Queer Courtesan

The courtesan dances at the margins of what is understood today as ‘classical’ kathak. The courtesan is also a figure that fuels the dance choreographies and imaginations of the khusra (the transgendered) community of Lahore. Both Indian and Pakistani cinema further portray the courtesan with its own colour and position. What happens when a man makes an invitation to watch himself dance for others around him through a one way peep show… You watch as I watch myself play these queer courtesans.

Qasim Riza Shaheen

This performance has been commissioned by Dance North West.