Shivaji Rao on his journey as a kavadi performer

Fourth generation folk dancer Shivaji Rao says it is up to us to keep indigenous arts alive and flourishing

It is easier to list the countries that Shivaji Rao has not visited. ‘Japan, Canada, and some parts of West Asia.’ Everywhere else, he pointed out, he’s performed the folk dances of Tamil Nadu. “I’m a fourth-generation performer. I’ve been dancing since 1980 when I was 16 years old. Now I am 54. I was taught by my father. My first performance was an all-night show in a temple near Mayiladuthurai and I danced the kavadi,” he smiled, sitting cross legged in the makeshift green room in Vidya Vanam School, Anaikatti.

Shivaji is among a handful of full-time solo kavadi performers. He rates it as difficult as poikkal kuthirai or mayilattam and kaalaiattmam, all of which they will perform at Svanubhava. The folk art forms are on a decline as a livelihood because “earlier there was no other entertainment. But now everybody is peering into their cellphones.” What keeps the folk arts going are temple festivals in villages, private shows and government functions. “We left home at 11.00 pm last night to get here at 6.00 am well ahead of the performance,” he said with a yawn. “It takes one hour just to get the make-up and costume on for poikkal and half an hour to wind up after the show,” he added, as his father and mother opened their make-up boxes, while his brother and brothers-in-law unpacked the dummy horses, peacock and bull.

Once the troupe was ready, Shivaji accompanied the tavil and nadaswaram players on stage. The others made their entry one by one. First to appear and enchant the audience was the peacock, with its lavish and long tail feathers. The kids screamed in delight when it jumped into their midst and took away their school bags. The poikkal kuthirais are greeted with a rousing applause. Nadi Rao and Kamachi, Shivaji’s parents, are well into their 70s and danced wearing the heavy dummy horse, ankle bells and wooden stilts, all of which weigh over 50kg.

Shivaji, in white pyjamas and a vest, with a sequined purple wrap and gold sash laced the kavadi on the floor, prayed and circled it. In one swift movement, he spun it onto his shoulder and neck. The kids roared in approval, as he balanced it on his forehead, elbow, chest and abdomen and went on to perform daring tricks with needles, lemons and an eyelid. He then implored the applauding children not to try it at home.

After the bull’s dance and its taming, and a final round of tricks, the artists circled the stage in a procession and answered questions from the children. “Are you not scared when you pick up a needle with your eye?” asked one child. “I practise it. It’s my livelihood,” Shivaji smiled. He wound up with a little advice: “I was in the US for 15 days.” The kids clapped. “If you are an artist, the whole world will know you. Learn and perform folk arts.”