Put on your dancing shoes... for some dialogue

Despite the heavy rains and awful traffic, Alliance Francaise de Bangalore was packed with people of all ages on Saturday evening, eager for the first session of Ashish Khokar’s new and unique monthly dance series: Dance Discourse.

First ever in India, this series is unlike the typical performance-watching, but rather an interactive dance dialogue where teachers, choreoraphers, dancers, critics, dance-lovers or simply those interested in any form of dance or tradition are welcome to participate, debate and discuss.

Reputed dance scholar-critic-editor, Ashish Khokar, is the man behind the scenes. “For years I wanted a neutral platform that could be a meeting place simply to discuss dance, but being a true, lazy Bangalorean, I put it off,” Khokar said. 

“Finally when Alliance offered their space for this event, I couldn’t say no.”

Each month focuses on a different idea or aspect of dance. Khokar has already planned the events for the next six months. Each event will have a similar structure. It begins with a video session where a short historical dance film will be shown of the topic at hand.

This will be followed by a panel of speakers representing different areas of dance who’ll address current topics or questions related to dance.

Finally, questions from the audience will be taken. These topics are not limited to stylistic or technical aspects of dance, but broader questions about our tradition and identity, and how this may be changing today — our future.

Saturday night’s event, ‘Purusha’, focused on male soloist dancers — a fading trend. It was based on a dance performance and book release organised by Khokar a month ago, where six male solo dancers from Karnataka were showcased.

“Thirty years ago, people were sick of seeing male dancers. Soon they may be sick of seeing only females. It’s a cycle,” said Khokar.

Khokar brought this phenomenon to light, making decreasing male dancers a popular topic across India.

When asked their opinion on this, the male soloists at the event did not seem affected. “Many males dance, but only some pursue it. For us, it’s still all about the dance,” said Praveen Kumar, one of them.

Many renowned choreographers, dancers, teachers and critics were present. To name a few: Padmini Ravi, Madhu Natraj, Dr M Suryaprasad, Kiran Subramaniam.

Saturday night’s evening appeared to be a successful start to the new series.

When asked about his expectations for the series, Khokar simply said, “Art must go forward.” When asked about any future aspirations, he said, “Eventually, I’d like to be the culture minister of India. I know all about dance and culture from the micro to the macro, and I care.” After saying his love for dance came from both his dancer-parents, he chuckled saying, “Dance is simply in my DNA.”