Breaking “Mard” stereotypes through my Nritya: Prem Sahoo.

Type Of Art Form– Classical Dance

Art Featured– Odissi Dance

Art Form In General

Odissi was originally called, ‘Odra-Nritya’ which is recognised all over the globe. It is an absolute example of great body movements, expressions and gestures. The themes of Odissi stem from Vaishnavism and gods like Shiva, Surya and Shakti.

The grooves that went behind this graceful choreography:

Indian classical music and dance are not just for entertainment; they are designed to elevate your consciousness. An artist’s relationship to their heritage is the same as the relationship of a child to its mother.

It has been a long-established protest that Indian youth are extremely influenced by Western culture. With India rapidly becoming a global environment in terms of food, culture and economy. How to make sure our youth do not fail to understand the richness of being a real Indian? So through this choreography, my agenda was to ping our youth about the beauty of our nation. And I hope I was successful in conveying my message.

The inspiration that went behind choosing this art form:

Prem discovered dance as his passion at an early stage, and decided to take Odissi dance form ahead in his life. But no, this is not only the story behind his journey. He definitely found his happiness in Indian Classical dance, but one thing that kept him going was his challenges which he twirled gracefully into his strength.

It has always been a path full of hard stones for male dancers to paint themselves into classical dancers because of stereotypes. Prem wants to shriek and ask a question from the whole society, “who determines which colours, design, patterns, dance, music, sports etc. are for men and which ones are for women?” Like every male, Prem was taunted and oppressed by his society for his passion. He was tagged with several names, “Dancing Queen, Mammu, Chamiya, Mitta, Chakka” just because I chose classical dance over tough sports. He also faced physical intimidation, cyberbullying, sometimes even death threats. These things weakened me for a while, but then I germinated strength out of it to break “Mard” stereotypes. This inspired me to evolve myself into an influential dancer and choreographer and be unstoppable since then.

Brief about our young and robust artist:

Prem is a classical dance enthusiast. Since 2011, he has been learning Odissi dance under Padma Shri Guru Smt. Madhavi Mudgal, at Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. Madhavi Mudgal is the foremost exponent of the Odissi style taught by the Late Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, and Prem is one of the direct beneficiaries of this extremely lyrical dance form.

He completed his graduation in Fine Arts from Delhi College of Arts and also earned a scholarship from Sahitya Kala Parishad, Government Of Delhi. He has always been loyal towards his passion which led him to drive on the path of his dreams. After facing so many challenges, Prem still stood like an invincible wall. Through all his ebb and flow, his parents remained his constant pillar.

Today he has evolved as a brilliant classical dancer, and he takes part in the number of group performances plus solo in various prestigious dance festivals in India and abroad with his guru. Also, he would like to highlight his main subject, breaking the “mard” word by wearing dhoti and saree.

A strong message directly from our artist:

Prem adores Indian culture and heritage and wants everyone to follow it. He is not ready to let our Indian culture fade one day, which can happen. So to water it daily, he wants all the school dance teachers to spread knowledge about India classical dance and music amongst their students. And make Indian classical culture as part of their curriculum.

Plus he asks every bullied artist to share their experiences with other artists to develop strength in them. These experiences help you to become a better and more enriched person. A journey without challenges is just like a bland diet..! Before wrapping up, Prem recites this famous quote, “If people are trying to bring you down, it only means that you’re above them.”

Art Available On– Instgram (@premsahoo_odiss )

                                 Youtube (@PremSahoo_ Youtube)