Sharon Lowen - Early Life

Early Life

Sharon Lowen grew up in Detroit, USA, where her father was a chemical engineer and her mother a clinical psychologist. She trained in modern dance, Cecchetti ballet and classes at the Detroit Institute of Arts in puppetry, mime and theater since childhood, was a member of the Detroit Puppetry Guild, Puppeteers of America and UNIMA, performed with George Latshaw’s puppets for the Detroit and Cleveland symphony orchestras and Jim Henson offered her an apprenticeship with the Muppets which was declined to accept a Fulbright scholarship to India.

Indian family friends introduced her to Indian culture at an early age and her academic career at Michigan gave an exposure to Asian arts that nudged her toward India. Through the U of Michigan Honors College she created a triple-major BA in Humanities, Fine arts and Asian Studies. Studies in ethnomusicology, Indian art history, Indian history and religion with Professors William Malm, Walter Spink, John Broomfield and Padmanabhan Jaini, respectively as well as Manipuri dance with Minati Basu Roy encouraged her pursuit of an opportunity for deeper study of classical traditions in India. Social activism led to becoming the first freshman elected to the U of M Student Government Council.

Following her Bachelors degree in Humanities, Fine Arts, Asian Studies and an M.A. in Education and Dance, Lowen arrived in India on a Fulbright scholarship in 1973 to continue Manipuri dance with Guru Singhajit Singh at Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi. With extension and renewal of the Fulbright to 1975, she also trained in Mayurbhanj Chhau under Guru Krushna Chandra Naik, Odissi under Guru kelucharan Mohapatra, Manipuri Pala Cholam under Guru Thangjam Chaoba Singh and Manipuri Maibi Jagoi under Gurus Ranjana Maibi, Kumar Maibi and R.K. Achoubi Sana Singh.