As the only Kathakali dancer in India who practises the Stree Vesham style in solo format, Probal Gupta tells us what's more to this particular genre than donning the garb of a woman. WHAT's ON insists you catch his performance this evening

Why did you choose to specialise in the Stree Vesham style in Kathakali?
For the Kathakali dance form to exist when modern and contemporary dance styles were gaining popularity (like Salsa), it had to move out of Kerala where it is still predominant. Therefore, I decided to break the dance-theatre format and specialise as a solo artist. Kathakali is already stigmatised by its dramatised style that requires manpower, and it isn't as commercial a dance as Bharatnatyam, for instance. The chances for it to live on are low if options are not explored.

I chose to specialise in the Stree Vesham genre because it has a scope that nobody has worked on or researched earlier. When I studied the female characters in Kathakali, I realised a lot more could be added to their items. I would sit with my Guru for hours modifying these performances.

As all Kathakali dancers, you started off learning all the prominent male characters. In 2006, you specialised in Stree Vesham. Was the transition smooth?
As a tradition in Kerala, a lot of kings patronised the dance style of Kathakali, which is deeply engrained in the martial art form of Kalaripattyu. Therefore, the male characters in Kathakali have always been prominent. The female characters belong to the Lasya genre, which means grace. The female characters have to exude a lot of grace in their movements, which are concentrated within the torso of the body. They are shorter, unlike the Purush Vesham. Also, movements in the male dance style that involve lifting of the leg are modified in the female genre lifting the leg is considered disgraceful.

Besides researching the differences in the realm of dance, I had to engage myself in understanding biological nomenclatures. For instance, the way a woman looks at her lover is very different from how a man would a woman will look at a man's feet not his eyes, and then back at his feet. But a man will just look into a woman's eyes and seduce her.