2012 }} [[Tehelka]], 9 May 2009.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120111045702/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/05/01/stories/2009050150350200.htm Wah! Astad] ''[[The Hindu]]'', 1 May 2009.</ref> In 2019, he collaborated with [[Hema Rajagopalan]], [[Sikkil Gurucharan]] and [[George Brooks (musician)|George Brooks]] to perform "INAI" with the Natya Dance Theatre in Chicago.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Warnecke |title=Natya Dance's world premiere 'Inai' asks, what if there were no differences, racial or otherwise?|work=Chicago Tribune |date=9 November 2019 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/reviews/ct-ent-natya-dance-review-1111-20191109-csje2h3iynchtcvoz4nffw27dy-story.html}}</ref>

== Death ==
He died in Mumbai aged 73 on 10th Dec 2020, a month after being diagnosed with [[Non-Hodgkin lymphoma|non-Hodgkins lymphoma]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-12|title=Astad Deboo passes away: He talked with every muscle in body — and with his stillness|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/art-and-culture/astad-deboo-passes-away-he-talked-with-every-muscle-in-body-and-with-his-stillness-7100145/|access-date=2020-12-14|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Dance Pioneer Astad Deboo|url=https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/dance-pioneer-astad-deboo-dies-at-73-2336599|access-date=10 December 2020|website=NDTV.com}}</ref>

==Awards==

* 1995: [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]<ref>[http://www.sangeetnatak.com/programmes_recognition&honours_dance_cdc.html Dance-Creative Dance/Choreography] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005121314/http://www.sangeetnatak.com/programmes_recognition%26honours_dance_cdc.html |date=5 October 2008 }} [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] Official listings.</ref>
* 2007: [[Padma Shri]]<ref name=":1" />

==See also==
* [[List of dancers]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Art}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deboo, Astab}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian male dancers]]
[[Category:Indian choreographers]]
[[Category:Indian contemporary dancers]]
[[Category:Modern dancers]]
[[Category:People from Jamshedpur]]
[[Category:University of Mumbai alumni]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]
[[Category:Kathak dancers]]
[[Category:Dancers from Gujarat]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian dancers]]
[[Category:Parsi people]]
[[Category:Deaths from non-Hodgkin lymphoma]]
[[Category:Gallaudet University faculty]]

Astad Deboo - Revision history

Mohit Raj at 20:09, 28 January 2026