Introduction

In the South-west corner of India lies the state of Kerala - a beautiful part of the country with its palm-fringed beaches, bright paddy fields, endless coconut groves, backwaters, wide rivers and lush hills. It is one of the smallest state of India with the highest density of population, where all the Hindus, the Muslims and the Christians live side by side in perfect harmony. People here speak Malayalam, a Dravidian language with a high percentage of Sanskrit derivate words.

Vypee Island (Kerala)

From this state comes that unique art form called, Kathakali. Although literally it means ‘story-play’, it is far more than that, and it has at various times been likened to a ballet, a miracle play, a dance drama, an opera and a pantomime. Yet it is none of this.

Training

It generally takes about 6 rigorous years of training to be a Kathakali artist. During the monsoon season the training starts at 4 in the morning till 7:30. Here the student is taught Maiurrappadao ( basic body exercises derived from Kalarippiyit - the martial art of Kerala) and has to undergo an oil massage. During other seasons the student practice eye exercises and Kalasams (basic pure dance steps) this time. The main class with the music, where each stories are taught to enact take place during 9 am till 12 noon. Again during 3-5pm the students practice the talam (rhythm), mudras (hand gestures) and receives the theory knowledge about different mythology and plays. The day ends with a further practice during 7-8pm. Kathakali only deserves the real hardworking, devoted and dedicated students. So the first two years of the training is the hardest in all for a student is toned to be a Kathakali artist during this time when he comes from a general background. This training can be compared to that of the military training.

The Characters and Make-Up

Goutam (Fort Cochin - October 2004)

Kathakali characters represent the mythological being of the three worlds - the upper world of the Devas (gods), the middle world of the humans and the nether world of the asuras (demons). The characters are grouped under certain clearly defined types, they are not only individuals but also symbolic personalities. The striking make-up and costumes are designed to transform the actors both mentally and physically into the types of characters they are portraying. The actor uses natural dies for the make-up. Chutti, a white sculpture of lime, rice paste and paper surrounds the make-up highlighting the finer emotions from the actors' face. For heroic, Kingly and divine type of characters the face is painted green, called Pacca. Only four vigorous characters makes an orange-red face called Pazhuppu. This has probably come from the Kerala Mural Painting. The arrogant and evil characters paints a knife or a moustache in red on the Pacca make-up to form, Katti.

Piyal (Fort Cochin - October 2004)

Here the green face of his indicates his highborn. Tadi or the beard characters are of three varieties. The red beard or Chuvanna Tadi are vicious and vile characters. The white beard or Vella Tadi represents higher type of being as the monkey-man of divine nature - the Hanumana. The black beard or the Karutta Tadi represents forest dwellers and wild hunters. The female demoness having a black face called Kari. The female, sage, servants, Brahmins and many other such characters with gentleness or high spiritual qualities paints the face with a warm yellow tint called Minukku. There are some special make-up for certain other characters like the swan, Garuda, crocodile, snake, lion-man, angry Bhima and others.

Two drummers

The Musicians

The two singers, one with the bells and one with the cymbals are the main narrator of the story. They sing the situation and the conversation in between the characters of the play for the actors are not allowed to speak a word. The two drummers play two different drums called the Chenda and the Maddalam. For female characters another drum called Edakkya is also used.

The Dance Technique

Goutam (October 2004)

In technique, Kathakali follows the other classical styles in embodying nritya (dance having a definite meaning) and abhinaya (acting).

The human body is made up of minute anatomical units which function individually or in combination with other parts. In none of the other Indian dance styles is the entire body, both the skeleton and the muscular part used so completely as in Kathakali. In contrast to the other dance forms, the muscles play an important part here and the movements of the facial muscles are the most important part of a dancer's training. The geometrical patterns which the dancers follows may be described as either a square or a rectangle with the dancer standing with both feet apart, knees turned out with the outer souls of the feet touching the ground. This position may be identified as the mandala sthanaka as described by Bharata. The dancer also covers space also in patterns of square and rectangle. With his arms and hands the dancer covers space usually in figures of squares and rectangles or clearly drawn diagonals along this squares and rectangles.

Piyal (October 2004)

Occasionally the hand and the eyes execute the figures of eight. The torso is used as one unit or occasionally, two i.e. the upper and lower torso. Jumps, spirals, sweeps and leaps are characteristic. Leg extensions are clear and the weight must be shifted from one extension to other in these extensions with ease. It is an essential part of the dancer's training to learn how to use each facial muscle separately.

In the nritta (dance) portions of Kathakali the dancer executes leg-extensions and jumps still covering space in a series of squares and rectangles to a given time cycle (tala). The units of the nritta are the Kalasams which may be compared to the tirmanams of the Bharatnatyam or the toras or the tukras of the Kathak. Adakkams and Tomkarams are the other types of the pure dance pieces. The two items, Todiam and the Puroppadu are the pure dance pieces. The hands follows the alapadmam and hamsasyam postures.

Mudra

The Kalasams or the basic dance units are of various types depending on the character and mood in the play makes the fondamental units of this dance.

The abhinaya or the acting technique has a wide variety of flexibility. The dancer sometimes performs akaharya (solo acting) along the lines of the poem or just with the music as we often see in the dance forms like Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Orissi and others.

Kathakali follows Hastalakshan Dwipika a regional text on the hand gestures for its mudra (hand gesture) language. With these mudras the dancers makes words, composes phrases and ultimately builds an emotion.

Conclusion

Through a familiar puranic story, familiar music, symbolic make-up, stylized costume and head gear, the Kathakali dance-drama seeks to evoke a state, a particular sthayi bhava and a rasa. In this respect the Kathakali dance drama is perhaps the only real survivor of the classical tradition of presenting a particular rasa as the content of a dramatic performance. This skill has been lost to many of the theatrical traditions. Although an amalgam of several elements and certainly not an example of the chaste classical tradition. Kathakali is a vital form of theatre which has its roots in classical tradition.

It is an interesting commentary on the complex cultural processes of this country that while assimilating foreign influences and alien cultures, it has continued to maintain a distinctively Indian character in almost all the art forms. The coming of the Arabs, the Dutch and the Portuguese seem to have left its mark on Kathakali, but the fondamental spirit continues to be Indian in character, and the dance drama has not departed from the ancient aesthetic canons in its objective of evoking a state of being.

Proposed Training

Since Kathakali has a wide range of teaching materials, so we would like to give training for all different age group of students from any background. Our training can be broadly classified on these few categories.

1. Kathakali as a complete art.
2. Kathakali Dance.
3. Kathakali Acting.
4. Painting and sculpture in Kathakali.
5. Acrobatics and exercises in Kathakali.
6. Uzhichil - the traditional Ayurvedic oil massage of Kathakali.

While teaching we will concentrate on these few below given topics.

1. Basic Steps (Kal Sadhakam).
2. Eye Exercises (Kanna Sadhakam).
3. Facial Expressions (Nava Rasam).
4. Body Exercises (Maiurrappadao).
5. Mudras (Alphabets, words and phrases to communicate).
6. Basic Dance Units (Elakiyattam).
7. Pure Dance Units (Kalasam, Adakam and Tomkaram).
8. Pure Dance Pieces (Astakalasam, Kummi, Sari & Pantadi)
9. Traditional Foot Massage (Uzhichil).
10. Kathakali Make-Up.
11. Kathakali Chutti.
12. Enacting a Padam.
13. Rhythm (Talam).
14. Improvisation in Kathakali (Attam).
15. Exercise of the other finer body parts (Upanga Sadhakam).
16. Traditional Ayurvedic Body Massage.