India's first queer drag performance group - Dancing Queens

An article for DNA, Mumbai, which is where I'm working now. :-)

Here's the link to the story. And here's the unedited version.

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Abheena, founder and lead dancer of Dancing Queens is yet to find a stage vast enough to sustain the remarkable enthusiasm displayed by her 14-member dance troupe, and Mumbai’s first queer drag performers. The Dancing Queens were first noticed by Mumbai’s LGBT community last year, when they put up a show at a little rundown hall in Khar to raise funds for the Queer Azadi March. The overwhelming response convinced Abheena to take a brave step forward, and actively seek out bigger platforms and mainstream audiences for their shows.

After all, Abheena aka Abhijit, a communication specialist for John Hopkins University, knows first-hand that the first step to self-discovery lies in transcending your comfort zones. At 20, Abhijit joined The Humsafar Trust as an outreach administrator and consequently became their youngest manager for nearly eight years. However, he knew when it was time to move on. He says, “My intention was to open up spaces for dialogue between marginalized groups and a heteronormative society. I took up opportunities to work with bar girls, sex workers, migrants and intravenous drug users.”

During outreach activities, Abhijit quickly recognized the visceral appeal of dance and music in overcoming the initial jitters people feel on the mention of sexuality. Meanwhile, experiences in the personal realm led him to discover his transgender identity and he eventually adopted the name Abheena. Between 2004 to 2006, Abheena attempted two drag folk dance shows with the purpose of raising money for queer issues by providing a platform for queer talent. However, the response was lukewarm.


An accomplished Kathak dancer, Abheena soon realized that India’s rich culture of drag was acting as a barrier to the issues she wanted to address. Groups such as the lavani ensemble Bin Baykancha Tamasha, were bringing gender subversive performances to the limelight but choosing to remain silent on the complexities of gender and sexuality that these performances could potentially give voice to. Pallav Patankar, director of HIV/AIDS programs at The Humsafar Trust, points out, “Traditionally, many Indian dance forms have seen men take on women’s garb, but that in itself doesn’t necessarily allude to their sexuality. By openly calling themselves queer, Dancing Queens are unique in the sense that they’re moving out of a socially accepted framework, connecting that framework to gender and sexuality, and making a strong political statement.”

Abandoning folk dance performances in order to connect with a broader audience, Dancing Queens mostly perform Hindi numbers, paying homage to the dancing queen divas of Bollywood. The flirtatious glances, that suggestive biting of a darkly painted lip, the exaggerated physicality with which we’re so familiar, is effortlessly assumed by Abheena when she take the stage. Performing last week at Theosophy Hall for the Queer Nazariya film festival, Abheena’s hair came undone mid-performance, unfurling into pretty locks that fell over her light hazel eyes while she kept swaying to the music. Nobody in the audience was looking at a man; they were looking at a woman who loves to dance.

Palankar explains that a drag performance is inherently subversive because it thrives on exaggeration. “Most women performers become extremely conscious of their sexuality on stage. But by deliberating dressing as a woman, a drag performer invites being objectified.” Having captured their attention, Abheena successfully turns the gazes of her viewers back to themselves, a feeling that is liberating for some, but uncomfortable to others.

Abheena is quite aware of the challenges Dancing Queens face in becoming a more professional outfit. She is looking for a theatre venue where they can perform regularly and further promote undiscovered queer talent. “Many good dancers are unwilling to dance for us because of the stigma attached to being openly queer. Only people completely comfortable with their sexuality perform with us,” explains Abheena. Currently rehearsing in limited space without a trained choreographer, the Dancing Queens are still upbeat about their next performance on April 17, to raise funds for Kashish, an international queer film festival to be held later in the same month.