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| Dancer Ram Gopal dies in London By KutcheriBuzz staff / Madras |   | |||
 Veteran dancer Ram Gopal, a pioneer in introducing Indian classical dance to the West, died on October 12, 2003 in London. He was believed to be in his 90's.
Born in Bangalore, of an Indian father and a Burmese mother, he studied various styles of Indian classical dance. It is said that an American dancer, La Meri who saw him perform in India, invited him to join her on a tour in 1936. And in 1938, he made his solo debut in New York. Ever since he is said to have toured extensively before and after World War II, representing India at the New York Golden Anniversary International Dance Festival at City Center in 1948, the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in the Berkshires in 1954 and the Edinburgh Festival in 1956. One of his well known choreographic creations was 'Radha Krishna' in 1960. Here, while Ram Gopal played lord Krishna, Alicia Markova, a British ballerina, was Radha. Ram Gopal, headed dance schools in Bangalore and London. He published his autobiography, 'Rhythm in the Heavens', in 1957. In his later years he shuttled between London, Venice and the South of France. In 1990 Ram Gopal was named a fellow of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, the national academy for music, dance and drama in New Delhi, and in 1999 he received the Order of the British Empire. If you wish to share an anecdote on Ram Gopal or post your tribute, mail us at editor@kutcheribuzz.com Photos of legendary artiste Ram Gopal, received from KutcheriBuzz rasikas. We will post them here. It was the sizzling summer of 1960 in Manchester, England that we met Ramgopal. I did not recognize him but my husband did. He was in the elevator with us at an auditorium where he was going to perform. He was rushing to the green room to finish his make up and we to the box office to get good seats. "You must be from Madras... I can say that from your jimiki. You know what, I want to eat uppuma" he said. The next day we packed some rava uppuma and visited him. He enjoyed it and added, "this is cheating... you should have used pacha milaga and not the red ones". How we laughed! Later he showed us many pictures and reminisced... When I said what I have heard in Madras that his middle name was Rubber Gopal, he sighed a trifle and said "those were days when my body had no bones". We laughed some more! He asked our views on his performance the previous evening and when I said "your kathak piece, A Mughal prince in a rose garden, seemed so easy to do". He bullied me, "Did it, come on, let's see you do it, get up, do it" ...Did we ever laugh! Sad that he is no longer with us. Jaya Subramaniam & Prof. V. Subramaniam
Ram Gopal was a great artiste who has inspired many, especially male Bharatanatyam dancers. He was a pioneer in bringing dignity to male dancing in our country. We owe him a great deal not only for his artistry but also for his contribution in propagating the 'Bhaarateeya Samskriti' through his chosen profession as a Bharatanaatyam dancer. Let us all pray for his soul to rest in peace. V.P.Dhananjayan
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