⚧️ Transgender Bharatanatyam dancers are living their dream

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Sathya Sai Dance Academy’s transgender students are fighting prejudice and gaining dignity and purpose.

Who are they? A group of five dancers, mostly in their late 30s begin by learning the Alarippu, the first lesson. Among the group is Tamil Nadu’s first transgender auto driver. Another is a physiotherapist at a public hospital who began the journey when Kerala-based Sri Sathya Sai Orphanage Trust and Chennai-based Sahodaran Foundation offered free Bharatanatyam classes.

  • They get together every Sunday for their classes with their master Shanmuga Sundaram, a well-known Chennai-based Bharatanatyam teacher.
  • For some of them, other teachers refused to teach them because of their identities. But Master Sundaram, according to them, is a hard taskmaster.

What’s next: For these particular studentsthey feel the true change will come when they can become teachers and pass on their knowledge to students from different backgrounds. They even joke about having a dance-off with the Kerala school.

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