Music of the Dunes

The Meenas coming from different region, have different cultures and a lot of differences among them. The Meenas from Nadoti, Toda Bheem and Bamanwas have the oldest folk tradition. They mostly performed Kanhaiyas, genre of music that goes back 250 years. 

Villages would come together for musical gatherings and exchanges called Dangals. 
Music from various genres was played all day and all night during these festivities - Kanhaiya, Pad, Kud Kanne. The atmosphere remained charged for days. The dangals still exist but its form has changed quite a bit.

There are various styles and streams of singing. Kanhaiyas, Hela Khyal, Kirtan require troupes. The entire village takes part in the singing. It isnt necessary to be a professional singer to take part in Kanhaiya. Rasiya, another style, is sung by women as it is sung at higher pitches. A recent genre is Sudda. A beautiful stream of music is Ramji Ke Geet, which compares to the most beautiful poetry of the world.

The rasiya talks of mythical characters but has no relation to mythology. It reflects the life of these people; their culture, the trees, their rock in their farms, storms, the rains. 

Another popular form of singing is the ‘Dhancha’ which is widely sung in Lalsot; close to Chaina and Rakesh’s villages. China and Rakesh Meena are cross dressing dancers from Rural Rajasthan that often accompany musicians on Dangals. ‘Dhancha’ form of singing is like building commentary and happens very spontaneously. 

These songs are not just their medium of storytelling for the sake of it, it’s their art, their expression. Mankind has never existed without art. It is an inherent need of humans.

In the audio here is Ramji Meena, a famous Meena singer, singing Meenawati Dhancha and bhajans (devotional songs). 

This audio was recorded sometime back when we met with the dancers and the musicians in the city to rehearse together for a hopeful public performance opportunity which never did happen. But the meeting was really special. The performance explored the transformation of the cross dressing dancers on stage; in front of an audience. As contemporary dancers ourselves, we tried to experiment with the form and, with them, create a folk performance intervention that dilutes the lines between the green room and the stage. The performance explored the ideas of identity, gender fluidity, roles, society, community and family as two male bodies transform into female dancers; undressing and dressing on stage. 

But this meeting was different. It was the first time Chaina and Rakesh were trying to ‘perform’ with live musicians. The act of getting out of their men's clothes and into women's clothing made the musicians uncomfortable. Most averted their gaze and some seemed confused. These were male bodies but everyone around looked at them as women. I remember Chaina remarking how the physical transformation also transformed him from within; it made him feel like a woman and he would no longer be comfortable with a male touch.