BENGALURU: An initiative started by a Bharatanatyam dancer Bhargavi Gowtham to teach the classical dance to boys seems to be failing.
At the inauguration function on Sunday, where the announcement about a class exclusively for boys was made, only six boys were present.
However, Bhargavi hopes to conduct the workshop after reaching out to more boys.
Bhargavi Gowtham who started Natyotsuka Dance Academy in December last year says, “The initiative is to encourage more boys to learn the classical art form. I have got very few enquiries.”
She believes that dance as relevant to boys as to girls, and that parents should take their children to watch more performances.
“Only then would they know if they are want to learn it,” she says.
The post-graduate in dance runs a class that only girls attend.
She says, “When boys come to learn, they see a lot of girls and feel discouraged. At the institute run by my guru Ashok Kumar, there are only five boys out of 8,200 students.”
Odissi dancer Madhulita Mohapatra attributes the decrease in interest among boys to learn dance to the fewer professional prospects that men have. She says, “Men are supposed to earn for the family after marriage.”
But she thinks the efforts to encourage male classical dancers have been partly successful. “I include male dancers in our events,” she adds.
Despite what these women city artistes have to say, their male counterparts on think the trend is changing, that men are becoming more comfortable with classical dance form.
P Praveen Kumar, a Bharatanatyam dancer, says unlike earlier, there are no taboos now for on men taking to dancing, thanks to exposure available through reality shows.
He says, “I faced no problems as I come from a family of artistes. I have heard others say it was difficult for their families to accept that they wanted to be dancers. People wanted their children to become doctors or engineers.”
He adds that more men usually want to learn classical dance nowadays as these forms are like a foundation to others.
“Those who learn classical dance find it easier to grasp other forms. They not only learn dance but also go into other aspects, like make up and costume,” he says. “As long as they are sincere, it is not difficult.”
Another Bharatnatyam dancer Seshadri Iyengar says you find more than 1,000 male dancers in the city. He has been conducting workshops for two years.
He says, “Last year, there were five boys in the batch of 21 and this year, there were eight among 43 students.”