The Manganiyar Seduction

Overview

Can I ask you to do something? As you read this sentence would you mind imagining the sound of 43 third generation Rajasthani musicians singing and playing the following instruments: the dholak (a double-headed hand-drum), the kartal (a wooden block and copper plate instrument literally meaning ‘rhythm of the hand’), a kamancha (an ancient violin), the sarangi (a short necked lute that resembles the sound of the human voice), the morchang (a percussive instrument held in place by the teeth of the player with the sound altered by movements of the tongue and throat), and the algoza (a collection of flutes that produces rapid swinging sound through breath and skillful finger movements).

If your imagination is at all stimulated by this you will most likely enjoy The Manganiyar Seduction, an all-male ensemble of musicians who have combined their musicality acquired through a history of hereditary education (known as Gharânâ) with a spectacular and colourful stage show.

While The Manganiyars would have traditionally performed for the kings of Rajasthan, director Roysten Abel has added ‘seduction’, stage cues, and a touch of Bollywood glamour to the formula, arranging the musicians in compartments (or ‘magical boxes’) that are framed by lights reminiscent of a celebrity’s bathroom mirror or that 1970s game show Hollywood Squares. The performance begins with a solo musician until the other Manganiyars are theatrically revealed. As this process continues and as each member of the group contributes to the overall sound the music gains momentum to such a point that we are thumped by a community of resonance and song. Or as the Irish Independent has exclaimed:

"The effect is like that of a gospel Mass or a slow-building rave: a joyous, communal experience of the seductive power of music."

And unlike an average band you might see lazily moaning about the metaphorical throws of a relationship gone wrong, the musicians from Rajasthan have a repertoire covering, well, life itself. Singing on subjects as varied as birth, marriage, weather, feasts, Sufi songs written by mystics, ballads about kings, Allah, and the origins of the Supreme Being Krishna, there really is something for everyone.

Catch a free half hour preview performance at the Sydney Festival's Festival First Night on January 9.