Sergdpd: fix formatting also

2026-03-01T17:39:24Z

fix formatting also

>GreenC bot: Rescued 1 archive link. Wayback Medic 2.5

2021-04-20T19:05:25Z

Rescued 1 archive link. Wayback Medic 2.5

New page

{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
[[File:Portrait of Ram Gopal LCCN2004662942.jpg|thumb|Ram Gopal, photograph by [[Carl Van Vechten]], 1938.]]
'''Bissano Ram Gopal''' [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] (20 November 1912<ref>His passport gives his year of birth as 1917, but his contemporaries insisted it must have been closer to 1912 – [https://www.theguardian.com/india/story/0,12559,1061626,00.html]</ref> – 12 October 2003) was an Indian dancer and choreographer who performed mostly as a soloist and toured extensively throughout his lengthy career. A modernist, he blended the classical Indian dance with balletic choreography,<ref name=guard2003/> and along with [[Uday Shankar]] was among the first to showcase [[Indian classical dance]] in the West starting in the 1930s,<ref name=exp/> Polish critic [[Tadeusz Zelenski]] called him "the [[Vaslav Nijinsky|Nijinsky]] of India".

As a choreographer, he is most known for his productions, ''Legend of the Taj Mahal'', ''Dance of the Setting Sun'' and ''Dances of India''.<ref name=tele/> He is also noted for "Radha-Krishna", his collaboration with British<ref>Markova her life and art by Anton Dolin W.H. Allen london 1955</ref> ballerina Dame [[Alicia Markova]], in 1960.<ref name=nytjack/>

==Early life and training==
Gopal was born in [[Bangalore, India]]. He was named Bissano, being born on 20 November ( Bees = 20 in [[Hindi]] ). He had a Burmese mother and a [[Rajput]] father who was a barrister.<ref name=guard2003/><ref name=tele>{{cite news |title=Obituary: Ram Gopal |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1444926/Ram-Gopal.html |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=24 October 2003 }}</ref> They lived in a mansion called Torquay Castle. His grandmother was a well known dancer. Drawn to dance early on in his life, he learned [[Kathakali]] from Guru Kunju Kurup and Chandu Panickar. Once he danced at the annual garden party of the [[Maharaja of Mysore]] without his father's permission, but the Maharaja persuaded his father to allow him to receive further dance training.<ref name=deccan>{{cite news |title=Ram Gopal: the legend |author=Leela Ramanathan |url=http://archive.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/nov02/at4.asp |work=[[Deccan Herald]] |date=26 October 2003 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505104959/http://archive.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/nov02/at4.asp |archivedate=5 May 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

While in this early forties, he discovered Guru [[Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai]] of [[Pandanallur style]] under whom he started learning Bharatanatyam, followed by Muthukumaran Pillai;<ref name=hindu>{{cite news |title=Ambassador of Indian dance |url=http://www.hindu.com/fr/2003/10/24/stories/2003102401720500.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031110171622/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2003/10/24/stories/2003102401720500.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 November 2003 |website=[[The Hindu]] |date=24 October 2003 }}</ref> he also learned [[Kathak]] from Sohanlal and Bowri Prasad and even [[Manipuri dance]], all of which he assimilated into his choreographies in the coming decades.<ref name=deccan/>

==Career==
He was invited to the United States by [[La Meri]], an American dancer who specialised in non-Western forms of dance to tour with her through Asia in the 1930s. He made his solo debut in New York City on 1 May 1938, at the [[46th Street Theatre]].<ref name=nytjack>{{cite news |title=Ram Gopal, Dancer Who Opened Western Eyes to India, Dies|author=Jack Anderson|authorlink=Jack Anderson (dance critic)|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/15/obituaries/15GOPA.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=15 October 2003 }}</ref> In 1939, he was invited to Paris, where he went with Kathak dancer, Sohanlal.<ref name=hindu/> and in the same year he made his London debut at the [[Aldwych Theatre]] to immediate fame and went on to meet not just Queen Mary, but also made friends with leading figures of the ballet.<ref name=tele/> He returned to India with Ensa during the World War II.<ref name=tele/> After the war, he returned and noted dancer, Nijinsky came to "inspect him" in 1948.<ref name=tele/>

He toured extensively as a soloist and with his company both before and after World War II, and soon they were known for their costumes, staging and lighting.<ref name=guard2003/> He appeared at the New York Golden Anniversary International Dance Festival at NYC's City Center in 1948 where he represented India, the [[Jacob's Pillow]] Dance Festival in the [[Berkshires]] in 1954 and [[Edinburgh Festival]] in 1956.<ref name=nytjack/> He collaborated with ballerina Dame [[Alicia Markova]] to create a duet "Radha-Krishna" in 1960, based on [[Hindu mythology]], in which she danced as [[Radha]], while he danced as [[Krishna]]. Today their collaboration is commemorated at the [[National Portrait Gallery, London]] where her bronze bust stands next to his full-length portrait by [[Feliks Topolski]].<ref name=tele/><ref name=nytjack/><ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/914347/Ram-Gopal Ram Gopal] [[Britannica.com]].</ref> In the later years, he also danced with [[Mrinalini Sarabhai]] in Bangalore, and toured with [[Kumudini Lakhia]].<ref name=exp/> Another successful dance partnership was with the young and talented Tara Chaudhri whom Ram was very fond of. Dance critic, Cyril Beaumont editor of "Dance Journal", wrote about his dancing, "what impresses one most about Ram Gopal's dancing is the manner in which he is able to assimilate the characteristics of the four schools of technique so completely different in style, costume and mood."<ref name=deccan/>

He also danced in the Mumbai school run by the Austrian expressionist dancer [[Hilde Holger]], with whom he remained friends and collaborated with her in their experimental dance style pieces.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hildeholger.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114194324/http://www.hildeholger.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 November 2006 |title=Hilde Holger: Central European Expressionist Dancer |publisher=hildeholger.com |date=2007 |access-date=18 December 2012 }}</ref>

In Kay Ambrose's book published in 1950, ''"Classical Dances and Costumes of India,"'' the book is introduced by Ram Gopal, with foreword by Arnold Haskell containing 53 illustrations from photographs and many drawings by the author. In this introduction is included a letter Ram Gopal wrote to Kay Ambrose from Bangalore, his birthplace in February 1942. The book has many photos and illustrations of Ram Gopal performing these classical dances.

He published ''Indian Dancing'' in 1951, and his autobiography ''Rhythms in the Heavens'' in 1957;<ref name=exp>{{cite news |title=Classical dancer Ram Gopal dies in London |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/33522/ |work=[[Indian Express]] |date=16 October 2003 }}</ref> he also opened two dance schools for a short while, first in Bangalore before moving to England and later "Academy of Indian Dance and Music" in London in 1962. In his later years he lived in London, Venice and the South of France.<ref name=nytjack/>

The French filmmaker Claude Lamorisse made two films about him: "Aum Shiva" and "Ram".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120214171617/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/140054?view=credit BFI | Film & TV Database | AUM SHIVA (1970)]</ref> Gopal featured in the Indian-born British documentary filmmaker [[Sarah Erulkar]]'s short ''Lord Siva Danced'' (1947).

He received an [[Order of the British Empire]] ([[OBE]]) for services to dance in 1999,<ref name=guard2003>{{cite news |title=Obituary: Ram Gopal: Classical Indian dancer who introduced the west to the ethos and discipline of his homeland's traditional art|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/oct/13/guardianobituaries.india |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=13 October 2003 }}</ref> and the [[List of Sangeet Natak Akademi fellows|Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship]], by the [[Sangeet Natak Akademi]], India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama in 1990.<ref name=exp/>

==Personal life==
During the 1960s, while living in [[Chelsea, London]] he was briefly married to Edith Alexander, though the marriage ended only a few years later, with her death. The couple had no children.<ref name=tele/>

He died in Norbury Care Home in [[Croydon]], [[South London]], UK,<ref>Theatre World, Vol. No. 60 (2003–2004), {{ISBN|1-55783-650-7}}/{{ISBN|1-55783-651-5}}</ref><ref>[http://narthaki.com/info/profiles/profil29.html ObiTribute: Ram Gopal (1912–2003), by Ashish Mohan Khokar, Bangalore] narthaki.</ref> where he spent the last three years of his life after unsuccessfully attempting to settle down in his native Bangalore. His stay was sponsored by the Lamorrise family, [[Croydon Council]] and the [[Royal Ballet]] Benevolent Fund. After cremation his ashes were scattered on the grounds of Lamorrise family chateau in South of France where, he had spent a decade as a house guest of Mrs Claude Lamorrise.<ref name=red>{{cite web |title=Dancer Ram Gopal's ashes to be scattered in France|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/oct/23uk2.htm |date=23 October 2003 |website=[[Rediff.com]] News }}</ref> Pam Cullen, former cultural advisor to the [[India House (Indian High Commission in London)|Indian High Commission]] and Gopal's close friend, became the executor of the "Ram Gopal Estate" and donated some of his costume pieces, especially ornate headgears to [[V&A Museum]], London.<ref name=red/><ref>[https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O107051/theatre-costume/?print=1 Theatre Costume] V&A Museum.</ref>

==Works==
* ''Indian dancing'', by Ram Gopal, Serozh Dadachanji. Phoenix House, 1951.
* ''Ram Gopal: rhythm in the heavens : an autobiography'', by Ram Gopal. Secker and Warburg, 1957

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0329708|Ram Gopal}}
* {{cite news |title=Ram Gopal; Took Indian Dance to a Global Audience|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2003/oct/18/local/me-gopal18 |work=LA Times |date=18 October 2003 }}
* [https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O106799/theatre-costume/?print=1 Headdress was worn by Gopal in the ''Dance of the Setting Sun'' and ''Lord of Shiva'' dances (Image)] at [[V&A Museum]]

{{SangeetNatakAkademiFellowship}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gopal, Ram (Dancer)}}
[[Category:Performers of Indian classical dance]]
[[Category:1912 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian male dancers]]
[[Category:Kathak exponents]]
[[Category:Bharatanatyam exponents]]
[[Category:Indian classical choreographers]]
[[Category:Indian dance teachers]]
[[Category:People from Bangalore]]
[[Category:Indian people of Burmese descent]]
[[Category:Indian autobiographers]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to England]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship]]
[[Category:Indian choreographers]]
[[Category:Dancers from Karnataka]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian dancers]]
[[Category:Teachers of Indian classical dance]]
[[Category:Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:British male dancers]]
[[Category:British choreographers]]
[[Category:British autobiographers]]
[[Category:20th-century British dancers]]
[[Category:British people of Burmese descent]]

Ram Gopal (dancer) - Revision history

Sergdpd: fix formatting also

>GreenC bot: Rescued 1 archive link. Wayback Medic 2.5