Bissano Ram Gopal OBE (20 November 1912[1] – 12 October 2003) was an Indian dancer and choreographer who performed mostly as a soloist and toured extensively throughout his lengthy career.

Drawn to dance early on in his life, he learned Kathakali from Guru Kunju Kurup and Chandu Panickar.

[7] He was invited to the United States by La Meri, an American dancer who specialised in non-Western forms of dance to tour with her through Asia in the 1930s.

[6] His impresario was Polish writer Aleksander Janta-Połczyński [pl], who organized Gopal's tournée across Poland in June 1938.

In this introduction is included a letter Ram Gopal wrote to Kay Ambrose from Bangalore, his birthplace in February 1942.

[12] Gopal featured in the Indian-born British documentary filmmaker Sarah Erulkar's short Lord Siva Danced (1947).

[3] During the 1960s, while living in Chelsea, London he was briefly married to Edith Alexander, though the marriage ended only a few years later, with her death.

[4] He died in Norbury Care Home in Croydon, South London, UK,[13][14] where he spent the last three years of his life after unsuccessfully attempting to settle down in his native Bangalore.