Kathakali, the embodiment of Indian theatre

by Gwen Herat

Derived from two Indian words Katha which means story and Kathak meaning story-teller and though different from Kathak, Kathakali is one of the four main dance styles of India in the classical repertoire. It is known for the heavily mime-oriented dance drama that has become the embodiment of Indian theatre. It comes from Malabar in the extreme coast of South India and achieved perfection over 300 years ago.

Kathakali combines the traditions of the ancient rituals of pre-Aryan origin with the forms of mime, drama as they have been registered in the Natyashastra, merging as a perfectly integrated art form that includes dance, drama, singing and instrumental music with a very refined, complicated and highly stylised vocabulary of gestures.

Masks and heavy make-up play a very important role and the various characters wear masks of different colours.

It takes over five hours to make up a single face. The stories are extracted from mythology and history.

Performances take place in the courtyard of a temple or on a platform outside, after dusk and will last a whole night.

The dancers are so passionate of Kathakali that they feel they dance their history.

Legends

Many of India's fabulous legends and ancient mythology are reincarnated today by Kathakali and classical dance drama of the country that is rich in culture and tradition. The dancers display epic heroes, incarnate gods, divine sages and demons portray timeless tales of good and evil and the three words, Heaven, Earth and Hell.

There is a strong religious element with most Eastern dancing. Many of the dances are performed in temples and religious places or in the presence of royalty. Even today most of the performances in Kerala are given specially constructed stages in the temples but are inaccessible to non-Hindus.

The special feature is the application of make-up that transforms dancers to gods and demons and the appropriate and elaborate costumes, layers and layers of it in much weight, is perhaps the reason that Kathakali is confined to men. The brilliant jewellery that set off the massive costumes are combined with weird and towering head-dresses which make dancers a strange sight to the Western eye.

Physical demands

Like in Shakespeare's era when women's roles were acted by young men, Kathakali too follow suit, because of the exacting physical demands needed in this form of dancing.

Apart from the training they are given in dancing, an important part of it is the eye movement training. It is strange but true that 15 minutes of eye movement has to be worked out by the dancers before any performance.

Some of the classics danced by Kathakali dancers are Mahabharatha, Nala Charita, Bhagavadghitha, Sons of Pandu and Ramayana.

Nala Damayanthi, a production of Chitrasena-Vajira is an adaptation of Nala Chitra. I too danced in this epic when I was a schoolgirl and studying Kandyan dancing under them. In Nala Charita, the role of Damayanthi is danced by Shivaraman (a male dancer). The ballet was from an original mounted by the Kerala Kalamandalam Kathakali Dance Company. Strange as it may sound, there are shades of Swan Lake in Nala Damayanthi.

Similarity

There is a similarity between Kandyan dancing and Kathakali in movements, costumes as well as make-up. As much as girls shun Kathakali the same applies in Kandyan dance when girls evade anything similar to this form of art which is found in some Vannams and low country dance and choreographed especially to those of boundless energy.

Of the four dance schools of India Kathak, Kathakali, Bharath Natyam and Manipuri, it is Kathakali that upholds the country's traditions, diverse religions and history.

Their dance today, is what they danced 500 years ago.

The glorious art's repertoire is mostly found in the archives of Malabar preserved in the sanctity of Lord Krishna, Lord Siva and the lesser known gods in Indian mythology.