Dancing back to tradition

Lavani has made a grand comeback with the ‘Lavani Queen 2007’ competition

Sharmila Dethe deftly applies a tinge of rouge on her face and rehearses bold eye movements — she lifts one eyebrow and her face breaks into the smile she has been practising for months.

December 31 is, after all, the D Day. ‘The Lavani Queen 2007’, a state-level competition organised by Lavanya Darbar at the Ravindra Natya Mandir is where this dancer wants to prove her mettle. “I was amazed at the success of songs like Aika Dajiba and Dhagala Lagli Kala, a few years ago and promptly approached a Lavani troupe, hoping to bask in its glory.”

But glory was not something Dethe saw at the auditoriums that staged authentic Lavani performances. They were woefully empty.

“A few men would turn up expecting thumkas and jhatkas of ‘item numbers’. I could never hear the applause over the jeering and cat calls. Locals appreciated our work by showering Rs10 notes. Today, I am glad we are taken more seriously,” she says.

Lavani is back in business — and how. Lavanya Darbar, that held its first show in February this year, is already preparing for its 100th performance for New Year’s Eve. “We have decided to go bigger. In ‘Lavani Queen 2007’, Maharashtra’s 16 budding Lavani dancers will participate, and the audience will pick the winner through a secret ballot,” says Amol Patil, convener of the programme.

 Deepali Vichare, who has choreographed the hit number, Dhagala Lagli Kala, is one of the judges. She remembers the days when Lavani was viewed as a tamasha and was only performed by women from the lower strata of society. “The grace and sensuality with which it was performed was lost and has been replaced by eroticism. Lavani comes from the word lavanya (beauty). It was performed to please the Gods and entertain the soldiers during the Peshwa regime,” she says. Surekha Punekar, popularly known as Maharashtra’s Lavani Queen says, “I admit that  Lavani numbers do have double entendres, but it’s dancer who makes or mars the performance.”

However, these days Lavani attracts a family audience and shows are often arranged exclusively for women. Lavani dancers are educated and are serious about this career — a far cry from the times when school dropouts chose this path. The Mumbai University now has a post graduate diploma course in understanding Lavani. Dancers from Kolhati tribes, where Lavani has been practiced for generations, teach the art to a packed classroom. Prakash Khandge, head of Lok Kala academy started in 2004 at the Mumbai University says: “These women have never even been to school, but their knowledge of original folk art forms is brilliant.

They are the best teachers. I am heartened to see Lavani back in action, but people must beware of ‘cine’ Lavani splashed across television. We hope these initiatives go a long way in Lavani’s revival.”