By Ketu H. Katrak
Seagull, 2025
Twenty years ago, Mahesh Dattani's landmark play Dance Like a Man portrayed the personal and professional struggles of Jairam, a male dancer. While Jairam faces numerous challenges, his wife Ratna rises above the constraints of traditional respectability to achieve far greater success in the world of dance. The play is about rigid gender roles, stereotyping, and expectations of men as breadwinners within Indian patriarchal systems. While it is hard to make a career in any art form in India, dance is specifically labelled as a feminine pursuit. Like Jairam, many male dancers encounter charges of effeminacy, dismissal of their artistic practice as gainful employment, and accusations of attempting to convert dance - perceived as more of a hobby (and a disreputable one at that) - into a profession.
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