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Virginia Iglesias
Flamenco Academy of Dance

NEW! CLASSES IN ALAMEDA FOR NEW BEGINNERS AND CHILDREN!
BLADIUM SPORTS COMPLEX / ALAMEDA

SAN FRANCISCO
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6-7 pm New Beginner
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Wednesdays
7:45-9:15 pm Level 3-4 / NEW Choreography, Tangos
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12-1 pm New Beginner
1-2 pm Intermediate
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7:45-9 pm Beginner
ALAMEDA
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5:30-7pm New Beginner NEW CLASS!
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FEATURE ARTICLE

In Search of the Kalbeliya
by Amy Luna Manderino

Kalbeliya dancer, Pushkar (photo by Lisa Snodderly)

When I first started Shuvani, a dance company specializing in Romani styles from various regions, I knew that choreographing for India would be the challenge. Linguistic evidence points strongly to Northern India as the origin of the Romani diaspora, but it is rare to see Indian "Gypsy" dances outside of India itself. I had managed to create the dance thanks to footage provided to me by the filmakers Pepe Ozan and Melitta Tchaikovsky who produced the documentary "Jaisalmer Ayo" about the Roma of Rajasthan, but I knew I needed to go there for myself. I was told by one of my Indian dance teachers about the Jaisalmer Desert Festival in Rajasthan, where folk dancers from all over the region come to dance and would surely feature the best of the Kalbeliya dancers (the same style featured in the movie "Latcho Drom"). Since the Festival was near my birthday, I decided to make the trip my birthday present to myself. One of my company dancers, Lisa Snodderly and I share the same birthday, and when I mentioned my idea she was all onboard, agreeing to come as the documentarian.
As our departure date neared, I was floored to receive an email from the Galhar musicians of Rajasthan who were to perform in the Festival that year. They had found the Shuvani website and asked I would ever consider coming to India to perform with them! I was already on my way, I told them. Two of the other Shuvani dancers, Hannah Romanowsky and Holly Shaw, decided to join us and together we all headed off to India in search of the Kalbeliya.


Raj Bala and Party, Indiana Restaurant, Jaipur India (photo by Lisa Snodderly)

After a chaotic start in Delhi and breathtaking sunrise views of the Taj Mahal, we were on our way to Jaipur where our driver brought us to the Indiana Restaurant to see Raj Bala, a famous Kalbeliya dancer. She did not disappoint. I had brought a picture of the Shuvani dancers in our Kalbeliya costumes and showed it to the restaurant owner who promptly invited us back the next night to perform. I mentioned that it was my birthday and that I couldn't imagine a better way to spend it.

Kalbeliya dancers with children outside Pushkar (photo by Lisa Snodderly)

We arrived in costume to the astonishment of the Indian locals. Kalbeliya dancers and musicians are considered "untouchables" outside the strict caste system. We were even discouraged from speaking directly to the dancers themselves by their employers. The idea of four women from California coming all that way to see the Kalbeliya dance and study with them was a puzzling novelty.


Amy Luna and Raj Bala prepare to perform, Indiana Restaurant, Jaipur
India (photo by Lisa Snodderly)

Raj Bala proved to be a generous teacher, adapting her show that evening to spend more than an hour teaching us Kalbeliya dance vocabulary in a lead and follow fashion. I was most intrigued to see her perform Bhavai dance in which she balanced a tower of pots on her head while walking on plates, glasses, broken glass and the edge of a sword, a dance I have since added to the Shuvani repertoire. The evening ended with a birthday cake provided by the restaurant owner complete with candles and the band serenading the birthday girls with a special song in English.

We couldn't leave Jaipur without trying to find Gulabi Sapera, the most famous of all Kalbeliya dancers. After a long hunt, we finally managed to locate her home, but were unlucky to arrive the day after she left for Paris. I was able to talk to her on the phone and we were giddy groupies sipping the chai tea her son offered to us in her bedroom while looking around at all of the photos of her illustrious career.

Kalbeliya woman selling her beadwork, Pushkar (photo by Amy Luna Manderino)

Next stop Pushkar where we had no trouble finding Kalbeliya. Upon arriving in town, we stepped out of our car and there they were--literally--selling their beautiful beadwork on the street not five feet from our car. Again, we showed them our photo in costume and they immediately dressed us up in all their wares. Then it was off to the desert for a stunning performance, the highlight of which was watching a dancer pick up two razor blades set in the sand with her eyelids from a backbend position! A poignant backdrop to the show was the impoverished encampment of their families, forced to live outside of the city itself.

Galhar musicians teach Amy Luna to play the khartal (photo by Lisa Snodderly)

We finally reached Jaisalmer and connected with the Galhar musicians, who generously gifted me with the plate I would need to perform the Bhavai dance and also a set of khartal, a primitive castanet-like percussion instrument used in Kalbeliya music. After performing with them atop the ancient Jaisalmer fort, they instructed us to sit and serenaded us with a beautiful love song as the sun set over the desert and the moon rose behind us.

The next day was the Jaisalmer Desert Festival's main program. After five hours of amazing folk dancing of all styles performed for an audience of over ten thousand, the moment we'd been waiting for arrived when the Kalbeliya dancers came out to perform the exciting finale. With mesmerizing grace, lightning fast barrel turns and mind numbing contortions they delighted the crowd who, sadly, would not even acknowledge them if they passed the dancers in the street due to their outcast status.

When I left for India, I had no idea the interest there would be back home for Kalbeliya dance. Since returning, I have had numerous requests from the local Indian dance community and beyond to perform two styles of dance I learned in Rajasthan--Sapera and Bhavai. After viewing the crippling poverty of the Kalbeliya firsthand, I was happy to perform the dances in the annual benefit concert produced by Asha providing educational resources to India's poorest children and was grateful for the many Indians who came up to me thanking me for bringing these dances to the States. At Voice of Roma's 2007 Herdeljezi Festival in Sebastopol, I was able to present Lisa's footage of the Kalbeliya dancers as part of their presentation on "Genuine Romani dance versus the "Gypsy" stereotype." And I will be teaching the styles at two national dance events in the near future--TribalFest in Sebastopol, California in May and Tribal Quest in Portland, Oregon in August. This coming fall, I will be teaching ongoing classes in the Kalbeliya styles locally in preparation for Shuvani's next theater project and these classes will be open to all. In addition, you can see the Kalbeliya dances for yourself at our upcoming evening concert "Opre!" at Ashkenaz on Friday, May 18th, at 8pm featuring Romani dances from India, Turkey, Russia, Egypt and Spain with special musical guests Dgiin.


Amy Luna performing Bhavai dance at the Asha benefit concert

To view the entire photo essay of our trip to Rajasthan, learn about upcoming workshops in Kalbeliya dance or to sign up for our email list to hear about future local classes and performances please visit www.shuvani.com.

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