LAVANI MUSIC SERIES

The author, who also helms the performances of Sangeet BariвЂ™s theatrical iteration, explains that lavani is of two kinds: sangeet bari and dholki phadacha tamasha.ДЄ woman clad in a nine-yard sari, tapping her feet to the beat of the tabla, smiling coyly as she beckons her lover with her outspread arms, singing a warm, inviting song in front of an intimate audience: these are the hallmarks of the sangeet bari - the oldest form of the lavani as it is recognised today. KorgaonkarвЂ™s nuanced and researched descriptions of the folk dance have found their way into his 2014 book, which in turn has been translated into an on-stage musical production. Yet, lavani - in its most earnest form - not only explored love, beauty and pleasure, but also delivered social messages. His description of the deterioration of the Aryabhushan Tamasha Theatre in Pune, perhaps also aptly reflects the deterioration of the lavani in the public eye - a folk art that, at its zenith, was the most sought-after entertainment across Maharashtra.Д«eautiful 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. вЂJunya khandani vastula navin jamanyacha ozha pelta na alyasarkha kahitari janavla (It felt as though an old, ancestral house could not possibly bear the burden of modernity),вЂ™ writes Bhushan Korgaonkar in Sangeet Bari.

LAVANI MUSIC SERIES

Editor's note: This article is the third in a five-part series documenting the folk dances of Maharashtra.

Lavani music