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Where art becomes identity and survival, a performance

Manjamma Jogathi discovered in folk theatre and Jogathi Nritya not just a calling but a language of survival. Born Manjunath in a small town in Karnataka’s Bellary district, she grew up watching village plays and temple performances,
even as her womanhood struggled for expression. Ostracised by family, Manjunath’s uncertain childhood transformed into Manjamma’s consecration into the Jogathi tradition—a path at once ceremonial and stigmatised, sacrosanct and scorned.
From a mere spectator, she rose to the stage of the Karnataka Janapada Academy, which she led as its first trans woman president. Manjamma’s footwork carried her all the way to one of the nation’s highest honours, the Padma Shri.
Dance Like a Trans is no neat tale of triumph. It is a chronicle of losses—name, family, certainty, identity—and the act of retaining them.
Here is a testament that the stage can be homeland.