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Dec 6, 1999

Rajendra Gangani, 38
Kathak Dancer

CROWN PRINCE
For the land that boasts of Nataraja as its presiding deity, the fate of male dancers in India can be summed up in one word: dismal. But in that rare species one whirlwind of a dancer stands out: Rajendra Gangani. This scion of the Jaipur gharana of Kathak is a scintillating bundle of energy feathered by poise and perfection.

Trained primarily by his father, guru Kundanlal, Gangani has smoothed the rough edges usually associated with the heavily rhythmic Jaipur school. Now a teacher himself at Delhi's Kathak Kendra, he is the key inheritor of this tradition.

Polite to a fault, Gangani proffers platitudes about his success being the "prasad of my gurus and love of my audiences". But that is a survival tactic in a vicious system that generations of Indian artistes have honed to high art. In speak-easy, it translates into "I know I'm good, but boss, don't kill me for it."

-S. Kalidas

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