Girls dance their way into a male bastion

They are now practising Dollu Kunita, a folk dance form once performed only by athletic men.

Students in Bengaluru are learning folk art forms in a big way, and girls are breaking into what was once a male domain.

Lava Kumar, Janapada kale (folk arts) tutor and Kannada teacher, is working towards restoring Karnataka’s folk traditions and is teaching the rigorous folk dance form Dollu Kunita to girls.

He tells Metrolife how it all began.

Is Janapada really lost, as many believe?

Janapada is never a ‘lost art’. Janapada supporters are spread throughout Karnataka. During my college days, I was part of various folk arts activities. The folk arts are in our blood and they will never be lost if people continue to practise them.

Dollu Kunita is known as a masculine dance. How are you getting women to do it?

Dollu Kunita has a myth attached to it. The dollu (or drum) is believed to be made from skin taken from the thigh of the rakshasa Dollasura. So, god Shiva employs Dollu Kunita to console his wife Parvathi, or so goes the legend. When Dollu Kunita was practised, women were neither allowed to step outside the house nor face men. With time, things change. And It is no longer just a male art.

How have women have made a mark in the folk arts?

I have taught this art to 200-250 school and college girls. Watching the strength and courage of the girls on stage makes me so proud. Dollu Kunita was at one time performed only by the Kurubas, and dedicated to their deity Beerappa. But now, it has left caste behind. It is now a pure form of art.

What is your message to folk artistes?

Janapada artists should never commercialise their work. It should be practised for personal satisfaction and love of culture. I am ready to teach whatever I know to anyone interested in learning.

Initially tough
Anupriya, a research associate at Forte Research Systems India, found Dollu Kunita difficult at first. “The heavy dollu is tied across the waist and hurts a lot. But one gets used to it,” she says. “The shouting between steps gives us energy.”
Thanusha, a student of PES University, says, “I began doing the dance when I was doing my undergraduate studies at Mount Carmel College. The Kannada Sangha of our college organised Janapada Siri and gave us numerous opportunities to learn the folk arts.”

Interested?
Lava Kumar conducts workshops at schools and colleges. You can learn the basic steps of Dollu Kunitha in about a month. If you’d like a workshop, call him on 90716 76768.