Folk & Tribal Arts

Darpana is deeply committed to preserving and promoting the plurality and richness of India’s folk and tribal art forms, through research, teaching, publications, and performance.

Janavak , Darpana’s folk and tribal arts department, works extensively throughout India to research, preserve, and perform many of the lesser-known dance, theatre, and puppetry forms of India. Its repertoire includes folk forms from Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bengal, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu.Over the years the folk dance and music group has toured, performed and conducted workshops throughout India and in over 27 countries across the world.

Bhavai

Darpana has worked extensively with Bhavai performers in Gujarat, and through training, performing, publications and close collaboration with Bhavai performers, Darpana has played a major role in keeping this unique performance style of Gujarat alive. Darpana often incorporates styles like Bhavai in its development work in rural areas, to connect more directly with the audience while talking about issues of social importance like health, women’s empowerment, education, or livelihoods. Link to Darpana for Development.           

Andhra Shadow Puppets

In the 1960s, the puppetry group at Darpana undertook an extensive project to revive the nearly lost form of form of shadow puppetry from Andhra Pradesh – considered the “mother” of all southeastern Asia’s shadow puppetry forms, and a form which employs the only shadow puppets known to throw a colored shadow. They researched the process of the puppet making, translating original scripts from Telugu to Hindi and Gujarati and creating plays. The puppetry group also ran hundreds of teacher training workshops to train teachers in the use of puppetry as a teaching tool, often working closely with government and non-governmental agencies.

Images

Performance Repertoire (Category – Folk)
            Videos – Youtube Channel / Embedded