THE MANGANIYAR SEDUCTION

The Manganiyar Seduction by Roysten Abel.
Georgetown Festival 2012
Dewan Sri Pinang


"The Manganiyars are a caste of Muslim musicians who are predominantly settled in the districts of Jaisalmer, Barmer and Jodhpur, in the heart of India's Thar Desert. They traditionally performed for kings, but over the years support for their music has shifted from kings to other wealthy patrons. Their repertoire ranges from ballads about the kings to Sufi poems written by various mystics.  They also have songs for various occasions such as births, marriages and feasts.  ....." from the souvenir programme.

Waiting for the show to begin.

Can be seen from the above photo there are in total 33 boxes (stacked up) with curtains drawn.  The musicians and vocalists are behind the curtains and they will open their individual curtain when it is their turn to perform and the lights around their box will be turned on (see photos below).  And if that part of the performance involve that particular musician or vocalist then the lights will be turn on.

The director Mr. Roysten Abel sharing with the audience about the Manganiyars.

Musical instruments used are - Kamaicha, dholak, murli, khartal, sarangi, morchang & bapang, algoza and dhol.  "The performance is structured as a cyclic spiral, where the main song, 'Alfat Un Bin In Bin', is rearranged to accommodate two other songs celebrating the ebb and flow of life.  The circles it creates are the dramatic narratives of the dance of delirium that Bulleshah performs to reach God" (from the souvenir programme).

The Music - 1. Sufi song by Bulleshah: Alfat Un Bin In Bin  2. Halariya: the birth of Lord Krishna  3. Neendarli.

From this video clip - (from 0:00 to 3:30) you can see the three percussion/drum groups performing, the beat fast & intense and then slowly slow down and the at 3:30 the whole group combined and performed *wooooh*

The finale part.