Astad Deboo

Astad Deboo

Astad Deboo was an Indian contemporary dancer and choreographer. Through his career he collaborated with artists including Pina Bausch, Alison Becker Chase and Pink Floyd. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1996 and Padma Shri in 2007, awarded by the Government of India.

About Astad Deboo in brief

Summary Astad DebooAstad Deboo was an Indian contemporary dancer and choreographer. Through his career he collaborated with artists including Pina Bausch, Alison Becker Chase and Pink Floyd. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1996 and Padma Shri in 2007, awarded by the Government of India. He died in Mumbai aged 73 on 10th Dec 2020, a month after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He was considered a pioneer of modern dance in India and performed across the world.

He 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. 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.