Culture and Communication228 Performing Arts and Artistes in Modern Times

CHAPTER Performing Arts and

Artistes in Modern Times21

Given above are some photos ofdiffferent performing arts. How manyof them can you identify? Write downthe names under each of the photos.Did you see any of them beingperformed in your area ? Share yourexperience with the class.

In this chapter, we will read aboutperforming artistes in the 20th century. Byperforming artistes, we mean those whodance, sing, perform plays etc. They aredifferent from other artistes like painters,sculptors and writers in that their workcannot be preserved – they have to performafresh each time.

Many of the folk arts are performed bythe people themselves. People sing anddance as part of their work and also duringleisure time and festivals. TheChuttuukamudu is one of the art form ofTelangana that came out of the daily labourof the peasants. Their work songs were

molded into dancing songs. Usually, theyare performed by women who gather underthe moonlight, sing Chuttukamudu songsand dance to the rhythm of clapping.Similarly, village girls hang swings on treesand sing the Vuyyala Patalu withdevotional stories of Goddess Lakshmi andGowri. Many other art forms areperformed by special people.

Find out from your parents andgrandparents about the songs sungand dances performed by familymembers on special occasions. Makea chart listing these songs, theoccasions on which they areperformed and some sample songs.Have any changes come in theseperformances in the recent years?Share your findings with the rest ofthe class.

If any of you know some of thesesongs and dances, perform them inthe class.

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Different forms of dancesYaksha Ganam

Yaksha Ganam or JakkulaBhagavatham or Veedhi Bhagavatham is apopular telugu folk art. As the artistsdance rhythmatically, this is also called“Chindu Bhagavatham”. Books likePanditharadhya charitra and BasavaPuranam tell us that it became popularfrom the 13th century. They perform on astage that have a cover on the publicplaces. Initially, all the different roleswere played by a single person by singingand dancing. But today, each role wouldbe performed by a different artist. It is notthe action itself that is important but thenarration of the story which is important.These are a mix of dialogue, songs andpoem. The stage perfomers are accompa-nied by tabala, harmonium and singingchorus. Movement of the actor’s legs andhands exhibit different expressions ac-cording to the role and its importance. Theroles played by different artists can beidentified by their costumes and specificprops or weapons with them. Each storycan have different roles such as Gods,kings, ministers, soldiers, brahmins, peas-ants, common people, jokers etc.

Some of the most narrated stories areSugreeva Vijayam, Bala NagammaKatha, Rambha Rampala, ChitrangadaVilasam, and Krishnarjuna Yuddam.. Tra-ditionally, plays were performed mostlyby people of Chindu caste. Today, how-ever, many people, irrespective of caste,come forward and learn this performingart.

Gusadi :Raja Gonds of Adilabad celebrate

Deepavali with a lot of fanfare. The dancethey perform during this celebrations iscalled ‘Gusadi’. They decorate themselvesin colourful costumes of peacock feather,deer horn etc. It is accompanied bymusical instruments like Dappu,Tudumu, Pipri and Kalikom.

Sadir Natyam :A solo dance form performed for

centuries by devadasis in temples andeventually, in the royal courts of SouthIndia, especially in Tamil Nadu.

Lambadi :Lambadi, a semi-nomadic tribe in

Telangana, has dances inspired by themovements associated with daily taskslike harvesting, planting and sowing. Thecostumes, embroidered with glass-beadsand shining discs, are beautiful. When theyperform on festivals like Dussehra,Deepavali and Holi, people pay themmoney.

Kuravanji :A group dance by women,

interpreting literary or poeticcompositions, typically on the theme offulfillment of the love of a girl for herbeloved.

Kuchipudi :A group form of dance drama from

Kuchipudi, a village in Andhra Pradesh,with all roles performed by men andthemes based on mythology.

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Culture and Communication230 Performing Arts and Artistes in Modern Times

Fig 21.1: Yaksha Ganam

Over the ages, artistes like dancers,storytellers, singers, actors etc. have notonly entertained people and given themaesthetic experience, but also helped tocommunicate spiritual messages andcriticise the ills of our society and suggestalternatives. Performing artistes couldplay a powerful social role by mobilisingpeople for important social causes.Fakeer patalu, Bairagi patalu,Dandaganam, Latkorusaab etc. weresongs sung by travelling fakirs andbairagis. They were sung in Telugu andDeccani Urdu and mixed language.

Several other art forms requiredlarger teams like in Burrakatha and GollaSuddulu. It is said that initially these

Golla Suddulu were practiced by shepherdswho migrated from place to place. Some ofthem were associated with religious groupslike Virashaivas.

Have you seen any such performancesby travelling artistes? Tell your classmates about them, who they were,what they sang and how were theytreated by the audience.

If any such artistes live nearby, meetthem and find out about their lives andart.

How did the performing artistes earn alivelihood? Some artistes travelled fromplace to place giving their performances.Such artistes were patronised by the villageheadman or the landlord and ordinaryvillagers. They also collected grains fromthe villagers. They were highly regarded asartistes and were welcomed in any villagefor the entertainment they provided. Theywere an essential part of temple festivalsand annual village festivals. People alsoorganised special performances as theybelieved that they would help in bringing rainand ward off evil.

Many artistes did not travel like this butwere attached to the palaces of zamindars,kings and emperors. They spent most of their

Fig 21.2:GusadiDance

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time learning and teaching and performingfor their patrons in courts and palaces.

We will first read about some travellingartists - Burrakatha and Tholubommalataperformers.

BurrakathaBurrakatha is a Telugu art form of

storytelling. The origin of Burrakatha isassociated with Virashaiva movement in12th and 13th centuries.

The term ‘burra’ refers to ‘tambura’a stringed instrument worn across the rightshoulder of the main performer(kathakudu). Usually, this art is practicedby a team of two or three people from thesame family of certain social groups likepicchuguntla or jangalu. In this form ofnarration, the main storyteller tells thestory while playing a tambura and dancingwearing andelu (anklets). He dances rhyth-mically forward and backward on the stagewhile reciting a story. The performer alsowears a hollow ring over his right thumbwith which he beats the basic tempo of thesongs. One or two associates assist themain narrator with a two-headed eartherndrum called dakki or budike. The drummer

to the right of the performer comments oncontemporary political and social issueseven if the story is mythological and thedrummer on the left provides comic relief.

‘Vinara Bharata Veera KumaraVijayam Manadera’, ‘Tandana Tana’ isthe popular refrain of the Burrakatha.Performance begins in the evening withsongs in praise of various gods. Then thekathakudu introduces the main story bytelling about the place, time and context ofthe story, while the assistants repeat therefrain of the narrative.

Burrakatha is performed mostly duringDasara or Sankranti festival seasons.Mostly, mythological stories from epicslike the Ramayana and the Mahabharata andsome stories of kings like Kambojarajukatha, Bobbili katha, Palnati katha,Katamaraju katha etc. are told.

Nazar performed many Burrakathasduring the Telangana movement. TheTelangana artistes also began to composeand perform new Burrakathas to campaignamong people. The more notable amongthese were Tirunagari Ramanjaneylus‘Telangana Veera-yodhulu’, Aduri

Ayodhya Rama’s ‘NaizamViplavam’ S.K. Chaudh-ary’s Kasim Razvi’ andSunkara Satyanarayna’s‘Kashta Jivi’. TheseBurrakathas focused onthe socio-economic probl-ems of the people and theheroic deeds of the leadersof the movement. Forexample, Sunkara Satya-narayana’s ‘Telangana’ wasFig 21.3: Photo of Burrakatha performance

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Culture and Communication232 Performing Arts and Artistes in Modern Times

written in 1944. It focused on the heroismof Shaik Bandagi, a Muslim peasant, whofought valiantly against the oppression ofthe feudal landlord, Visnuru Deshmukh.

Presently, Burrakatha troupes are beingpatronised by the Government for creatingawareness on various social issues likeliteracy, AIDS etc. Burrakatha perfor-mances are broadcast on TV but thetraditional performers have left this artform as their place has been taken over byother forms of entertainment and have nomore patrons in the villages.

TholubommalataThis is a shadow puppet show

performed by travelling artists. Puppetsare made of animal skins. These hides aretanned, made translucent and cut intovarious shapes and sizes. The sizes ofpuppets range from one to six feetdepending upon the age and nature of thecharacters. The brightly painted puppetshave joints at the shoulders, elbow and hip,all secured for manipulation by a string.Performance

Traditional shadow theatre has anarrative text, which is presented in poeticform. Neither the narrator nor the singers

Fig 21.4: Tholubommalata

are visible to the audience. Throughvariations in pitch, the actor gives eachpuppet its own voice.

Performances begin at 9 p.m. and lastthrought the night. The troupe of shadowpuppeteers consists of eight to twelveartistes. The troupe have at least two womenfor singing and speaking the dialogues forfemale characters, two men for malecharacters, three instrumentalists to playthe harmonium, sruthi, and cymbals and oneassistant who quickly supplies puppets andmaintains the lamps.

They select an open place in the villagefor the stage, planting four-bamboo sticksto form a rectangle shape with a white clothtied to the poles. The commentator isbehind the curtain and there is a row oflights that throws the shadow on the screen.

The Themes of the playsThe performances draws from the

epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata andlocal legend with raucous humor andwisecracks about current events. For epics,the troupe uses regional versions. Theywrite new stories very rarely. Performersare mostly wandering troupes. They wanderfor nine months in a year from village to

village giving performances in returnfor money and grains.

With the advent of modern meansof information and entertainment likefilms and television, people are turningaway from traditional forms ofperforming arts. The landlords andheadmen no longer patronise artistesas they did in the past. As a result, thefolk artistes are facing a decline and

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crisis of livelihood. Since they aretravelling artistes, they also lack modernschool education and the only otherprofession they can adopt is that ofunskilled workers.

The government has stepped in to usesome of these art forms to propagategovernment programmes. Many traditionaltroupes are now performing plays on themeslike sanitation, healthcare, girl’s education,family planning and environment. Suchscripts are generally provided by thegovernment who sponsors the shows.

Some families of Tholubommalataartistes have also opted for alternatesources of livelihood like production ofdecorative lampshades and wall hangings ofleather.

Do you think it is important topreserve the folk art traditions whenTV and films are becoming thedominant forms of entertainment?Give your reasons.What changes do you see in theposition of the artistes and thesubject of their performances sincethe time of the national movement?Why do you think did the nationalistsand communists try to revive andrenew folk arts?

Bharatanatyam : Its decline and revivalA large number of classical dance

forms of India trace their origin to Bharata’sbook ‘Natyashastra’. Today, the nameBharatanatyam refers to a particular danceform of Tamilnadu. However, a hundredyears ago, the name Bharatanatyam was notin use.

What we know as Bharatanatyam todaysprings from Sadir Natyam. These danceswere actually performed by devadasis asa part of temple worship.

A devadasi, whose name means slave(dasi) of god (deva), is an artist dedicatedto the services of a temple. The dance ofthe devadasi was integral to the templeritual and worship. Young girls werededicated to temples as an offering to godsby their parents. They were not allowed tomarry and were exploited by priests andinfluential men. Their children continuedto live like them. Devadasi familiesspecialised in the arts of music and dance,and with the nattuvanars (dance masters,who usually were male children ofdevadasis), they maintained thesetraditions from generation to generation.

A law ending the devadasi system (ofdedicating girls to temples) was enactedbetween 1934 and 1947 in Bombay andMadras Presidency. Bhagya Reddy Varmaled a campaign against it in Hyderabad stateand persuaded the Nizam to end thedevadasi system in the state.

Imagine the plight of a young devadasigirl who does not want to live the life

Mogulaiah Playing Kinnera Instrument

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Culture and Communication234 Performing Arts and Artistes in Modern Times

of a devadasi. Describe her feelingsin an imaginary letter written by herto her friend.

RevivalE. Krishna Iyer was a freedom fighter

and lawyer who had also learntBharatanatyam. He would perform it infemale costume to remove the stigmaassociated with the dance, and campaignedto raise public interest in the art. He alsoplayed a role in founding the MusicAcademy in Madras (now Chennai), andused its platform to present Bharatanatyamperformances by devadasis.

Bharatanatyam attracted young artistesfrom respectable families. Initially, metwith shock, their participation ultimatelyhelped to shift public opinion in favour ofreviving the art. Also during this time,Western artistes like the Ballerina AnnaPavlova started taking interest in the artisticheritage of India, while the spiritual heritageof India was being promoted by Westernersin the Theosophical movement.

Rukmini Devi had trained in balletunder a pupil of Anna Pavlova’s, but Pavlovaadvised Rukmini Devi to learn Indianclassical dance instead. Raised in aTheosophist family, Rukmini Devi’s uniquebackground equipped her to reform the

existing Bharatanatyam to emphasise itsspirituality.

An association of devadasis joined theeffort to revive Bharatanatyam. Its ranks

included a teacher ofRukmini Devi as well asartistes like BangaloreNagaratnamma and thelegendary dancer Bala-saraswati. They advocatedpreserving the tradition, andalso keeping it in the handsof the devadasi community.Their argument was that theart would die if separatedfrom the community, whileadvocates for Bharatanatyamfrom the educatedFig 21.5: Oggu katha Performance

Fig 21.6: Rukmini Devi

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community argued that the art had to betransferred to respectable hands to besaved. Ultimately, both communitiescarried on with the dance. It was, after all,the devadasis and nattuvanars thattrained the new dancers from other castes.

Rukmini Devi’s debut performance in1935 was a milestone. Her efforts won overmuch of the orthodox community ofMadras. She went on to found theKalakshetra institute, to which she attractedmany great artistes and musicians, withwhom she trained generations of dancers.

Balasaraswati promoted the traditionalart of the devadasis, maintaining thatreforms were unnecessary and detractedfrom the art. Staying true toher devadasi lineage, she achievedrecognition for her excellence.

The renewed awareness aboutBharatanatyam in Indian society allowedmany nattuvanars to resume their training

activities, and many artists to enter thefield of classical dance. A diversity ofstyles like Pandanallur, Vazhuvur, andThanjavur, named after the villages fromwhich the nattuvanars came, becamerecognised. Bharatanatyam soon becamethe most widespread and popular of theIndian classical dance forms.

Why do you think it becameimportant for other caste to take overthe dance in order to revive it?What kind of changes do you thinkthey would have made to the danceto make it respectable?On one hand, the traditionalcustodians of the dance were notallowed to practice it and on the otherhand, people of other castes tookover the dance to make it respectable.Do you think there is somethingunjust about this development?

Bharatanatyam todayIn the vital decades after its

revival, Bharatanatyamachieved such esteem that bythe late 20th century, the demandfor learning Bharatanatyamexceeded the infrastructure tosupport the art and maintain itsstandards. Today, it is thedemand for learning it, ratherthan a growth in its audience orsponsorship, that fuels thespread of Bharatanatyam.

Dancers, rather thanthe nattuvanars, have becomethe custodians of the art form.The generation of nattuvanarsFig 21.7: Balasaraswati

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that trained dancers during the revivalperiod was the last generation ofexclusive nattuvanars. Due to sheernumbers of aspiring dancers,nattuvanars no longer are the only trainers.

Many are forced to use recorded musicin dance performances to keep the costsdown. Dancers today usually can’t make aliving by performing. With a fewexceptions, Bharatanatyam is today asecondary career, or a profession for thosewith family support. Few dancers candevote their entire lives to training anddeveloping as dancers. To earn money,dancers start teaching early in their careers.This affects the quality of their dance andalso their teaching.

Without nattuvanars, and with moreand more dancers becoming teachers, theunbroken lineage of instruction thatmaintained the integrity of the dance formhas been lost. In the hands of many dancersrather than a few trainers, Bharatanatyamis now subjected to numerous innovations.

While this has been the experience ofBharatanatyam, many other dance formslike Kathakali, Yakshagana, Odisi,Manipuri and Kathak went through similarexperience and struggles. Try to find outabout them too.

What was the special role of thenattuvanars? What impact do youthink it will have on the dance if theyare replaced by dancers themselves?In what way has the immensepopularity of Bharatanatyam helpedit. Has it also created someproblems?

Perini Nrityam : The dance wasperformed to worship Lord Sivaaggressively in front of a Nataraj idol at theSiva Temples and to motivate soldiersbefore going to wars. The dance isperformed only by males with a breathtaking enthusiasm. This dance form has beenin practice since the 13th century. Adetailed description of perini nrityam‘Nritya Ratnavali’ written by ‘JayapaSenani’, (brother-in-law) a colonel of theElephant troop under the Kakatiya kingGanapathi deva. Nataraj Ramakrishna, awell-known dancer brought this dance intolime light, performed it along with hisdisciples and made it popular all over theworld.

Dappu Natyam : The musicalinstrument ‘Dappu’ made with the hide ofgoat attracts and makes the people to dancewhen it is played with two sticks. A groupof 15-20 dancers play the drums (Dappu),wearing Gajjelu and dance before andduring the celebrations and processions.

Dappu Natyam

Perini Nrityam

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Improve your learning

1. Correct the false statements:

a. All dance forms emerged as part of devotion.

b. Historically, artistes were supported by big Zamindars.

c. Burrakatha was adopted to mobilise people.

d. Today, Bharatanatyam is largely taught by nattuvanars.

2. Discuss the changes that have come about in the lives of folk artistes during thelast 50 years.

3. Do you think folk arts are declining? What loss do you think it will cause to ourculture?

4. Is it possible to orient folk arts to new requirements of modern life and revivethem?

5. What are the major changes that have taken place in Bharatanatyam dance since thedays of Sadir?

6. Who among the following were the supporters of devadasi system and those whoopposed it and who wanted to reform it:

Balasaraswati, Rukmini Devi, Veeresalingam, Bhagya Reddy Varma, Krishna Iyer,Bangalore Nagaratnamma.

7. Why has it always been difficult for artistes to earn their livelihood by practicingtheir art? How can artistes be supported to stand on their own feet?

8. Collect and prepare a table with the information about arts and dramas performedby the artistes of your area.

Interview:Invite a local artist to your class room and conduct an interview on their arts andtheir future.

Keywords

1. Cymbals 2. Anklets 3. Alms 4. Mime

5. Tarangam 6. Nattuvanars

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