Mumbai: Lavani performance male dancers dons rainbow hues

Anand Satam (left) with Akanksha Kadam

The centuries-old history of lavani has traversed through a complex terrain of gender and caste. While the lesser-known tradition of Sangeet Bari characterised by its intimate baithak style has always had women performers, the more popular Tamaasha style only had male performers up until the 1880s, who dressed up as women characters. The reason mirrored the patriarchal notions of the time that looked down upon women in the entertainment profession.

"Things began to change when two women, Pawala Bai and Baya Bai, from the so-called untouchable communities of the time, began to perform lavani. With more women joining in, the number of male performers dwindled away," informs Bhushan Korgaonkar, who wrote the book, Sangeet Bari, in 2014. This Friday, Korgaonkar's Sangeet Bari production directed by filmmaker Savitri Medhatul, will not only combine multiple narratives such as the lavani woman, musicians, the customer and researcher but also celebrate the Pride month with a performance.

Ashimik Kamthe

The post-interval segment will feature a lavani song performed by male dancers Anand Satam and Ashimik Kamthe, who will dress up as women. The aim is to give the city's audience a taste of the gender-fluid, all-inclusive, evolved face of the dance form, which is not fully explored.

After the need-based tradition of men dressing up as women ceased to exist, it was some time in 1995 that trained classical dancer Anil Vasudevan conceptualised an all-male gender-bending tamaasha production, called Bin Baikancha Tamaasha (tamaasha without women), which received massive success.

Satam, who was part of Vasudevan's team for about five years and will present a duet performance with Kamthe, tells us, "Up until we enter the make-up room, we are regular men. But once the get-up changes, everything transforms. For three hours, we forget who we are. Our gestures, gait and mannerisms are all in sync with the women characters we portray and ought to do justice to."

ON January 25, 7 pm
AT Tata Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point.
CALL 22824567
Entry Rs 200 onwards

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