Mumbai event: Up close and personal with lavani researchers

Lavani artiste Akanksha Kadam in performance

Pop culturisation of art can be a double-edged sword. While its reductionist approach shows little regard for the context and nuances of an art form, it takes the form to a far larger audience than it could have possibly reached on its own. Lavani is a case in point. "Known to many as the sensuous dance that often lends itself to an item number on the silver screen, it is this popularisation that has inspired women who don't hail from traditional dance communities to pursue it as well," says Bhushan Korgaonkar, who wrote the book, Sangeet Bari, in 2014.

Korgaonkar and Savitri Medhatul - the duo made a documentary on this dance form in 2008 - conceptualised the book launch as reading of excerpts from the book interspersed with lavani performances. The success of the format led to the production of Sangeet Bari.

Bhushan Korgaonkar and Savitri Medhatul

This Friday, the Marathi show will be followed by one with Hindi narration. The performers include lavani dancers and singers Pushpa Satarkar, Akanksha Kadam, Shakuntalabai Nagarkar, singer Latabai Waikar and music accompanists Chandrakant Lakhe, Sunil Javale Jejurikar and Vinayak Javale Waikar.

While the tamaasha form of lavani, where the dance is a part of a variety entertainment show, is commonly known, the book and performance focus on the baithak style, which is best described as personalised entertainment.

"Unlike its cinematic portrayal, lavani has a much deeper, aesthetic vocabulary around it," Korgaonkar points out. Beyond the basic rules, he adds, lavani allows artistes a great degree of freedom to interpret and innovate it. "Which is why, each lavani artiste is a gharana onto herself."

ON September 21, 6 pm (Marathi) and 9 pm (Hindi)
AT Prithvi Theatre, Juhu
LOG ON TO bookmyshow.com
ENTRY Rs 400

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