The need for an inclusive dance discourse

Yashoda Thakore first learnt of the famed courtesans Muddupalani and Rangajamma when she did her Master’s in dance. Her grandmother had recounted Muddupalani’s acclaimed work ‘Radhika Santvanam’ as a gem of Telugu literature, well-known for its ‘Radha bhava’. Yashoda was thrilled at the very idea that she could be a descendant of someone like Rangajamma who was renowned for her beauty and literary talent. Her professor painted these women as illusory beings!

However, she found a silver lining in her hard-earned dancing career when she witnessed Maddula Lakshmi Narayana first perform — a woman who was probably in her 70s and was certainly not an “ethereal beauty” by today’s ‘standards’. “Draped in a silk sari replete with a waist belt, kaasulaperu and bulaaq, she blasted to life,” says Yashoda. “I wept quietly in the darkness but I felt relieved. Here was Maddula Lakshmi Narayana, a Kalavantulu woman who sang and danced! She was real! Her hair was haggard like mine. She was dark-skinned and possessed a bony structure. She was me!”

Yashoda, in conversation with her student Sampreeti Malladi, captivates listeners through many such compelling narrations in her podcast ‘Her Story of Dance’. The expansive podcast discusses the alienation of Kalavantulu hereditary performing artistes of the coastal Andhra region from the dance discourse and educates the audience on caste, regionality and cultural hegemony in the context of the appropriation of art from these communities. A number of guest speakers bring in diverse perspectives to the discussion; the list of scholars and artistes who have pitched in is a long one — Saskia Kersenboom, Rumya Putcha, Annabattula Lakshmi Mangatayaru, Urmimala Sarkar, Yendamuri Subba Rao, Suneeta Rani, and Srividya Natarajan.

Finding herself

Yashoda’s search for her roots took her to little hamlets in Rajahmundry and other regions in Andhra Pradesh, where she met hereditary women like Kotipalli Hymavathi and relearnt pieces like ‘Salaam Daruvu’, a song of salutation presented as part of ‘Mejuvani’ sessions, which were typically private evening soirees for the elite. When Yashoda performed Devadasi Nrityam, she realised the responsibility and gratitude of representing the history of her community and became aware of the place of art in society.

Male members of Kalavantulu households were talented musicians themselves. “My maternal uncle Saride Subbarao was an accomplished violinist who learnt from the guru of Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, whom he accompanied when he was young. Our families had several male professionals who played instruments,” says Yendamuri Subba Rao, a percussionist, who accompanies Yashoda when she performs Kalaapams, a forte of the hereditary women. Yashoda learnt the Bhama Kalaapam and the Golla Kalaapam from Annabattula Lakshmi Mangatayaru and her sister Leelasai, who are presently the only persons from the community who teach these unique theatre pieces.

With the disenfranchisement of hereditary women artistes, especially in the post-Independence years, the fledgling members of the community discontinued learning and practising the art, as they were forced to look for more ‘respectable’ occupations. They adopted new social identities to gain acceptance. The male progeny took over the reins of the previously matriarchal families and eventually came to the conclusion that art was not for them.

Yashoda with her gurus Annabattula Leelasai and Annabattula Mangatayaru at their ancestral home in Mummidivaram. The portrait behind is of their mother Annabattula Satyabhama.
 
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement