All-female ‘pili vesha’ troupe to debut in Udupi on Janmashtami

• All proceeds from the pili vesha to be contributed for the education of 25 orphans under the Asare programme

Udupi: An all-female ‘pili vesha’ (tiger dance) troupe will make its debut in Udupi on Sri Krishna Janmashtami on September 2nd. This will be the very first time; an all-female troupe will do the tiger dance. The troupe included 19 girls, aged between 4 and 20, all set to perform on the streets of Udupi.

The troupe known as ‘Avighna Vyaghras’assembled at the Udupi Kadiyali Sarvajanika Ganeshotsava Samiti each day to practice after school and college hours since over a month. The tiger dance is a difficult task and requires one to build stamina while fine-tuning their dance moves, say the girls.

“There is this notion that only men perform the dance. But I was clear that even I could do it, and always longed to dance. When I explored, I could find many more young girls who shared a similar interest. Women have made their mark everywhere, so we thought why not the pili dance, which speaks volumes about our coastal heritage,” said one of the dancers.

Most of the girls are part of the Udupi Kadiyali Sarvajanika Ganeshotsava Samiti, which also manages the Asare scheme for educating children. The girls will contribute all proceeds they get from the dance for the education of 25 orphans under the Asare programme, she informed.

Not only did they support our cause, but many parents came forward and provided us nutritious food so that we could keep up the required stamina required for the daylong event, she adds saying that their parents supported the idea when they brought it up.

Trainer

Shivappa Poojary, a popular Udupi-based pili vesha artiste who has been performing for over three decades.is providing training to the troupe. He has earned several awards including the ‘Extraordinary Tiger’ award in 1978 and 1987 for dancing for two hours without a break.

Costumes

Generally, artistes paint their body yellow, and then paint black stripes or dots. However, the troupe has a specially designed costume for this purpose which has been designed by a local dress provider. the costumes are full-length bodysuits with the tiger prints painted over it. The faces and hands of the dancers will be painted and they will also have a headgear resembling a tiger.

in order to complete their make-up on time to hit the streets of Udupi early on Sunday morning, the girls stayed up all night on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. They will participate in a pili vesha competition at the Kadiyali stage at 4 pm on Sunday.

Future of the troupe

The troupe is planning to dance even during the Ganesh festival and if the response is good, they aim on to perform it even during Dasara. The people in Udupi have loved the idea of an all-women pili vesha troupe, and are eagerly awaiting their performance.