Where do stories come from?
They come from other storiesFrom deep within ourselves and from the cave of memories
Stories bind us and release our imaginations to swoop and soar
- Author SALMAN RUSHDIE award acceptance speech, Germany
We ask that same question each December!
"Where did the year go?"
"What? Already?"
"Gosh! How time flies!"
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Thank you so much for highlighting Prashu's story, as many of us would wonder what is the interrelation of a young queer makeup artists with the world of dance ? But here are few beans which would help us realise how it's interactional
ReplyDeleteDance being an artform is the early exposure to gender performance for people like me who are trans and or queer, however trolling has to do with the gender performance of the person involved and gender performance beyond the idea of binaries is always questioned and ridiculed.
I started classical dance at the age of 17, and somewhere my dance was the reason I was bullied and harrassed, and this means somewhere or the other way , ones choice of gender expression itself is being questioned. And with digital social media , this easy way of leaving self opinions comments and hate made it even more worse. Hate comes from a space of jeleously as more queer people come out as the world to see them, there is a fear of loosing space , power and politicality of gender/ hetero majoritarianess is what ignites hate .
Pranshu was just 19, he may not have actually figured out his own gender or sexuality but just being a male assigned at birth choosing makeup has pulled so much of hate. Now in an industry of dance where we often question the idea of makeup and it's limits to use it as a tool, it can be an easy slipaway for a dancer to trigger hate within and outside the fraternity for merely considering to choose a way to express. And someone's queer identy just adds up to hate. Its high time to realise that dance is not only for male and female persons but with ideas of inclusion and diversity , dance has opened space for queer individuals too. But ignoring and saying this topic isn't relevant is itself a question one has to ask if they themselves had unchecked their bias towards Lgbt community
Indeed, there are many dancers , who are being trolled brutally for their choice of dance , a man wearing a ghara and performing/ teaching garbha made viral content online , but often gets hate comments for just showing their authentic style . Many male belly dancers are put out as a meme material for just choosing an unconventional dance form and all of it dials down to the attitude of majority in art and its gender visibility. This should be a experience for dancers to learn on how they could overcome trolling and hate , which may not be visible upright (as usual classical dance is seen as sacred ) but eventually may trigger hate just when gender is at display (for dancers who are assigned male at birth specially)
Mental health is as important for anyone as for queer individuals and Art is Not a therapy
You need to intervien professional help to address your mental health and incident like this helpes us realise how serious mental health and trolling is and take a stand as a community to address issues within this space.
Thank you Sastry for your thoughtful comments.
ReplyDeleteI have truly admired you as an artiste and enjoyed working with you. Your remark against Kali Veerapathiran, an absolutely brilliant dancer was casteist. Removing your remark without an apology was far worse. This cannot be an unintentional remark made by you, knowing how wonderful a writer you are. Please apologize to him immediately . I still see the good in you and hope you can reclaim your respect by doing the right thing.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment. We have made a statement on the NARTHAKI INSTAGRAM page.
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