As the music begins, the man puts his hand around the woman’s waist, holds her close to him and begins dancing. As the tempo increases, he makes her twirl and then lifts the woman. The tasteful acrobatics go on till the song stops, and there the woman is — half-sprawled on the ground with the man holding her.
The scene is of a tango performance and as one must have inferred, it’s a show of strength by the man. The woman is decidedly demure. It’s so not just with tango. There is a whole genre of such Western forms like Salsa, tango, flamenco, ballroom dance, rumba and cha-cha that feature in many contemporary dance compositions. All of them claim to be breaking the patriarchal paradigm that has defined various dance forms for centuries. But while doing so, at least some elements of the machismo — if not a chunk of it — of these dance forms seems to have permeated into contemporary dance as well.
Or, don’t they? Yes, some masters do agree.
Andrea Jacob, who has been teaching dance forms like Salsa and tango to enthusiasts for more than a decade, concedes that some of these sexist movements creep into her stage shows, at least unconsciously. “Whatever influences you, becomes part of you. So subconsciously, I still use those techniques that might irritate the woman in me,” she explains.
The tango, she says, is the most patriarchal of the forms. The dance originated in the lowerclass districts of Argentina and in the 20th century, spread to Europe and then to the US. In Europe, it became famous as a kind of ballroom dance and that’s how it is popularly perceived now. The dance is performed with the partners in close proximity; the man has a hand around the woman’s waist and is always leading. The same is with waltz.
Salsa, the most popular of Latin American dance forms, is a fusion of various Cuban dance forms like Mambo, Danzon, Guaguanco and Cuban Son. It is known for its sensuous movements but, like other forms that originated in a patriarchal society, Salsa always has the man leading and lifting the woman, while the lady is always coy and only supposed to follow. “Even when the male dancer is incompetent and getting the steps wrong, he’s right as he’s leading,” says Andrea.
So, how does she get around the machismo in Salsa? “I play around and try to use it as much as I can to my advantage,” the danseuse says.
Elaborating, Andrea goes on to explain how she experimented by having two women or two men dancing. “And it looked equally appealing”.
Most of these dance forms emerged in a patriarchal society and this exists in many cultures.
Critic Sadanand Menon notes that Salsa, tango, flamenco et al, by any standards, project the macho idea of the male body. “Woman plays the subservient part. Some of these elements have been absorbed into contemporary dance,” he points out. Even in many classical Indian dances, women are portrayed as supplicating to the Lord or her lover. “Nobody questions this as it is ‘our tradition’,” adds Menon.
While there have been many dancers who have broken this macho mould, notably Chandralekha in India and, say, Martha Graham and Isadora Duncan in the US, these masculine ideas of dance have not been sufficiently questioned and not completely done away with.
But not all agree. Jeffrey Vardon, who runs the Hot Shoe Dance Company in Chennai, believes that these dances are gender-neutral.
“True, in a lot of these dances, the man leads the way, but he doesn’t dictate to the woman. The woman has to know her steps and without the lady, there will be no partnership,” he notes.
Danseuse Anita Ratnam disagrees. She chooses to describe these dance forms “as nothing more than social-based club dancing,” and says, “In salsa and tango, the woman is there like a trophy to be shown off. The man always leads, pulls and pushes the woman as he wishes. Also, such close proximity creates a lot of unspoken sexual tension.” While contemporary dance allows women to reclaim their position and subvert the machogaze, not many are doing it, she adds. As a proponent of classical Indian dances, Anita feels that one can, within the realm of classical dance, examine a lot of themes that are not patriarchal in its outlook. “See, the traditional repertoire were taught by male gurus. And many of them perpetuate the patriarchal paradigm where the woman is pining and the man is philandering.
Even so, there are also a lot of thumris and folk songs that are humorous and provide a different outlook,” says Anita.
Therein lies the challenge of finding a balance.
For, most of the traditional themes and techniques are embedded in the mind and body of classical dancers. They have to make a conscious choice of what they choose as their repertoire.
And not only that, as Andrea points out, there has to be an audience and adequate support system for dancers if they want to experiment.
Without these, the dancers may not get the incentive to experiment and try new themes.
nithya@epmltd.com
