Dance form spotlights unfiltered storytelling, resilience, leadership and identity

Lavani Week 2025 in Mumbai celebrates the dance form's rich history and empowerment, focusing on traditional artists' stories and gender fluidity.

MUMBAI: The Lavani Week 2025, an annual event, aims to strip away layers of misconception to reveal the dance form’s true spirit — one that resonates with history, defiance and an unshakable sense of identity.

Dance form spotlights unfiltered storytelling, resilience, leadership and identity

Imagine stepping into a dimly-lit performance hall. The rhythmic jingle of ghungroos (ankle bells) cutting through the air, followed by a voice so powerful, it seems to draw energy from centuries past. This is Lavani—a performance where song, dance and expression are inseparable.

“Lavani isn’t just about the spectacle,” says Bhushan Korgaonkar, writer-director and curator of Lavani Week. “It is a deeply nuanced art form, rich with adakari (performance finesse) and emotional depth. While celebrity showcases have amplified its visibility, this festival focuses on the khandani (traditional) artistes whose stories remain in the shadows,” he says, adding, “It is their voice, their livelihood, their rebellion.”

Echoing him, actor and creative producer Geetanjali Kulkarni recalls her first encounter with Lavani by the khandani artistes: “It wasn’t just the speed or the sensuality; it was the fearlessness and confidence of the women who claimed the stage unapologetically, which gave me strength. You can call it being street-smart or cunning but they instinctively suss out the contours of any space.”

Actor Anita Date (‘Vaalvi’, ‘Tumbaad’, ‘Mee Vasantrao’), who will share the stage with these artistes, agrees. “Just being part of an act with them has taught me to be at ease in my own skin. They may not have studied in fancy universities to understand, articulate and confront the straitjackets that patriarchy traps most women in but they do it better than many who have been negotiating the tricky spaces with intergenerational wisdom,” she says. “When you perform and interact with them it underlines how Lavani is all about presence. You command attention—not because you are pandering to a demand, but because you own it.”

Actor Sambhaji Sasane (‘Wagherya’, ‘Love and Shukla’ and the web series ‘BE Rojgaar’) who is also part of the performances underlines how the art form has empowered generations of women in Maharashtra and celebrates untold stories. “These women have led troupes, sustained households and carved fiercely independent lives on their own terms,” he says. “As a male actor, I have become acutely aware that this performance is not mere rhythm and sensuality—it is about resilience, leadership and identity. I want the audience to feel that spirit, and to leave the theatre in awe of the power that thrives in spaces so often overlooked.”

Lavani Week co-director Kunal Vijayakar, feels the dance form also offers a space for gender fluidity. “Historically, men have performed Lavani in feminine personas, and women have adopted male characters. This is theatre beyond labels,” he says. Therefore, Rang Birangi Lavani, which will be performed, explores queer narratives as universal stories of love, longing and loss. “Lavani has long blurred the lines of gender and sexuality, making it one of India’s most subversive and inclusive art forms,” he says, adding that it allows performers to explore identities beyond societal norms.

Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Lavani veteran Shakuntalabai Nagarkar, who has been performing for over 60 years, sheds light on the unique relationship between Lavani dancers and their audiences. “The hardest part of performing in urban venues is not seeing the audience’s faces. Lavani is a conversation, not just a dance. I look into their eyes, feel their energy, and improvise,” she shares. Nagarkar, who ran her own troupe for 35 years travelling between Pune, Solapur and Belgaum, where she mentored young aspirants in footwork, singing and adakari, knows best. “I’ve always told each mentee that while we may dance for our livelihood nobody should get the impression that we are pushovers.”

In Lavani Week 2025, workshops like ‘Liberate Through Lavani’ allow participants to step into the performers’ shoes. Pooja Joshi, a corporate employee-turned-dance-enthusiast, attended a workshop last year and walked away transformed. “I had been performing a commercial, Bollywood-style Lavani,” she admits. “After the workshop, I realised how much I had diluted the art. This experience gave me a new respect for it.”

As Lavani gains its rightful place in India’s cultural mainstream, Korgaonkar insists that its unfiltered storytelling is its greatest asset.

(Lavani Week will be held at NMACC, Prithvi Theatre and Saibaba Hotel, Malad, Mumbai, between April 11 and 19.)