On the sidelines of the Purush conference that began at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan this morning, we caught up with a few delegates for some short conversations. Some excerpts from a chat with Ramli Ibrahim - one of the dancers mentioned as a game-changer for the male dancer in a response to our first Provocation.
Who would you say are some dancers who have changed the game for Indian dance, vis-a-vis the male dancer?
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| Shanta Rao |
The male dancers like Ram Gopal and Uday Shankar and also people like Shanta Rao and Yamini Krishnamurthy. These are the four great ones, and also Kelucharan Mahapatra and my guru of course, Debaprasad Das. They had a strong effect of changing some mind-sets vis-à-vis the male dancers. Because they transcend the gender thing – all of them, whether it is Shanta Rao or Ram Gopal, who is androgynous. These are the people that projected male dancing, but at the same time not in the stricture of the maleness or macho masculinity that we talk about. And because they are pioneers, with the aura they surround themselves, people forget about the question of gender. People talk about the dance. And towards this they have contributed very much – towards this transcending of the gender question.
