Astad Deboo

While the Padma Awards list mentions him from Maharashtra, he still has close links with Jamshedpur. Desite his busy schedule, he has often participated in our School and Alumni functions. Last he was here during the JAAI National Congress in October, 2004. Besides, his elder sister still lives in Jamshedpur.

Astad Deboo performing

Astad Deboo was born on July 13, 1947 in Navsari, Gujrat. He showed an inclination towards dance early in his childhood, and by the age of six was learning the Kathak style under the late Indra Kumar Mohanty and late Prahlad Das. After he graduated from Bombay University with a degree in Economics and Commerce, he was greatly inspired by the contemporary work of the American Murray Lewis Dance Company. During the same period, he worked briefly with Uttara Asha Coorlawala, who was studying the Martha Graham technique in New York. These encounters inspired Astad Deboo to undertake a journey of almost two decades during which he traversed the globe, studying different dance styles and performance traditions as he hitchhiked through South and Central America, Japan, Indonesia, Europe and the USA. When he returned to India he studied Kathakali, under Guru E. Krishna Panikar. This eclectic universe of dance coalesced into a unique style, which is a combination of extreme physical control, and powerful visual impact. A style that celebrates in one breath the exuberance of narrative based forms, and the cerebral intensity of contemporary abstraction. His range is phenomenal, from deeply introspective solo expression, to challenging group work.

Receiving the Padma Shri from the President of India

Diverse influences have given Astad Deboo the rich vocabulary that is the hallmark of a successful soloist. It has also given him the resources to engage in creative collaborations with performers in other disciplines such as theatre, music, puppetry and martial arts. His work with Dhrupad, one of the oldest form of music from the Indian classical tradition, has won accolades for its strength and interpretive clarity. His creative partnerships with puppetry, the martial art practitioners of Manipur, and his new collabortion with the Pung Cholam drummers also of Manipur, have been described as poetry in movement. His is well known for his site-specific works and has danced on the Great Wall of China, the walls of Champner Fort in Gujrat, and in Granada, Spain. He has brought his unique choreography to Bollywood films with contributions to several popular films.

Astad Deboo with Manipuri artists

His work through the last three decades has broken tradition and opened doors for the present generation of Indian dancers to venture into contenporary choreography. In recognition of his pioneering work, and creative dance, he was bestowed he Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995. Recognition has also come to him in the form of invitations to perform at prestigious dance festivals international and national, at Khajuraho in 1991, and 2004, and at the Elephanta Dance Festival in 1992.

E-mail Astad Deboo.