Uttara Asha Coorlawala
Bharatanatyam Performer
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About
Uttara Asha Coorlawala is a distinguished dancer, choreographer, scholar, and educator renowned for her pioneering work in intercultural innovation within Indian contemporary dance. Born in Hyderabad, India, and educated in Mumbai, she received training in Bharatanatyam (Kalakshetra style), hatha yoga with B.K.S. Iyengar, and Siddha Yoga. She furthered her…
Journey Timeline
1970
Received John D. Rockefeller 3rd Fund Fellowship — To study choreography in New York City.
1973-1987
Solo dance tours — Performed modern dance, Bharatanatyam, and yoga across India, Europe, East Europe, Japan, and the USA.
1976-1978
Received Homi Bhabha Fellowship for choreographic Research
1994
Received CORD Graduate Research Award
1999
Received Research Fellowship Asian Pacific Performers Exchange
2003
Received Research Fellowship, The AHRB Research Centre for Crosscultural Music and Dance Performance
2005
Served as Principal Investigator for Asia Society/Ford Foundation project — On Artistic Production & Cultural Identity in U.S. Immigrant/Diasporic Communities.
2008
Began serving as Curator for the Erasing Borders Festival of Indian Dances in New York
2009
Received Asian Cultural Council, Discretionary Travel grant
2011
Awarded Sangeet Natak Akademi Puruskar Award (for 2010) — India's highest award in the Performing Arts, for Dance Performance and choreography.
2011
Received Sangeet Natak Akademi grant for research in contemporary Dance in India
2017-2018
Mentored Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow Lalitha
2018
Authored 'Re-Imaging the Past: A report on Reimagining Indian Dance: Moving Forward' — Published on Narthaki.
2020
Delivered invited lecture 'On Diversifying Dance' at University of North Carolina – Charlotte
2020
Delivered online global lecture on Indian dance from an American Perspective for Shri Shri University, Bhubhaneshwar, India
2021
Served as a panelist for an online public program for the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
2022
Presented 'Diversity and Equality in Teaching Indian Dance History' at the IGNCA-Vadodara Symposium
2023
Served as a jury member for a dance competition
2024
Invited to address seminar attendees at the Sangeet Natak Akademi
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Awards & Honors
- 2010 · Sangeet Natak Akademi Puruskar Award — Sangeet Natak Akademi, India
- 2011 · Sangeet Natak Akademi grant for research in contemporary Dance in India — Sangeet Natak Akademi, India
- 2009 · Asian Cultural Council, Discretionary Travel grant — Asian Cultural Council
- 2003 · Research Fellowship, The AHRB Research Centre for Crosscultural Music and Dance Performance — Universities of Surrey, Roehampton, and the School of Oriental and African Studies, U.K.
- 2005 · Principal Investigator, for Artistic Production & Cultural Identity in U.S. Immigrant/Diasporic Communities — Asia Society/Ford Foundation
- 1999 · Research Fellowship Asian Pacific Performers Exchange — UCLA Center for Intercultural Performance
- 1994 · CORD Graduate Research Award — Congress on Research in Dance (CORD), U.S.A.
- 1976 · Homi Bhabha Fellowship for choreographic Research — Homi Bhabha Fellowship Council, India
- 1970 · John D. Rockefeller 3rd Fund Fellowship to study Choreography in NYC — John D. Rockefeller 3rd Fund
- Dadabhai Naoroji Lifetime Achievement Award — British and Indian governments
- Phi-Sigma-Psi honor award — Smith College
- Kappa Delta Pi — National Honor Society of Educators
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