Like most budding performers Sudarshan Dheer had originally set his heart on becoming a film star and was slightly dismayed when he didn't. A disappointment made all the worse because he was barred from his dreams by something as superfluous as his height. Fortunately for fans of Indian dance Sudarshan's dreams of Bollywood success were not to be dashed that easily. After consulting with a famous Indian dancer Sudarshan chose to study this artform instead. Ironically, his success as a dancer and choreographer meant that he was in constant demand by Bollywood and so far Sudarshan has featured in over 150 films.
Although Sudarshan had made his name in Bollywood choreography it was his own production, the Indian ballet Heer Ranjha, that was to bring him to these shores.
'My ballet, Heer Ranjha was a super-duper-duper hit. I did 200 shows in India. Then one person who was running some cultural organisation heard about it. He met me and he said that he would like this ballet to be performed in the UK.' Which is a nice idea but somewhat impractical as Sudarshan states, '[The performers] have their own work, they come in the evening for rehearsals and for the show, but they can't go to the UK and stay there so long.'
Sudarshan's solution was for he and his wife, Jaya Dheer, to spend time in the UK locating and coaching British performers for the Show, a romance similar to Romeo and Juliet with the two characters, Heer and Ranjha, equivalent to Shakespeare's star crossed lovers. Training for an Indian ballet is not a trivial task and in order to coach the performers to the required level Sudarshan had to start with fundamental principles in an effort to instil rhythm into them. Sudarshan's hard work paid off and Heer Ranjha was well received by an enthusiastic audience.
Following his triumph Sudarshan was approached by Glasgow Council to teach Indian dance in schools and for 11 years made the Scottish City his home. In 1998 he finally moved to Slough where his talents were seized upon by Arts Development with whom he struck a good rapport. Creative Arts Manager, Andy Lee, offered Sudarshan space at The Centre to conduct classes. 'He really encouraged me.' says Sudarshan.
Making contact with Arts Development ensured that Sudarshan was kept abreast of courses relevant to his projects and found those he attended invaluable. 'They improved my skills and I met different people that were connected with this field.'
At the present time Sudarshan is focusing on a project that he initiated when he first arrived in Slough, the Nritya Sadhna Dance Society, which translated means 'to dance' (Nritya) and 'to practice' (Sadhna).
'My Main passion is to teach students classical Khathak dance, which is a classical dance from the northern part of India. It's not very stylised, it's very near to human nature.' Sudarshan enthuses. 'My aim is to teach as many students over here as I can do, and make them interested in how to learn how to teach in order to spread this art in the UK.' Considering that some of his former students have already made the transition from amateur to professional and have opened dance academies of the own, it's entirely probable that Sudarshan will succeed in his aims.
Interview: Andrew Unsworth
Photograph: Malcolm Glover