Every day during the 5-day event, the Purush blog proposes one or more provocations for presenters and audiences to engage with and respond to. Readers are welcome to respond as well. Please email us at blog.purush@gmail.com.
V
22 December 2013
The namby pambiness and normally considered effeminate male dancer of 20/30 years ago is gone! The new male - of whatever sexual orientation - is more confident of his sexuality. It shows in his dance. Although off stage, most still continue to wear awful shining/flashy clothes to seek attention or make a style (lack of!) statement. The single biggest difference is acceptance of the male solo dancer by conservative Madras folks.! Bombay, Bangalore , Kolkata or Delhi have always been more accepting and cosmo. PURUSH has made a difference.
ashish mohan khokar
editor-attendance &
chair-dance hist soc.
As an audience/viewer, I think this fest has given a big transformation to me. I have learnt, as C. V. Sir said, to move above the level of watching a 'body' dancing to watching a 'dancer' dance. Independent of the gender of the dancer, the more important thing is to notice the rasa developed by the dance, noticing those small moments of ananda rather than noticing the structure of gender of the performer.
audience response
Dance on a male or female body is not a problem at all.As an audience/viewer, I think this fest has given a big transformation to me. I have learnt, as C. V. Sir said, to move above the level of watching a 'body' dancing to watching a 'dancer' dance. Independent of the gender of the dancer, the more important thing is to notice the rasa developed by the dance, noticing those small moments of ananda rather than noticing the structure of gender of the performer.
audience response
But integrity to the audience's eye is important. If the man is stocky and well built and does effiminate dance, it is not so pleasing. But if he has an audience, very good for him!
audience response
IV
21 December 2013
Facebook responses:
Quiejack Bose Colette -The Vagabond
Swayamprava Mishra
Shikhandi...the whole story....from his curse to mahabharat...
III
20 December 2013
Pavitra Bhat
No 9. projects the neatness of the padabheda.
No. 1 represents a beautifully sculpted body on stage.
II
19 December 2013
What is your idea of maleness / masculinity in dance?
Words, photos, sketches, weblinks... all welcome
Facebook responses:
I
18 December 2013
Who would you say are the five dancers who have changed the game for dance in India, vis-a-vis the male dancer, and why?
RESPONSES
K. Hariharan
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| Kelucharan Mahapatra |
- Kelucharan Mahapatra - on tops! For his amazing ways of handling the most erotic poems with the kind of gracefulness that Odissi deserves.
- Birju Maharaj, for establishing Kathak as a formidable art form.
- V. P. Dhananjayan, he gave Bharatnatym's group choreography and new dimension.
- Ramli Ibrahim, for providing a level of vibrancy and energy to Bharatnatyam while also trying to take it into a global platform.
- Kamal Haasan, maybe the odd one out. But one look at 'Salangai Oli' or his other choreographic experiments, you know you are looking at the most significant [player] in Indian dance's transition to popular cinema.
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| Birju Maharaj |
Sorry, I have not had the opportunity to see much in Kathakali or Chhau, which are all about great male dancers.
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Meenakshi Doctor
- Uday Shankar
- Ram Gopal
- Astad Deboo
- Chathunni Paniker
- Kelucharan Mahapatra
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| Uday Shankar |
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| Chathunni Paniker |
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Ragothaman Yennamalli
List of lesser-known/ forgotten heroes
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| Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury |
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| US Krishna Rao |
- US Krishna Rao - The guru who was courageous to stand against society's norms and was instrumental to bring on stage, one of the first husband-wife couple dances.
- Nala Najan - His dance was perfect, unfortunately not known to the current generation
- Kamadev - The dancer who collaborated with Chandralekha.
- Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury - Another creative dancer whose art was not seen by many
- Kattumannarkoil Muthukumara Pillai - The guru whose students became trailblazers.
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| Muthukumara Pillai, from the Mohan Khokar Dance Collection |
Ashish Khokar
The 5 male dancers who have moved us over the decades and contributed significantly to his chosen genre/form are:
- Astad Deboo, the lone ranger for and in Indian modern dance.
- Navtej "Singh is King" of solo male Bharatanatyam made contemporary
- Birju Maharaj for complete mastery over all aspects of the dance art
- Uday Shankar of course, for pioneering dance choreography.
- Ram Gopal for making Indian male dancing fashionable and popular.
wow.. great.. hope to see more responses tomorrow.. keep the same questions for tomorrow also perhaps.. and add one more
ReplyDelete1. Uday Shankar and Ramgopal both i keep at first stand- we have read about them.
ReplyDelete2. Birju Maharaj- taking on legacy of Bindadin, SHambhu, Lachu Maharaj along with Durgalal
3. Gopikrishna- though kathak exponent chosen film media to popularise dance
4. Kelucharan Mohapatra- no need of an introduction- there were few Hare krihsna Behera, gangadhar pradhan etc
5. Singhjeet singh- bipin singh etc in east part.
One Some one NAIR of kathakali he could play every muscle of his face with ease and plyed roles of godess parvati, ganga etc with face- i saw him dnace at age of 76- seated on chair. but we could feel as if all the goddesses were there.
how can i leave RAJA Reddy and guru Vempati China Satyam