For the very first time in India , Hyderabad became a city to witness one of its kind events. India’s first-ever Drag Cypher. “Cypher is a gathering of rappers, beatboxers, and/or breakers in a circle, extemporaneously making music together. In recent years, the cypher has also grown to include the crowd and spectators who are integral to maintaining the energy of a given cypher” and then we got Drag.
Cypher Hours Hyderabad a team by Hyderabadi Based dancer Harsha Komet, Raj janagam and Tollywood celebrity Faria Abdullah opened their arms to include the rising drag community into the cypher hours. On A Sunday afternoon Drag artists Patruni Sastry, Smitin Bhosle Drag kings Apoorva and Akki assembled at the BCUBE boxing space in Hitech city Madhapur to participate in the Drag Cypher.
The concept was ideated by Patruni Sastry inspired by Komets work. In a cypher all artists stand up in a circle and groove alternatively. The energy of the cypher is always on the circle, the tighter it gets the high of Adeline it becomes. While history of drag was evolved by Drag Balls, cypher came as a counterpart of these ballroom scenes. It was with this intent; that Drag Cypher was curated.
The performances started with a classical number juxtaposed with drag by Patruni followed by Smittin and Samaria. As and when the crowd started cheering Drag kings Akki and Rowdy LP Apoorva entered the seen and made the crowd go for gaga. With more than 7 different dance numbers the cypher lasted for half an hour and was closed with “Born this way” by Lady Gaga.
By the end of the event, Komet and Faria addressed the importance of inclusion of queer community time and again into art spaces and use their space to educate people on LGTBQIA+ Community. As a closing comments Patruni thanked both for being a visible ally and becoming role models to many.
Drag cypher was one of the programs for a full month of extended activities by Cypher hours team, with conducting workshops, flash mobs, rap and beatboxing battels for month-long and did a blast with the final finally with more than 200+ artist worldwide coming to the new cultural capital, Hyderabad and Drag Cypher was just an initial step towards diversifying the city art scene .
