Career
He was invited to the United States by La Meri, an American dancer who specialized 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 May 1, 1938, at the 46th Street Theatre. In 1939, he was invited to Paris, where he went with Kathak dancer, Sohanlal. 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. He returned to India with Ensa during the World War II. After the War, he returned and noted dancer, Nijinsky came to "inspect him" in 1948.
He toured extensively as a soloist and with his company both before and after World War II, and soon his production were known for their costumes, staging and lighting. He appeared at the New York Golden Anniversary International Dance Festival at NYC's City Center in 1948 where he represented India, the Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival in the Berkshires in 1954 and Edinburgh Festivals in 1956. 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 a his full-length portrait by Feliks Topolski. In the later years, he also danced with Mrinalini Sarabhai in Bangalore, and toured with Kumudini Lakhia. 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.”
He published Indian Dancing in 1951, and his autobiography Rhythms in the Heavens in 1957., 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.
The French filmmaker Claude Lamorisse made two films about him: “Aum Shiva” and “Ram”.
He received an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to dance in 1999, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama in 1990.
Read more about this topic: Ram Gopal (dancer)
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