- Malika Kalantarova
Malika Kalantarova (born on September 2, 1950) is a famous
Tajik -American legendary dancer and temporaryBollywood actress. She is known as the Queen of Tajik Dance. [http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:9d8SD9cGf1wJ:tajikam.com/forums/showthread.php%3Ft%3D4031+Arthur+Gulkarov&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=us]Biography
Kalantarova was born with the name Mazol to a
Bukharian Jew ish family inDushanbe ,Tajikistan and was the youngest of her sisters. Mazol's father wanted her to become a hairdresser like her older sisters but Malika refused and wanted to become a dancer instead. Malika's father later on let her pursue a career in dancing. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9405E7D8143EF933A1575BC0A9609C8B63&sec=&spon=&&scp=1&sq=Malika%20Kalontarova&st=cse]Malika was trained in dance by Gh. Valamatzoda and Elzara Asanova. She was also with the "Lola Dance Ensemble" and the "Worker Resources." Malika began her career in the 1960s and her dance moves were completely in sync with the music.Kalantarova became one of the most famous entertainers in the USSR and in Central Asia. She performed all over the Soviet Union and all over Asia, not just in Central Asia. She was well-known for her folk dances and the dances she created became a part of the Central Asian artistic culture. Kalantarova toured and performed different cultural dances in nations such as
Japan [http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=195458737&albumID=0&imageID=826029] ,Afghanistan ,Spain ,Turkey ,Russia andIndia . [http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=195458737&albumID=0&imageID=19072307] While inIndia , she also started to pursue an acting career and became very popular inBollywood films in the 1970s. [http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=195458737&albumID=0&imageID=1902907] [http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=195458737&albumID=0&imageID=19074022]Kalantarova was given the country's highest honor when she was named
People's Artist of USSR in 1984. [http://sadr-new.cssd.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/texis/webinator/search?query=tions&pr=reesweb&prox=page&rorder=500&rprox=500&rdfreq=500&rwfreq=500&rlead=500&sufs=0&order=r&cq=&cmd=context&id=435c0ba4a] [http://bjews.com/modules.php?set_albumName=Dancers&id=Malika_Kalantarova&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php] .In 1993, Malika and her family moved to
Queens ,New York ,United States during the collapse of the USSR to escape the poverty, Islamic fundamentalism, and anti-Semitism in Tajikistan. In America, Kalantarova continued her dancing career by opening up the "Malika International Dance School" to teach young girls how to dance. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9407E5DA173BF935A25752C1A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&&scp=1&sq=Malika%20Bukharan&st=cse]Kalantarova is happily married to Iskhak Gulkarov, a famous drummer and "Honored Artist of Tajikistan", [http://bjews.com/modules.php] and they live in
Rego Park . They have two kids and their son, Arthur, is also a dancer. [http://gulkarov.com/]
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