The dichotomy of the language of dance is perplexing in many ways, especially when it comes to the distinction between a male and female dancer. The debate about why young male dancers, especially male soloists are on the decline is always a matter of great thought and concern. It is quite ironic to understand the decline, as we worship Shiva, the God of dance, who is male. Several mythological and historical instances cite examples of male soloists. Over the years, this country has witnessed the rise and decline of male soloists, and then in the last two decades, there has been a revival of tradition of sorts again.
Ashish Khokar, managing trustee, director and curator of the Mohan Khokar dance archives of India has initiated the Mohan Khokar Award for Excellence in the field of dance and the Ram Gopal award for best male dancer. It is meant to celebrate the dedication of young individuals who have shown consistency and commitment to their discipline over the years. The award ceremony, which is going to be held in Bengaluru on Thursday, features some of the most promising male soloists in the country in different forms of classical dance. Anil Iyer (Bharatanatyam), B.P. Sweekruth (Kathak), Gururaj (Kuchipudi), Janardhan Raj Urs (contemporary), Seshadri Iyengar (Bharatanatyam), P. Praveen Kumar (Bharatanatyam), Tushar Bhatt (Kathak), Murali Mohan Kalva (Kathak), Uday Shetty (Odissi), Pulakesi Kasturi (Bharatanatyam), Parshwanath Upadhye (Bharatanatyam) and Satyanarayana Raju (Bharatanatyam) are invited to perform at the award ceremony, which is presented by Alliance Francaise and Dance History Society Of India.
“The question here is not just about male dancers but about male soloists. Men have been around when it comes to dancing other genres in the western dance forms, but Indian classical dance has seen the role of male soloists change over the years,” says Khokar. The question that needs to be addressed is the survival instinct of a male soloist. Early in the 1950s, when many classical dances were undergoing a major transition, the people who brought about that big change were male dancers, who then went onto become the pillars and doyens in their field. Later many of them became urus and established their own styles.
“Earlier, one could easily mention names like Birju Maharaj, Ram Gopal, Kelucharan Mohapatra and many more, who later went onto become gurus and developed their repertoire, style and vocabulary of dance,” says Khokar. If the 50s and 60s saw the rise of male soloist, then the next two decades of 70s and 80s were disappointing for male dancers where the numbers dropped drastically, and suddenly we had young educated women from academic backgrounds and upper middle class upbringing entering the world of dance.
“The mainstream classical dancers whom we normally associate with today started off in the late 60s and early 70s. There was a rise of bright intelligent women, who also got wonderful opportunities to come forth. Yamini Krishnamurthy, Sanjukta Panigrahi, Sonal Mansingh, Minati Mishra and Kum Kum Lal are some of the big names that evolved around then and opportunities were also available,” says Khokar, while talking about the rise of female soloists over the decades.
One of the major reasons that led to the decline was also the whole image of a man, which became stereotyped with the evolving decade of the 70s for the nation where a man was expected to earn a livelihood and survival became difficult. Then the rise of group works started and became famous, which was a kind of turning point for soloists. That caused a sharp decline and again in the 80s we saw some revival when some individuals took it upon themselves to dedicate themselves to an art form.
The problem of funding and grants for male soloists always exist and still do so. Till date, there are various problems related to financing in dance and grants and scholarships, which did not exist back in the 70s. “We have few dance festivals and our professional space for dance hasn’t evolved as it needs to be,” says Khokar.
Dance as we say is meant to be asexual. The language doesn’t particularly adhere to an individual, and is not gender specific. Even the mindset about male dancers being “sissies” did change over time, but reservations about them still exist. “The concept of dance goes far beyond the gender. Our culture speaks of Ardhanareshwara, who is an embodiment of man and woman, which means the two always go together. Every man has a bit of woman in him and vice versa. The idea of Tandav and Lasya sits very well and comfortably and the problem then maybe lies in perception of these aspects,” says Khokar. He also talks about how male dancers often come across as namby pamby, and that is not exactly appealing on stage. “As a performing artiste, one needs to concentrate even on the physique but for the ones who didn’t, the artistes were stereotyped and criticised,” says Khokar.
Most of the time, a classical dancer and moreover a soloist receives recognition for his work after half his life has passed by. “The age group of 35 to 50 is never celebrated through their best works are produced during that period. I think it is important to recognise their body of work and acknowledge and encourage them, and the idea of the Ram Gopal award for best male dancer started with the same thought,” says Khokar. “It was created to make sure that there is no bias or partiality, involved. The award will be solely based on their contribution and body of work,” adds Khokar.
He also points out that it isn’t funded by any government institution and patrons and lovers of dance have come together to put up this show. Khokar, who has been serving the field of dance for over four decades, now says that to keep the legacy alive, individuals and private institutions need to come forward. “We need to create more opportunities, which will encourage dancers and provide them with livelihood where the worry wouldn’t be to survive. If finances are taken care of, then art can beautifully survive,” he says.