The acceptance of new styles of theatre can be best mapped with audience response, and director Savitri Medhatul’s dance-drama Lavanya Katta at Serendipity Arts Festival did put out one of the most praiseworthy acts this year. It merged Maharashtra’s two folk performance arts Lavani and Tamasha, resulting in a terrific act which had long queues of audiences awaiting to catch it! With such raving reviews, we headed to The Theatre at Old GMC to experience it. The play portrayed Lavani’s evolution that influenced cinema, arts and culture. It was interspersed with interesting history of dance and theatre forms along with crowd pulling performances by artistes Seema Pote, Sudhakar Pote, Akanksha Kadam and Akshay Malpekar. Seema, who belongs to the family of Tamasha artistes, won our hearts with her quirky acting while Akanksha was a show stealer with her graceful moves, delightfully flirtatious expressions and wonderful audience engagement. Akshay Malpekar was the only male dancer dressed as an elegant female Lavani performer, thus chronicling the gender disruptive power ofthe dance. Post the performance, we sat with Savitri to know more about this fan-favourite act.
What made you conceptualise Lavanya Katta?
I have been working with Lavani and Tamasha artists for over 17 years. This time, Quasar Thakore Padamsee, the curator for theatrical events at SAF, approached me saying why not create something new for this year’s edition. So I came up with the idea to show the story of Lavanyavatis (pretty women) who perform Lavani, through the perspective of gender politics in contemporary society. Quasar liked the concept and so we collaborated with artists whom I have been working with for past many years now.
Tell us about the Tamasha art form that featured in your show.
The Tamasha art form of Maharashtra is over two centuries old. If we draw a relative comparison, it is closer to Nautanki which is the most common form of theatre in India. Tamasha involves dance, music and theatre known as Vag Natya. It is a travelling street theatre having around 50-60 performing artistes and in total, a troupe of over 100 to 200 people including the drivers, cooks, prop managers and others. They mostly travel to villages of Vidarbha and South Maharashtra during their peak season that starts after Dussehra and goes on till next six to seven months. Their themes range from mythological and historical to even contemporary ones given the changing discourse of society. Since this art form is like working class entertainment, it also includes stories of commoners. They have a segment called Rang Bari where they integrate Lavani dance.
How would you map the evolution of Lavani dance form?
Lavani is performed in multiple formats. One is Tamasha, the other is Sangeet Bari and the latest modern avatar is banner shows. Now Lavani is making a cut to Indian film songs and dance numbers as well. With time, it is finding ways to blend with contemporary society. Earlier, it was a performance that was mainly watched by men but now, it is crossing gender boundaries and exploring different demographics and economic classes.
What makes Lavani a liberating art form?
The fact that it is not codified unlike classical art forms and does not have a particular pedagogy. It can be acquired by practically being with dancers. For instance, I never had a formal training in Lavani. However, our aim is to create a scholarship around Lavani through a small curriculum so people can easily acquire the art form. Another factor that makes it unbounded is that it can be performed by both men and women as you saw in our act here as well with Akshay Malpekar’s performance. In fact, you won’t believe that we had five men attending our workshop after our act just for the shared love for Lavani (laughs). The fact that it’s a folk art form makes it accessible to people and keeps its rawness intact rather than sanitising it. If someone learns the spirit of Lavani, they can easily get into the groove of moves given its flexible nature which is free of archaic rules and regulations.
What costumes and jewellery did you and the crew wear for Lavanya Katta?
The sari that is usually worn by Lavani dancers is the Nauvari Sari which is a nine yard piece. It is draped in various ways depending on the community you belong to in Maharashtra. A typical Lavani attire would be a Nauvari, nose pin, juda (bun) and ghunghroo (anklet bells). Ghungroos are an instrument in themselves as they create a finer and louder sound during the performance. They have two-metal petal enclosure instead of four-petal enclosure as seen in Kathak. They weigh around four kgs on each foot where their weight and style accentuates the sonic rendition for the graceful act. Since they create a louder sound, they are apt for a Tamasha act which is usually performed in open areas like villages that barely have sophisticated sound systems.
What is your ambition for the reach of Lavani?
My vision is to share the love for Lavani and make more and more people aware about it. At the same time, I want to put a spotlight on hereditary communities that are performing it. I aim to create an inclusive environment where Lavani is not limited to only certain niche communities, but is accessible to everyone and at the same time recognise the effort of legacy performers.
Serendipity Arts Festival concludes today, December 23, 2022 at Panjim, Goa.
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