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| Pavitra Bhat |
Critic Leela Venkataraman opened the Purush Conference by suggesting that emerging polarities between the male and female should not be treated as entrenched entities, but as two sides of the same reality, each validating the other, and perhaps giving a special identity to the other. Referencing sculptures in the Mukteswara and Puri temples in Orissa, she pointed out that they do not always lend themselves to popular perceptions of 'feminine' and 'masculine' movement. The arch of the Puri temple, for instance, features women in acrobatic bandha nritya poses – a dance that they are no longer encouraged to perform.
Is gender implicit in the dance or is it what the dancer brings to the performance? Or is it of no consequence altogether? How does one start by addressing the idea of the male Indian dancer through his place in society and in how he interprets representation and identity in performance to unpack terms like maleness, masculinity and effeminacy? Excerpts from a conversation with Bharatanatyam dancer Pavitra Bhat, who opened the conference by dancing to a section of Patanjali's Shambhu Natanam Sloka.
