A fabulously helpful anonymous tipster sent me my newest and sweetest crush: a boy who can DANCE! Said my anon-penned GMail:
Hey gang, I was reading a NY times article about ballet and it mentioned an Amar Ramasar, an Indian-American male ballet dancer with the NYC Ballet. How cool is that?!
…I hope you write about him! Bonus points if you include lots of Billy Eliot/Center Stage references. 😛
More about this gorgeous man, whom the Voice deems “extremely promising, both forceful and softly muscular” (hell yes!)
Amar Ramasar was born in the Bronx, New York. He began his studies at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, in 1992. In addition, he studied at the American Ballet Theatre Summer Program and The Rock School of Pennsylvania Ballet. In July 2000, Mr. Ramasar was invited to become an apprentice with New York City Ballet, and in July 2001 he joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet.[nycb]
I think I’m feeling faint. A brown face in the New York City Ballet? You can’t hear my eeeevil cackle, but I’m gloating over the fact that our DesiDancer is married, else I’d have to whip off my bamboo earrings (at least two pair), smear vaseline on my face and get DIRTY. I keed, I keed…I’m all about the “sistas before mistas” principle (ahem. until someone else comes up with a feminized “bros before hos”, we’re stuck with that).
Amar said the following about his unique situation:
I actually looked at my race as an advantage because there was no one who looked like me. In New York City Ballet especially, I felt my casting has always been great. The biggest one for me was Fancy Free because, if you think of the history of that ballet, it’s not necessarily the case that in the 1940s an Indian guy was one of the sailors fighting for America. But they let me do that here, and I thought, “I’m breaking boundaries that people automatically put up for a stereotypical white ballet.” [link]
So hot.P.S. Billy Eliot/Center Stage Billy Eliot/Center Stage Billy Eliot/Center Stage Billy Eliot/Center Stage Billy Eliot/Center Stage Billy Eliot/Center Stage Billy Eliot/Center Stage Billy Eliot/Center Stage Billy Eliot/Center Stage Billy Eliot/Center Stage Billy Eliot/Center Stage… 😉
My homepage is set to this website, and now every time it opens, I giggle coyishly when I look at his picture. Wow. I feel like a twelve year old girl all over again =)
ooh he’s a cutie anna .. find him when you come to ny =)
“Sistas before mistas” is really good, but I believe the classic comeback is “Chicks before dicks”?
Most male ballet dancers are gay, right?
I’m reading this in uni and a big fella just came up behind me and said “who’s that handsome guy?”
He was looking at the screen, sadly.
Pablo not sure if you’re tongue’s in your cheek, but I’d love to be good at ballet. Male ballet dancers have the most defined bodies, but, in all honesty, it were the stockings what put me off guv. I didn’t want my package on display, so I went for a different style of dancing instead.
His point about having a ‘different’ and unique appeal reminded me of Carlos Acosta.
Now I’m just waiting for DD’s arrival.
Pablo, I certainly hope that this one is! rowr
Photo of Ramasar from the NYT story.
He has disrespected the whole nation of India by prancing around in tights like a zankha
manish, thanks for keeping it G-rated at breakfast. 😉 what, no comment on adoration of boys who can dance? 😀
p.s. if you haven’t clicked the link to “this gorgeous man” above, you are suffering, trust me. yowza!
He has disrespected the whole nation of India by prancing around in tights like a zankha
Male Bharathanatyam/Kuchipudi/Kathak dancers, anyone? Hot and prancy at once!
Indian-American Male Ballet Dancer was the logical next step in Brownian motion.
I am laughing out loud at the picture Manish posted of him in the air with his crown jewels in full pouched effect and the headline The Nutcracker
It’s nice to see desis entering the entertainment industry steadily. Like in every other place, it takes one person to break the tradition/glass-ceiling and do his/her own thing. The rest are sure to follow.
M. Nam
MoorNam
But what are the Hindu/Muslim implications of his entry into ballet? Have you written an article about it on sulekha?
This post makes me SO happy I want to do petit allegro, triple pierouettes and a series of grand tours jete en tournant! 😉
Well it’s about damn time we get a brotha in the NYCB! I might have to get a subscription ticket next season, just to show support for another brown-in-the-arts.
Pablo- I really hope you’re kidding. Even still, let’s not perpetuate stereotypes and ignorance. It is hard enough to be brown and deviate from the preselected-career-trinity (Doctor, Comp Sci, Engineer) I think enthusiasm and appreciation is more in order than puerile locker-room jokes, as to reach such a level of success as a company role with NYCB must have been both an immense challenge and a risk that is generally not well-supported (well-understood) by the community of aunties & uncles. If we let each other down, as peers, then we run the risk of stifling our future artistic visionaries.
Bongsy, sorry about your package, luv.
OK Aunty ;-D
It would make a good movie script – Indian boy fights against the prejudice of his stifling ‘community’ to succeed as a ballet dancer – like a cross between Bend it Like Beckham and Billy Elliot – the final scene is he escapes an arranged marriage to dance in the Nutcracker – it could be called Pirouette it like Nureyev.
I could play one of the cruel, oppressive, macho locker room bastards who pick on him.
Actually, that sounds like crap. But I’m sure Channel 4 or the BBC is working on the script right now.
trust me dude, NO aunty is going to stick up for any beta who chooses to go into fine/performing arts.
It was more your chastising tone 🙂
But I think that’s not fair. There must be at least one Aunty out there who wouldnt mind her son acting the sugar plum fairy in the Nutcracker.
Dont stereotype Aunties!!!!!
Yes, the type who thinks she’s married to her son and would insist on competing with any prospective bahu for her beloved beta’s affections.
So that’s about half a billion of them, then 😉
It’s nice to see desis entering the entertainment industry steadily.
I think you are inadvertently (I hope!) conflating those Pakis with Indians by using the term ‘desi’. Desis can mean both Pakistanis and Indians, so please dont use the term desi when referring to Indians.
while we are at it, check out the Bangladeshi Soprano Monica Yunus (daughter of famous econmist Dr. Yunus) of Metropolitan Opera.
I’ve seen a brown face at the NYC ballet before. In fact in the Nutcracker about 3-4 years ago. He was the male (kid) lead. It wasn’t this guy because it was a Muslim name. I specifically remember looking it up during the break because I just had to find out who this brown person was. Could’ve been from the Middle East.
Good to see this change. Either they’re diversifying or else the white population is so seriously in decline that they’ve begun opening the gates to all.
🙂 Only good can come from a guy this hot and flexible. Anna gets first dibs, but hey, looking is free. Numerous clicking on the links on this story….eekkk the ballet never looked this good when my mum tortured me to go…wish he was in my class, I know I would shake my tutu(keep it clean!) in his face!
forget being a desi \ ballet dancer. how about focusing on how hard it is just to be a MALE ballet dancer. that may just trump the desi part alone. then again desi and male at the same time!
it’s actually quite lucrative to be a male dancer, as the demand is SO high. If one can survive the social hurdles and focus on their training (be Billy Elliot!), there are vast opportunities available in major national dance companies for men of all shades.
sure, no problem. I didn’t realize it was only stereotyping male dancers and intolerance for gays that was ok.
wow…yes, this COOL beans!
Huh? Intolerance to gays? I plead guilty to the first, refute the second allegation furiously!
If I ever have a son, I am sending him to ballet school.
I hang my head in shame.
Pablo writes:
Then you will be making exactly the same mistake as those desi parents who “send” their children to Engineering/Medicine/Law schools and to Bharatnatyam classes.
For all you know, your son may be best suited to be a JAVA programmer in a 9-5 job.
M. Nam
brown hottie 😉
Let us not forget the other famous desi ballet dancer previously featured on Sepia Mutiny, Abhidolf Nureyev.
Manish WILL pay. A patient hand always delivers justice to an evil heart.
Just as soon as Abhi learns Photoshop better 😉
hos before bros, holes before poles, chicks before dicks …they’re all reversible like some of my dad’s clothing and belts from the 80’s.
playing catch-up, eh? 😉
technically Sandhu is a skater with ballet training. He changed course and focused on skating not ballet, thus never landing a professional company dancer role. He is a brown blading badass, however.
yummy
thought u guys should know…his dad is from Trinidad and his mom’s from Puerto Rico
Rock on Amar
He is not gay.
I know him personally. The sweetest guy, and as cute in person.
personally, i am really proud that there is an indian in the nycb; finally, here is a guy with enough nerve to defy stereotypes and become successful in one of the world’s leading ballet companies! being a diehard balletomane and an indian-american and sick of the trend towards bollywood fakeness, this is very exciting for me.
i think that regular indians will be more successful in their performing arts endeavours in this country than silly bollywood actresses like aishwarya rai simply because they are far more sincere in honing their craft than most bollywood celebrites. media tarts like rai haggle their way to fame and fortune by simpering in front of reporters and gain air time due to unwarranted claims (rai and her looks. BLECH.).
amar ramasar, monica yunus, veena reddy and raj bhavsar are just a few examples of desis who had enough courage to pursue their true passions, though bhavsar and reddy also have degrees in marketing and architecture, respectively.
i think ramasar’s photo in the nutcracker is awesome! it would be kind of difficult for him to dance in a ballet if he were wearing pants/bottoms that had more drag. tights help with his grand jetes, pirouettes and such. besides, they create long, lean and clean lines to show off the dancer’s physique.
anyway, i hope to see more of this guy in glowing reviews and of course, on the great streets of nyc!
I was Amar’s Music and Drama teacher at his Bronx Elementary/Intermediate School. He always stood out amongst the other students as a young person with lots of talent. He was also very good at acting and singing, having had a major roll in several plays and parts as soloist in the school Choir. It’s been at least 10 years since I have known what Amar finally ended up doing as a career. I just found him on Facebook. I hope to see him dancing in the near future!
chicks before dicks – thats the girl version 🙂
I have seen him in person a couple times. Twice on stage, once behind stage and once at a party. On stage Amar has grace, skill and strength that stands out. Back stage he smiles at everyone he passes and seems very happy to be there. And at the party he seems very friendly. He did have a date either a girlfriend or wife. And he seems to be a genuinely nice and kind person. When he walks in the room almost every woman just melt. I have not seen this much charisma in many people. He seems like a very kind person and that kindness just flows to everyone in the room. I do think that he can be the Pavorotti of dance or the modern mikel though he is his own person but what I am talking about is that I think he has potential to draw attention to those who are not ballet fans. He has a rap video that the ballet dancers did for fun. It does seem to play off the charm that he has…..