#FireStarter: Manjari Chaturvedi, The Woman Undoing Social Stigma With Her Dance

#FireStarter: Manjari Chaturvedi, The Woman Undoing Social Stigma With Her Dance

The lights are dimmed. The tones in the audience hushed, almost in reverence, in anticipation. The first strains of music can be heard and then, the pleasing, assured ghungroos as the feet hit the ground. The woman makes an appearance, bedecked with jewellery, her  fitted on top and then flowing around the hips. Her eyes are rimmed with kohl, her lips a deep, intense shade of red. And as she dances around the stage, all eyes follow her, every move graceful and swan-like. The beats build up to a crescendo as her feet hit the ground with a rhythm.

You would think you’ve been transported to the palace of a king. In a durbar where a courtesan has the entire court’s attention. Or you could be here, in the current century to witness a spectacle like this. Manjari Chaturvedi is a modern-day courtesan, a term she claims has several connotations, some negative. She doesn’t see why. “The courtesans were the style icons of their times and the jewels and clothes were customised and made for them specially. During their time, they were the epitome of style and luxury. They were the trendsetters and fashionistas of their times. They entertained at a time when there were no films, no television and no multimedia. These women are the equivalent of the film stars of our times. We idolise the current film stars and yet we use the term courtesans in a derogatory manner. Isn’t this sheer injustice to these great women artists? Today, ad makers flock after the film stars. If we had ad campaigns two hundred years back, the only people endorsing the different products would have been the celebrated courtesans.” she says.

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We stop for a moment, taking in what she says. But when a vast majority do not understand the nuances, it can be difficult. We are intrigued. How did she come about into a profession that’s not mainstream? She explains, “Courtesan is no longer a profession, hence it is not my profession. I tell stories of courtesans to throw light on the women performers who we have stigmatised and forgotten. This is a process to re-look at history. Today we have classical dance, ghazal, thumri, dadra as separate art forms. There was a time when all this was performed by one woman! There was no playback!“

Our ears are perked up. We are drawn in by the world of these women. We want to know more about them, their dreams and aspirations. And in the modern day, Manjari is working towards a cause. She says, “This project is a medium to draw the attention of the society towards our erstwhile courtesans and how discriminatory practices impacted not only their life but also of their families. Thus, I am advocating and creating much required space for them as an ‘artist” in the society through cultural activism and social change. The well-researched cultural production will bring to forefront the performing art of the courtesans through information, communication and technology and the live performance.”

 

She’s referring to her production called The Courtesan Project, a performance she did recently at the NCPA in Mumbai. Through her art, Manjari is changing attitudes and drawing more people to the art. And this is not limited to a particular gender. However, she is certainly a feminist.

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Her definition of feminism is interesting though. Seen through the lens of what she does, her take on it is interesting. “Feminism for me is giving respect to the women performers at par with their male counterparts. This is an exhaustive research as it brings alive dance and stories of women who were stigmatised by society for being performers of both music and dance and in an unfortunate society.

Ridden by gender discrimination, they were not even part of the documentation history of the performing arts. Hence, it becomes imperative that we tell their brilliant stories to the world and show their their art, their music, their dance. This is a part of the gender in arts, and how the gender of performer shapes the art for future.

Those forgotten dancers called tawaif and nachnewali do not find space in the documentation of performing arts, whereas their counterpart male performers are referred to as ustads. These were the women who moved from the kotha and formed the part of the Parsi theatre and then subsequently were the first women performers for the big Hindi film industry. And their contribution to art largely remains unacknowledged. This project brings their art to the foreground.”

Manjari is clearly passionate about this and it’s a passion that rubs off anyone who interacts with her. She’s a #FireStarter alright. And she’s changing the story of women in history, one performance at a time.

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