An initiative by the Beru Art and Cultural Foundation in collaboration with the Aravani Art Project and Adavi-Parai Musicians, Taala Tamate is a dance production based on the instrument called the tamate, which is also known as the parai in Tamil. Being one of the oldest instruments and despite its rich history, the instrument is looked down upon and given a lower place in the hierarchical structure of music and art. Aiming to change this perception, the production has been choreographed by Dayanand Akhilesh and we speak to Kalyani Sarada, one of the performers, to find out more…
“Dayanand Akhilesh (Akki) has been thinking about this piece and doing his research on it for about six years. But it all started for him in his childhood. When someone dies, during the procession, there is a lot of dancing. Most of the time it is drunk dancing, but it is also very uninhibited. Akki felt that a lot of it had to do with the instruments, which also included the tamate, that put people in a trance. If you were there, you would dance. He experienced this when he was very young. He was also part of it and he got yelled at many times because you wouldn’t want your child to be part of a procession of a person you don’t know. This was a very personal memory for him and as he grew up, he continued to be intrigued by the instrument and learned more about it,” she begins.
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Traditionally, played by dalits, the tamate is not given much importance at all. But it is very important for rituals. Apart from the rituals, the artistes were always looked down upon. For this performance, the team has collaborated with Adavi Art Collective, which is a parai playing collective from Hosur, Tamil Nadu. That collective is providing the entire music for the production. They have also collaborated with Aravani Art Project, which is a transgender artiste group that works on murals.
The team has been working on this version of Taala Tamate for the last six months, with the rehearsals happening over the last two months. When asked how the earlier version is different from the current one, Kalyani reveals, “Akki had done a student project when he was in Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts. While he was a student there, he did it as a student project called Taala Tamate. But it was a very different version. This one is more authentic because of the collaborations. I was part of the audience for the first version of Taala Tamate.”
When asked to elaborate more on the difference between the two performances, Kalyani says, “In the first one, it was in the context of contemporary dance. It is typically dark and slow and very abstract and, in that space, Akki created this vibrant, loud and fun piece. The first version did not have much social commentary. It was just taking street dance and putting it on stage and forming it interestingly. This upcoming version has dance, music, poetry and more.”
Talking about the costumes used for the performance, the dancer reveals, “The costumes are formals. The basic shirt, pants and a blazer. It was very interesting to perform street dance and dappankuthu in them. Now we are used to it. We also stylise the costumes on our own. Like the transgender ‘akkas’ wear jewellery and flowers in their hair. For them, showcasing their gender is very important.”
The performance will feature 11 dancers and eight to ten musicians. All the instruments that will be played will be parai instruments. There will be two types of parai instruments. One is made of leather while the other is made using synthetic material. “The instrument will be played in the same manner. It’s only the material that is different,” adds Kalyani.
“After this production, we don’t have any big production lined up. But we do have smaller shows almost every weekend,” she concludes.
INR 350 onwards. September 16, 6.30 pm. At Bangalore Creative Circus, Yeshwanthpur & September 17, 7 pm. At Shoonya Center for Art and Somantic Practices, Lalbagh.
Email: alwin@newindianexpress.com
Twitter: @al_ben_so