The sashaying of ballet & ballroom dance into Kolkata

Colonial rule brought Ballet & Ballroom dancing to India. During the pre-independence era, they were mostly restricted to the foreigners and to the elite Indian society. It was in the 1940s that two veteran western dance teachers Bhabani Prasad (Bob) Das and Paritosh (Peter) Dey started dance classes in Kolkata.

But the real pioneer of western dance in the city was Achyut Das. Born, Achyutananda Das, he was trained in imperial ballet early in London, Paris & Milan. He was a Member of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, London and had a school in London called the Mayfair Academy of Dance wherein he taught Imperial (English) Ballet to children from Pre-Primary till Year 8. Subsequently, to encourage students in Kolkata he opened a studio at Galway Mansion, Park Street under the banner of his London school.

Subsequently, he and his students opened a dance troupe called Sonata, the first of its kind in Kolkata, which presented choreographed dance shows, retaining the broad technique of English ballet, and incorporating it with waltz, foxtrot, quickstep, tango & viennese waltz. Achyut Das is also a marketing professional and a member of the Chartered Institute of Transportation, UK.

Peter Dey had also started taking his own classes in North Calcutta, and subsequently at his school Silverstar at Lindsay Street. He was taken over by his son Tito Dey, who is a master of the Jazz Ballet.

Bob Das started his own classes in the recording room of Megaphone House (above Standard Chartered Bank) in Gariahat. Uttam Kumar became Bob's favourite student after Bob directed dance sequences in the film Shararer Itikatha starring Uttam Kumar and Mala Sinha. Veteran actors like Soumitra Chatterjee, Biswajit Chatterjee, Pahari Sanyal, Chandrabati Devi, Lalita Chatterjee, Shatabdi Roy, Deepa Das Munshi to name just a few.

All the leading men have retired from teaching but their schools are proudly carrying on the rich tradition.