It was a pepper in Konark, Odisha on the evening of February. The royal sun temple was being painted in hot golden color by the rays of the sun setting. A little away from this 13th -century stone area, the Konark Natya Mandap (site for the annual Konark Music and Dance Festival) was happily participated by young boys. Soon, by his guru, they entered a small room behind the stage, where they were quickly prepared as girls in wide costumes, bright makeup and beaded jewelery. When they finally appeared on the stage, the Gotipua dancers shocked everyone with their grace and agility.

What the boys did took forward to dance to Lord Jagannath to take forward an ancient tradition of cross-dressing. Gotipua is a precursor to Odissi’s classical dance style, which irony is now dominating women.

Not only Odissi, classical dances such as Kathakali and Kuchipudi and some folk forms were also especially prevalent by men who also took female characters. The tradition, roughly, continues. Of course, Kuchipudi has made a complete change from being a male preserved to becoming a stronghold of women. While women say steps in the West in India, in the west, male ballet choreographers and directors of the company have immense impact. In 2022, US-based lawyer and activist Elizabeth B. Yentima’s dance data project excluded the stunning numbers, which seriously thought about sexualism and gender inequality to the ballet world.

Gender identity is an internal aspect of dance. It is largely influenced by socio-cultural values ​​or the dance gender refers to the socio-cultural pattern. Since the body is the origin of the dance, acting as a site for individual and cultural expression, the movements are naturally divided into masculine and feminine. This division has been shrinking with years of involvement in choreography, cursion and teaching. However, it may not be easy for women to navigate male gaze, which ends the limited creative possibilities of harmful sex and art. Today, dance has emerged as a weapon to fight patriarchal power structures for women, allowing him to show his attitude, experience and feelings.

In the month of March, when we celebrate the strength of women in owning our identity, we ask some male dancers who often play female characters, how it seems to experience femininity, although briefly on stage.

Srikanth Natarajan says that it is very challenging to portray women like vocal queen Chandramathi. , Photo Credit: Hindu Archives

Srikanth Natarajan, a Bharatanam and Bhagwat Mela artist, who is famous for playing the role of a heroine in various Bhagwat Mela dance plays, feels that it is very challenging to portray women with vocal queen Chandramathi, Komal Sita, The Darring Rukmini and intelligent sanctuary. I once also portrayed a pregnant Devaki. “Dresses, makeup and methods, to some extent, help me to do metamorphosis in these characters, but it is emotional change that matters more. Overview and internalization is important because in the Bhagavata Mela you portray a character, not for a few minutes, but for hours such as often last night. For four decades I have been playing a female role, and it has helped me achieve a deep view of a woman’s life. ,

Kuchipudi dancers prefer to see art beyond the sepulting division. “Although I shout to a male-oriented dance drama tradition, in my single performances I usually do not choose the heroine-centric pieces. I think art is about self-expression and does not need to be associated with masculinity or femininity. There should be a way to avoid gender movement and just dancing bodies, not boys and girls to dance. ,

Kuchipudi dancer Avizit Das. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Any discussion about men in dance will be incomplete without mentioning the mark of American modern dancer and choreographer Ted Sean. He took it as a mission to establish a dance as a valid medium for the creative male artist. In 1930, Ted Sean launched Jacob’s Pillo Dance Festival (one of the oldest festivals in the United States) and made a new dance order with all his male circles. He also turned the image of the male dancer into a symbol of manhood.

A conditioned by social and cultural stereotypes, dancers offer gender to their movements. But this is mostly when they are in front of the audience. At an individual level, dance for an artist, an intimate experience and the penis is a non-dust for a moving body.

Renowned Yakshagana artist Radhakrishna Ula says, who specializes in donating female roles: “Traditionally, men always played the role of women in Yakshagana (a dramatic art form popular in coastal Karnataka). This is a very challenging task. You have to learn the style of speaking, tricks and body language to ensure the participation of the audience with the character. They need to believe that a woman is on stage. ,

Noted Yakshagana artist Radhakrishna Ula | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Sometimes, it can also become a loss. “Some spectators try to get very close, or a man in a sari, despite knowing that a man is playing a role.

When Radhakrishna had to play Putamate in Champa Shetty’s Kannada Play AkkuHe was attracted to his grandmother’s memories. When he repeated the role in the film Ammachi Emba Nenpu, No one could believe that it played a person role, until he came out to meet the audience after the end-edged.

Kathakali artist Kottakkal CM Annik Rrrishnan sometimes connects with those characters so deeply that he starts thinking about what went wrong and how it could be resolved. “I have played Mohini, Damayanti, Lalita and something, and every time I go on stage, it requires immense emotional and physical preparation. It cannot stop with the right costumes and makeup, you need to attach and understand these women. ,

Kathakali artist Kottakkal CM Anannik Rrrishnan | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

It is midnight when Melatur is alive during the annual Bhagwat Mela Utsavam held in the month of May. Varadaraja Perumal Temple on stage AgraharamSrikanth Rani appears as Chandramathi, whose life has been reduced to an ordinary woman. She runs into the forest in search of her son, who has died of snake bite. As soon as she holds her body in her hands, you see the audience crying in the reflection of LED lights. Srikanth had made Chandramathi his own. For some time, the gender division was blurred.