Folk Dance

Hellaro, National Award-winning Gujarati film, is a beautiful ode to female desire and defiance

Abhishek Shah’s Hellaro draws its central conflict from a Kutch folktale about subjugated women meeting a drummer (dholi) in secret and dancing to their heart’s content.

Lavani's lost glory: As art form's 'vulgarity' was condemned, its complexity, social messaging were ignored

Beautiful and mesmerising, with a reputation for being notorious, the charms of the lavani were lost in the latter half of the 20th century; the artistes and the dance were deemed unworthy of refined audiences and condemned for portraying the sensuous alone. Yet, lavani — in its most earnest form — not only explored love, beauty and pleasure, but also delivered social messages.

In the rhythmic movements of the warkari-kirtan, Vithoba's devotees seek a way to commune with the divine

Over time, and from the unwavering faith of the warkari cult, has emerged the folk dance of the wari — the dindi, or warkari-kirtan.

In the tarpa, the Warli, Malhar Koli and Bhil tribes find a reflection of — and way to celebrate — their natural environments

Warlis, Malhar Kolis and on occasion, the Bhil tribes of Maharashtra, usher in bountiful harvests, festivals and marriages by dancing to the high-pitched tunes of a tarpa.

Performance politics: Not just a dance form, Lavani is a commentary on gender, caste, sex

Lavani has been represented problematically in most existing literature and cinema. To understand why, it might help to understand the politics that the dance associates itself with.