Written on November 30, 2010
Fantastic colours, demonic garbs, quivering facial muscles, face paint unlike any you’ve seen before, expressions more surreal than sane and frenzied dance. The clash of cymbals and the urgent peal of insistent drums bid you welcome to the world of Kathakali.
Kathakali is believed to have been conceived out of the fundamentals of the dramatic dance form called Krishnanaattam, which means the dance of Krishna. Derived from the Malayalam words “katha” which translates to story and “kali” which means play, Kathakali is literally the enactment of stories through the medium of dance. More than a mere drama, beyond the realms of simple dance, Kathakali, has been defined by the poets of yore as a three dimensional poem. A veritable theatre of poetry. Best exemplified by the various modes of address that the characters employ in their graceful dialogue with one another. Not by their proper names or even pronouns, but by descriptive expressions and eloquent phrases.
And so when King Nala addresses his wife Damayanti as “Kuvalaya Vilochane, Baale, Bhaimi, Kisalayaadhare, Chaaruseele”, he is actually describing her as “You with the eyes like the blue water Lilly, young girl, daughter of King Bheem, with lips like the tender leaves, good natured one”. Adjectives emanating as literary poetic expressions and re-created as visual poetic expressions using intense facial expressions, vibrant hand gestures and elegant bodily movements.
Kathakali combines five artistic elements …
