Largest Tour

To introduce foreign talent to the U. S., impresarios follow a standard procedure. First comes the New York debut, then visits to a few Eastern cities, perhaps to Chicago. If press notices are good, if the artist earns enough to pay expenses, he is considered a success. A long cross-country tour is scheduled for the next year. Last winter the new foreign dancer who impressed New York most was Uday Shankar, who in an aloof, compelling way proved that ancient Hindu dances can be made into exciting theatre (TIME, Jan. 9). In ten weeks he grossed $160,000--enough to pay traveling expenses for himself and a troupe of 13 from Calcutta and back, enough to pay for a theatre, for extensive advertising and to have left over a profit for himself and his manager.

Last week Hindu Shankar was back in New York dancing with every one of his slippery muscles. Again he had with him Simkie. a Frenchwoman almost as sinuous as himself, and nine Hindu musicians who sit tailor-fashion on the floor, tap swiftly and intricately on odd-shaped drums, thrum delicately on queer little fat-necked Hindu guitars. This week Shankar starts out on a tour which will take him to New England, then through the Midwest to the Pacific Coast, back through the South. In all he will give 85 performances, this season's record number.

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