Desert’s pulsating charm

Kalbeliya dancer Asha Sapera talks about the need to preserve her tribe’s art

April 17, 2015 06:10 pm | Updated 06:10 pm IST

Asha Sapera

Asha Sapera

There are others in the green room; artists midway between make-up and costumes and last minute rehearsals. The space is buzzing with activity and excitement, but it’s almost impossible to look at anyone or anything else while Asha Sapera twists and moves, practicing her steps in a costume that catches your eye and doesn’t let go.

With a last twirl, she stops right in front of me, ready for a round of questions before the stage beckons. It’s the second night of the Jodhpur Flamenco and Gypsy Festival 2015 and Asha’s Kalbeliya performance, in collaboration with Flamenco dancer Karen Lugo, is next in line.

There’s a kind of nervous, anticipatory energy that surrounds Asha. I ask her if she is prepared. She smiles, and after a split second’s pause, nods.

This is Asha’s sixth year of collaborations and performances. “I have been to Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and many other places to perform. I have danced with the Spanish dancers many times,” she says. A gypsy dance form from Rajasthan, Kalbeliya is performed by a tribe of the same name. Asha, who belongs to the tribe, says that Indian gypsy culture is the original root of other gypsy cultures across the world. “We are where it started. The Spanish gypsy dancers are now very different from us. Their steps are different and their music is different. But you can still see the traces of similarity.”

It is this similarity that allows Asha to collaborate easily with Lugo’s flamenco performance. “At first, I was afraid and unsure. I didn’t know if I’d be able to do this. Their dance is slower, while we have much faster steps and just do what we like. But then, we decided to first merge the music. We put our traditional Rajasthani Kalbeliya music with their slower one, and then it became easier to match the steps. We match each other’s movements. It’s a jugalbandi and it is lots of fun,” says Asha, adding that it is, also, extremely hard work.”

Once upon a time, the Kalbeliya tribe main occupation was catching snakes and dealing with snake venom. The dance form was used for celebrations, joyous occasions where the tribe members would come together and enjoy themselves. The Wildlife Act of 1972 meant that slowly, it became impossible for the tribe to continue in their old way of life. Instead, they began to rely heavily on the dance form. “In the beginning, the dance was simple. Our ancestors wore plain black clothes and put black colour they made themselves on their lips and eyes. That was all. There were no elaborate costumes and make up. Then, when they began to realise that there was almost no money in working with snakes, they thought that perhaps they get the girls to wear beautiful costumes and perform.” It is then, Asha says, that the need for the costume and make up arose. “Who would pay attention to us if we continued to wear our simple outfit? Now, in this bright, beautiful dress, we are recognised. It’s become our identity and it brings us respect.”

The dance though, is much more than just the costume. There’s a fluid, sensual grace to Asha’s movements. She follows the beat, and her body twists and turns, mimicking the movements of a snake and carrying the memory of her tribe’s past. Each movement, she tells me, is spontaneous. One of the unique things about Kalbeliya dance is that it is not taught, but passed on from generation to generation only by observation. “We don’t have a guru student culture. We watch our elders dance and we pick up the movements. No one teaches us formally.” The whole aim, Asha says, is to enjoy the dance, and keep it fresh and new. So, while she does rehearse and practice a lot, each time, there is a new or different element to her performance, and it never follows a strict, pre-determined course. “In one dance, we might have different steps each time we perform it”, she says.

Things are changing though, and Asha wonders if it’s all for the better. While there has been an increase in the number of performances, it is still inconsistent and there is hardly any support for the dancers. “Sometimes, the four months of performance season is filled, and other times, we are lucky to get a single show. We do other work the rest of the year to sustain ourselves.” She also worries that an increase in younger performers selling their trade to foreigners is hampering their own opportunities.

“When people come here, they pay money to learn the dance, and a lot of girls are agreeing to teach them. So now, we get less calls from abroad to perform. Once, if they wanted to watch the dance, they’d have to call us. Now they come, learn, and then go and perform it themselves.”

Asha strongly advocates the need to keep the art form within the community. “It’s a mistake to sell our art, our costumes, our talent.”

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