Meet India's revolutionary gender fluid dance troupe
Noor Zora, centre, and the troupe. Photo courtesy of Noor Zora In the heart of Punjab, a region of India steeped in folk traditions, Noor Zora – a gender-fluid 61-year-old – is breathing new life into an ancient dance. Giddha, a celebration of femininity, is traditionally performed by women at weddings and festivals. Dancers dress in colourful salwar kameez, with flowing scarves and intricate embroidery, to perform the energetic dance, which incorporates clapping and singing. It is meant to embody the strength, resilience and expressiveness of women in Indian society. Noor Zora, who uses he/they pronouns, was born Zorawar Singh and grew up as one of many children in a big, bustling extended family in the village of Chari. As a boy, he was captivated by the electrifying energy of the dance. “Growing up, I was always drawn to the magic of Giddha. It was the epitome of feminine grace, to me,” he said. “I would dress up in frocks, play Giddha music and lose myself in the rhythm.” He chuckled, “I couldn’t help myself. The music, the movements, it all felt so natural.” In India, the issue of gender is complex and multifaceted. While traditional roles still hold sway, there is a growing acceptance of diverse gender identities. India’s Supreme Court recognised transgender people as a third gender in 2014. But the community still faces discrimination and social ostracisation. For example, many transgender and gender fluid people face difficulties obtaining employment. As a result, some make a living from singing and dancing at cultural events. Meanwhile, homosexuality was legalised in 2018, but same sex marriage is still illegal. This means that queer people in India don’t have the same rights in family matters. As a boy, Zora didn’t pay much attention to these societal norms. He simply felt the call of the dance. “The rhythm created with the heels and clapping, and the singing, left a deep impression on my mind,” he explained. He began to sneak out and watch Giddha at weddings in the region, and was sometimes bold enough to participate. His family, like many in his village, struggled to understand his passion. His elder brother, in particular, often scolded him. “They told me that boys weren’t supposed to dance Giddha,” he said. “But I didn’t care for labels. I knew that it was in my blood.” In 2014, Zora founded Lok Rang Noor Art, a gender fluid, all-queer Giddha troupe that has become a beacon of inclusivity and self-expression in Punjab, a region where gender roles are particularly tightly defined. The troupe has achieved widespread fame, both in the region and across India. So how did this little boy become a national inspiration? Choosing a name was a crucial step. He chose Noor Zora as a combination of his given name, and a tribute to Noor Jehan, a legendary Punjabi singer whose timeless melodies feature in many Indian and Pakistani films of the 40s and 50s. His journey of self-discovery also included encounters with other people who were born male but embraced their feminine side. “I encountered a boy like me, who behaved like a girl, in college where I was studying,” he recalled. “He would wear mehndi on his hands and rings on his fingers”. Mehndi, or henna, is a paste used by women to dye their skin for special occasions. “This scared me because I thought that if I stood with him, boys might harass me too. But gradually, as our college years passed, we started meeting more often and developed a relationship. We would play Giddha cassettes and dance to them.” But dancing in private wasn’t enough. Noor Zora’s ultimate act of self-acceptance came much later, when he was in his late thirties. He made the bold decision to arrive at the traditional Indian wedding of a friend, dressed in the colourful loose-fitting pants and tunic-style top of the salwar kameez, dripping with sequins and beads. “I wore girls’ jewellery, shaved and put on makeup,” he said. After that, his confidence grew, and he decided to share his passion with the world. Around 2010, he created a Facebook page under the name Noor Zora. The response, he said, was overwhelmingly positive. “Society embraced me quickly and I felt immense love and affection.” Today, his Facebook page has around 465,000 followers, with another 245,000 on Instagram. Asked if he had faced any backlash as he tried to build a following online, Zora gave a surprising answer: the strongest criticism came from the transgender people who had been Zora’s Giddha students in the past. This was due, he said, to internal divisions within the queer community, as well as differences of opinion around respectability, success and money. But the power of the dance was ultimately unifying, and also helped Zora gain new respect from his family. “More than being a queer person, they praised me for doing something for the cause of art [that was] close to my heart,” he said. The response paved the way for the creation of Lok Rang Noor Art (in Hindi, lok means people and rang means colours) in 2015. The troupe consists of around 40 queer individuals, most of whom were assigned male at birth, but who do not now identify as male. The majority are Punjabi, but others from across India have connected with Zora online, attracted by the idea that the dance might win them the prestige and social acknowledgement that they had always yearned for. Noor Zora’s troupe now performs at weddings, anniversaries, festivals and birthdays in Punjab and across the country. They adorn themselves with traditional jewellery such as tikkas (forehead ornaments) and parandas (tasseled hair ornaments) and they often perform without instruments, relying on breath, stamping and clapping. They also sing the traditional folk poetry that accompanies the dance. These verses cover a range of subjects, from marital disputes to political talking points. More recently, they have received international bookings, including in the US, Canada and the UK, and they have appeared several times on Indian television shows. The troupe is now using its platform to advocate for various social causes. Usually, they offer their performances to support women’s rights and gender equality. But when farmers across India launched protests in 2020-2021 against government reforms that are seen as favouring big corporations over the rights of agricultural labourers, some of the protesters asked the troupe to perform. Lok Rang Noor Art joined a protest at a marriage ceremony in a village in Punjab, which was shared widely on social media and helped bring attention to the cause, although the legislation has so far not been repealed. Today, Zora works as a government teacher and is pursuing a PhD in folklore. He still finds time to perform Giddha with the troupe he founded. It’s impossible to say whether he would be welcomed as a primary school teacher if it hadn’t been for his winning acclaim and public support as a dancer, but he was warmly accepted by the school, which made no objection to his gender fluidity, or his involvement with the troupe. “Giddha has given me a sense of community, the strength to embrace my identity, and the joy of sharing this legacy with generations to come,” he said. “It’s truly a blessing to see the love in the eyes of the audience after every performance.” This article is from New Humanist's Spring 2025 issue. Subscribe now.