I’ve been on a high lately, following a lavani dance workshop. Lavani, of course, is the Maharashtrian folk dance, popularly associated with erotica. In fact, this traditional form could be philosophical, or a comment on society and politics, or emphasise shringar — romance and erotica; the last is a later development. My interest in Lavani began years ago, when I was trying to sense the difference between the choreography of Bollywood and Marathi movies. . I had a chance to pay closer attention to lavani through an unexpected opportunity, when I had curated the Indian Expressionism programme for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Bell Lightbox, Toronto, which explored the influence of German Expressionism on Indian cinema. I had included V Shantaram’s Pinjra (Cage, 1972), which has the same key story as Josef von Sternberg’s The Blue Angel, (1930) — an upright professor ruined by his love for a cabaret singer-dancer; here Anant Mane is credited for the script. The film’s songs and dances, including, Disla ga bai disla and Chhabidar chhabi, are popular even today. Also Sangeet Bari, the wonderful lavani show, piqued my interest.

A still from Apsara ali from Natarang