Danseur Sudarshan Chakravorty completes 30 years in the industry

Danseur Sudarshan Chakravorty has completed 30 years in the industry. “I have to pinch myself to believe that my dancing academy turns 30 this week. Initiated in my college days, when I was just 20, it became a popular haven for dance enthusiasts in the community (para) where we had a thriving cultural scene. It became a youth venture and I never realised it will take us so far, developing into a workshop revolutionising the context of contemporary dance in eastern India,” he says.
Reminiscing the bygone times, he says, “I still remember how I was quite an ‘alien’ in the dance scene of Kolkata in the 90s where my group had an English name, while producing work which was quite an aberration during that decade. The turning point came when we presented India’s first LGBTQ+ dance production The Alien Flower in 1996 which also managed to get a sponsor! Then just 23, I never realised its significance but when I look back today, I understand how it became the voice of the LGBT community who made this production as the forum to come out to their family.” He adds, “We attracted a lot of flak initially and resistance came particularly from established dancers and organisations but our journey continued despite each of such. Yet we never looked back as we got immense support from friends in media and art lovers who actually seemed to be waiting for this change in the dance scene in Kolkata.”
Sudarshan and his team have performed in more than 22 countries and in major art venues.

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