Early Life and Training
Gopal was born in Bangalore, India. He had a Burmese mother and a Rajput father who was a barrister. They lived in a mansion called Torquay Castle. Drawn to dance early on in his life, he learned Kathakali from Guru Kunju Kurup and Chandu Panickar. Once he danced at the annual garden party of the Maharajah of Mysore without of his father permission, but fortunately the Maharaja persuaded his father to allow him receive further dance training and there was no turning back thereafter.
While in this early forties, he discovered Guru Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai of Pandanallur style under whom he started learning Bharatanatyam, followed by Muthukumaran Pillai., he also learned Kathak from Sohanlal and Bowri Prasad and even Manipuri dance, all of which he assimilated into his choreographies in the coming decades.
Read more about this topic: Ram Gopal (dancer)
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