Male dancers in the Hindu Religious Tradition:

Gods are looked upon as the creators and experts in Natya. The well-known myth explains that the origin of Religious dance (Natya) is the result of Brahma’s meditation on the four Vedas. Natya Shastra is attributed to Bharata Muni, The Lord of the dance, Shiva taught dance to his disciple Tandu and he in turn taught dance to others on earth. One must note that in this chain of events the main characters are all male. Thus, all along, the origin, development, practice and spread of dance is by and large attained by or attributed to the male gods, gurus and men dancers. Of course there is the mention of Lasya, the dance taught by Parvati to Usha, the Apsara's dance in the Devaloka but all these are mentioned in relation to the male dance or dancers. However, one cannot forget the contribution of the Devadasis and Maharis and other women dedicated to the art of Dance in the field of its existence, growth and continuation.