Dancing like a Man

Dancing like a Man

Friends,

Thirteen year old Ashikar Raj stood out in Sutra’s recent weekend Odissi performances, not only as a male dancer in a sea of female faces, but as one of the most watchably talented young dancers of Sutra.

Ashikar has no qualms about being a male dancer. He is articulate and confident in what he wants to achieve, and heeding his ‘call’ in life.

Ashikar is a liberated soul and human being. He is with his natural flow and comfortable in his ‘skin’, so to speak. For one so young, understanding and living this perspective in life is admirable.

Ashikar is passionately and inherently drawn to Dance and is acutely aware of the empowerment and joy it brings him as he discovers and fulfills his full artistic potential.

Following his ‘bliss’, so to speak, Ashikar is unfettered by the stereotyped label that people may artificially associate with the dancing male.

Ashikar’s parents, especially his mum, are supportive of his interest in dance. With a decline on the intake of male children in dance class (no male intake for Sutra at all, this year 2026), we hope Ashikar’s presence is an inspiration to parents, not to stop their their sons from dancing.

Ramli