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.
Read more about this topic: Sharon Lowen
Famous quotes containing the words early life, early and/or life:
“... goodness is of a modest nature, easily discouraged, and when much elbowed in early life by unabashed vices, is apt to retire into extreme privacy, so that it is more easily believed in by those who construct a selfish old gentleman theoretically, than by those who form the narrower judgments based on his personal acquaintance.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“Although good early childhood programs can benefit all children, they are not a quick fix for all of society’s ills—from crime in the streets to adolescent pregnancy, from school failure to unemployment. We must emphasize that good quality early childhood programs can help change the social and educational outcomes for many children, but they are not a panacea; they cannot ameliorate the effects of all harmful social and psychological environments.”
—Barbara Bowman (20th century)
“The happiest part of a man’s life is what he passes lying awake in bed in the morning.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)