Kathakali+of+India

=Kathakali= []


 * __AIDS TO THE APPRECIATION OF KATHAKALI__**
 * 1) BASIC TERMINOLOGY
 * attakatha = Kathakali play
 * atta=play or dance
 * katha = story
 * Sloka=verse
 * pada=song interpreted through dance and gestures (3 kinds)
 * pallavi (refrain)
 * anupallavi (sub-refrain)
 * charanam (literally, the "foot")
 * tala=time signature/rythm
 * raga=melodic scale
 * pada improvisation=ilaki-attom
 * Mudras=gestures and sign language

Part one:
 * __KALYANA SOUGANDHIKA__**
 * King Bhima speaks erotically (sringara) to his wife, Panchali, in the garden, enjoying the afternoon breeze and the enchanting songs of the koils (birds of love).
 * Panchali finds the divine Sougandhika flower, picks it up and shows it to Bhima, asking him to find more for her.
 * Bhima promises to get more for her. Bhima promises he will and asks his wife Panchali to stay with his brother during his journey to Indra's world in search of them. (This is a prime example of how Hinduism influences Kathakali play structure--anytime someone is asked to to something, that person must comply and obey the request.)
 * Panchali offers to get Bhima some food before his quest but Bhima declines saying, "your meaningful and soul-stirring glances are sustenance enough for me."
 * Improvising the following scene, Bhima encounters the gandha Madana, a giant mountain, saying he will clear the creature-filled pathway with his mace. In high spirits, Bhima strides along the path as wild beasts run from his terrifying presence.
 * Fueled by the thoughts of his wife, Bhima continues on to find an elephant caught in distress by a python only to be attacked by a lion, finally. He also sees kinnaras (sect of demi-gods) singing, drinking and cooking. Also, some actors display Bhima encountering Siddhas (another sect of demi-gods).
 * Finally, Bhima reaches the garden. He enters proud and haughty, which is why he is humbled by the monkey god, Hanuman, upon his arrival.


 * __NALA CARITAM ATTAKATHA SUMMARY__**

__Nala__, the King of Nisadha and the protagonist of play is visited by __Narada__, son of Brahma. Narada tells Nala that their is beautiful woman named Damayanti that lives in Kandinapur that even the gods have fallen for her. Narada encourages Nala to go find her and make her his bride, because her __svayamvara__, or choosing of a spouse is approaching soon. Soon after hearing this message, Nala is infatuated with the idea of Damayanti and her pearl-like beauty. He is however, distressed by the idea as well, hopeless of marrying her unless the goddess of love, Kamadeva, plants his affection within her. The next scene shows Nala giving his powers over to his magistrate temporarily while he goes to ponder the idea in his garden. When Nala reaches the garden, his heart aches for Damayanti even more, as the edenic scenery of flowers and birds remind him of her even more. It is in this garden that Nala finds a golden swan sleeping, which he catches. the swan can talk, and begs the king not to kill him saying that he has a family to care for. The king releases the bird who flies back to its aerial companions. It returns to king, though, expressing its gratitude by offering him a favor, saying he will go to Damayanti and convince her to marry him. The king gladly accepts this offer asking the swan to "devise clever words to make this jewel among women love me."

The swan travels to Vidarbha and finds Damayanti and her handmaidens in the garden. Damayanti is already in love with Nala, though she has spoken about her love with no one. Damayanti is restless, and suggests they return to the castle. The handmaidens are confused by her wish, since she had just suggested that they go to the garden. Damayanti sings of her torture in seeing all the beauty around her, and as she does, the golden swan comes into her sight. Overcome with the beauty of the swan, Damayanti asks her handmaids to leave her alone to speak with the golden swan.

As Damayanti moves toward the swan, the bird mocks her gently as he moves slowly (suggesting he could be captured). The swan chides Damayanti, who is shocked by his ability to speak, about her childish desire to catch him. The swan tell Damayanti he is here to help her desire for Nala. The swan returns to Nala, telling him that he has revealed that Damayanti loves him.

-Narada is often depicted as a busybody - a great musician who plays the vina -this play moves along with a wide variety of costumes and characters -the play's playful, charming tone is what endears it to audiences -the marriage is by agreement



Theyyam
[]


 * - the word is a distortion of the word //Deivam//, which means impersonating a God. Although it appears to be dangerous, it is not demonic, it is truly a human impersonating a God.
 * - deities in //Theyyam// can be Hindu Gods. or even the older Gods of the local religion! Sometime local deities specific to a temple or even heroes and noble women become deities and are impersonated.
 * -ritualistic dance of Malabar - Northern Kerala
 * -ritual happens around a tree where it is believed a god lives (sacred trees), also in compounds of certain households, or in temple structures known as //Sthanams,// adjoining a sacred grove known as //Kavu//. These trees are clothed in red cloth, indicating their holiness.
 * Every Theyyam festival is begun by the sharpening of weapons (swords and knives)
 * -A flagpole is erected in the village around which the dance is held, if a permanent flagpole does not exist already.
 * -performer undergoes fasting and penance before a performance to purify - this is an elaborate ritual, the organisers invite the performers and inform them about the dates of the performance and then the penance period starts, often the performer would go and stay in a separate building.
 * -ankle ornaments critical to identification of theyyam performers
 * -rice powder, tumeric used for elaborate full facial make-up - known as //Mukhathezuth//
 * -what are the brushes that theyyam use? What are they made of?
 * -costumes prepared by a washerwoman who considers it a sacred duty
 * -mirror ritual just before the performance to give the actor a vision of the transformation (just as in Noh theatre)
 * -intricate costumes done by hand in this form from local materials
 * -elaborate, extensive head dresses - //Thidumudi,// the bit where the performer puts them on is known as //Thimdumudi Azukkal//.
 * The performances are mostly dance accompanied by percussion instruments
 * -Oh Terrifying Mother – book – research into the theyyam tradition
 * -fire dances which dancers dance through or thrown onto or rest upon - the performer in trance would often refuse to leave the embers and get up, assistants force him to do that
 * -benediction is considered from the god since the performer is in a trance
 * -mid-Feb to June is the season (the hottest period of the year)
 * -performers are from a particular tribe
 * -performances are over a 7 day festival – only performance each year – physically taxing - the entire community participates in the festival, a fair goes on, there are firework displays and music and dance performances, a community kitchen is opened for all visitors to have two meals a day.
 * -temples full of weapons – only open 2 days before the festival and during, the compound is cleaned with cow dung and water. Rituals begin by sharpening of holy weapons.
 * -some castes have a specific occupation, so all tribes hire another tribe for the theyyam because they can't perform it themselves, except for the //Pulaya// tribe, which is the lowest in the social strata, they organize and perform their own //Theyyams//.
 * -How does this tie into Kathakali? - some of the dance movements are similar, the seat for the performer is same, the drums are similar, although the playing style is largely different! It could be argued that the more codified classical art forms of Kerala like Kutiyattam and Kathakali borrowed their face painting and costume style from the older, more primeval ritual art form //Theyyam.//

Kutiyattam
[]
 * only permanent theatrical structures in kuttampalam in India
 * the theatre is a separate structure in the temple compund
 * Vatakkunathan Temple theatre is the largest surviving structure
 * a performance lasts between 5-25 days, beginning around 9pm- a full performance would go all night
 * actors are part of the cakyar caste
 * Elaborate dress and headdresses
 * Mizhavu drum- only used for kutiyattam, not for kathakali. This was the large ovular drum with the small, saucer-sized, cowskin head on the top.
 * Similar drumming beginning in both kathakali and kutiyattam.
 * Drummers have special training apart from the acting process; used to give actors time to prepare for the performance; also to draw an audience.
 * Finger symbols used to keep tempo, as with all classical Indian music
 * Oil lamp with three wicks, two towards performers, one towards audience
 * Nangyar-singers and finger cymbals-caste of women- typically married to cakyar caste
 * men are to be shirtless in the temple= covered with a towel to symbolize bathing
 * Yavanika-Greek word for the curtain which may imply that Alexander the great brought it from Greece.
 * In this form, women act female roles
 * The characters will first sing or dance the story, then it's repeated with drums
 * a single actor can play different roles with shifts in costume
 * The emphasis is on getting it right, so if the costume needs adjusting, an actor will walk offstage to adjust
 * specialized movement in a clockwise direction to show the movement from one place to another (also present in Noh theatre)
 * A mirror in the actor's dress allows them to check and correct makeup mid-performance
 * A one act play can take 35 days to perform because of the elaboration
 * Performed by both sexes, men can also play both sexes
 * All acts are performed in the ancient Sanskrit language. Much of the audience cannot understand what the performers are saying or doing onstage; only the performers can.
 * Idea of ensemble performance is stressed greatly.

media type="youtube" key="CMquphTYM3w" height="505" width="640"
Kathakali sequence from //Mahabharata//, the characters are Arjuna, the ace archer of the Pandavas and Lord Krishna (perhaps the most interesting character in the epics)! The character make-ups belong to the //Pacca// (Green) category. They denote that the characters are high-born and belong to the nobility! Lord Krishna wears the vase like headgear, with a tuft of peacock feather on top! Notice also the bright red lips of the characters and the white rice paste framing, called a //cutti//.

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This is a black (//kari//) character. This is the basest of the Kathakali characters. In this class are forest-dwelling characters and female demons. They wear bucket-shaped headdresses and also add other features like comic false breasts. They often carry branches in their hands to denote their primeval nature! media type="youtube" key="XqqadGMXT1w" height="385" width="480" This and the next video are about Ravana, the demon king and the antagonist of the epic //Ramayana//. This character is also noble-born denoted by the Green (//pacca//) base of his make-up but the bulbous additions on his nose and forehead denote his inherent evil and arrogant nature. Also notice the inverted red moustache bordered by the white paint.

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The following video illustrations were recommended to me by Julien Touati, a French actor studying kathakali at the Kottakkal company in Kerala. They arrived in my e-mail today, Tuesday, September 15, 2009. Besides being on youtube you can find them on his website http://www.myspace.com/julienkrishnan

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The following four videos were filmed at the Kerala Kalamandalam during the summer of 2008 and provide some brief insight into the kuttampalam theatre and acting and maddalam drumming classrooms.

media type="youtube" key="4HNvEBABaq0" height="340" width="560" Much bigger than the stages in the temple theatres -Feeling of the old theatres -Moat to catch the rainwater -Hand carved doors -Mural on the back of the stage -pillars on the four corners of the performance space -raised about a foot about -Lord Shiva, elephant (associated with Natya Shastra) - ornaments near the stage -big mirror available for actors to check their appearance -A large, intimidating stage space -Two sides for the dressing room- ceiling fans -Power failures are common - generators are used -carvings done by hand in granite - all done by local artisans -large theatre in a small village -designed on the Natya Shastra and unique in India

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Class Notes
Notes on film Masque of Malabar 8/31 -Elephant procession-tusks must be visible, as many as 15 elephants, drumming as part of the ceremony -Masque of Malabar-performances begin after dark -makeup is created on the spot from organic local ingredients -Entire makeup process takes 2-3 hours -The patterns indicate the type of character the actor will be portraying -Originated in Hindu temple performance- took its current from in the 17th century -Visual representation of mythological characters -5 categories-noble character - green makeup ridge of rice paste with paper creates a frame around the face -makeup artist very important to the troupe, highly skilled -red beard= evil, black beard=wild, white=noble? -headgear also adds to the majesty of the costume -Each costume contains 55 yards of cloth, each character must be dressed quickly and without delay -Costumes of male characters are similar and are characterized by enormous skirts -Skirts show majesty of character and allows for ease of movement -A seed is placed under the eyelid to make it red -important to emphasize the eye expression -Drumming which lasts for more than half an hour preceding the performance -Actor training takes 8 years of study -Kathakali nearly died in the early part of the 20th century -intensive period of training occors during the monsoon season -eye movement training in the morning- learn how to express all human emotions -the body is covered with oil to prepare for further training -exercises are used to train all parts of the body to be flexible and strong enough to play the roles -training begins before dawn -movement of legs and feet are never flat on the floor, so exercises are sused to train an actor's balasnce and footwork -oil massage is a part of training- legs completely turned out to the walls -early morning training is followed by bathing in the river -rhythm is everything to the training -singers must learn and memorize the entire repertoire -9 principle emotions are learned: love, valor, pathos, fear, disgust, tranguility -after lunch, free time for the students, though some use it to study the Hindu epics -Track of training is determined by audition for reach track for children between 8-12 years old -after 8 years, the actor must be ready to perform any role in the canon, from applying makeup to knowing the complete story and role -after training, over 600 movements have been mastered which allows him to portray the role and interact with others on the stage -long silver nails on the left hand signify a male character -the filmmaker has notes including credits for the film here

Notes from 9/2 Kalyana Sougandhika
 * -Kutiyattam - sanskrit plays
 * Attaprakara and Kramadipika -
 * manuals on how to perform the sanskrit plays
 * without these manuals, the actors can't perform them
 * manuals are written in Malayalam and written very simplistically
 * all of the verses in the sanskrit play are mentioned in the manuals
 * the teacher is the only one who can translate and understand the manuals
 * Until the 50s, the text was secret, even to the student (also true in Kabuki and Noh; important keeping of secrets)
 * Time during makeup and costume spent going over the role, discussing tempo issues with musicians for various portions, etc.
 * Not rehearsing for a single run, but the training of a lifetime to be ready for any and every performance and its variations
 * The temples are controlled by the Communists because of the money associated with it; the temple board controls the temple
 * Krishnanattam- performers are dedicated to the temple by their parents; performed in a single temple
 * uses masks
 * the stories come from those surrounding Lord Krishna: his birth and marriage ceremony
 * musical quality is becoming more like Kathakali because tradition has been lost along the way
 * Mohiniyattam - female performance
 * Houses in Kerala are constructed so that performances can be held in a home
 * Audiences are very critical about the quality of the singing
 * Mix of religions in Kerala: equally Christian, Muslim, and Hindu - relatively peaceful existence
 * Panchali is the wife of five brothers, one of which is Bhima -
 * Pandavas- the five brothers
 * Blood relation fight between the family
 * Kauravas- the group whom the brothers are fighting against - 100 brothers
 * Pandavas were pushed out of their kingdom in a game of dice
 * Pacha - green (Bhima, Dharmaputra) Bhima is on the right in the picture below
 * [[image:Kathakali10.jpg width="334" height="224"]]
 * Minukku - golden makeup (Draupadi)
 * [[image:minukku-kathakali-kerala.jpg width="340" height="259"]]
 * Vella Tadi - White beard (Hanuman)
 * [[image:hanuman.jpg width="292" height="352"]]
 * Chuvanna Tadi- Red beard (Krodhavasa)
 * [[image:chovanni_tadi.gif]]
 * Tampuran was a king in a section of Kerala
 * Hamsa makeup is on the right below
 * [[image:hamsa.jpg]]
 * The size of the costumes indicates the larger than life importance of the characters and their station
 * Choliyattam - rehearsal
 * The costume is worn for the first time during the first performance (there is no dress rehearsal)
 * slokas are always repeated between singers in a circular pattern to give the performers more time to elaborate in their gestures
 * Kalasham allows for pauses, but the circular singing also allows for pauses in which characters can enter
 * Nala Caritam is considered important literature, but not necessarily a great piece to perform (the performers will be rusty on the choreography)
 * shinagara rasa is the emphasis in Nala Caritam - the emotion of love
 * disorganized beauty in the garden - mixed bag of thorns and buds

Notes 9/9/9 -Rasa is the main contribution to theatre from India -Comparable to Aristotle's ideas of Poetics -notion from the Natyashastra - text of dramaturgy which compares to the Poetics, but which is far more detailed -Rasas - emotions and sentiments associated with performing the characters -Bhava -there is a disposition within the culture to understand rasas because of their upbringing- they are capable of savoring the performance -there are performance techniques which create the savoriness of the performance -theatre is a greater thing than you are - respect and honor are due to the sacred space and objects inside it -aesthetics for sringara- a beautiful garden with fragrances that delight - aesthetics -definite contrast between male and female in the rasas -the tradition of expressing rasa has to be learned and understood by the actor -the actor has to be more than mechanical in the expression of the rasa -the actor's techniques, breath control etc., important and critical to the demonstration of the rasa
 * Also deals with dance, acting, costume, makeup
 * taken for granted that you would understand the emotions of a performance
 * it is the response of the audience to the performance
 * loosely translated to gravy
 * taste in cooking and the variety of flavors is comparable to the emotions of theatre
 * In Indian cooking, you combine flavors into a single aesthetic experience
 * produced by what the actor does onstage, called bhava
 * 9 separate rasas: categories of emotions or sentiments
 * sringara- love, eroticism,
 * raudra- rage
 * hasya- comedy, laughter - 2 kinds of comedy: laughing at someone and provoking humor through one's actions
 * vibhatsa- odious, smelly (ie a field full of blood)
 * bhayanaka- fear of the unknown, imminent danger
 * veera- brave, proud, heroic
 * adbhuta - wonder, marvel (ie seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time)
 * karuna - pathos over the loss of a loved one, sadness, loss of a parent (overwhelming sadness)
 * shanta (the 9th rasa)- no expression, no response, peace (as in meditation) (not mentioned in the Natya Shastra)
 * bhakti- not one of the rasa, but the feeling of religious devotion - certain genres of performance use bhakti
 * Bhakti-Alternative definition- praying, meditation, isolated yoga practices
 * Example comparison- going to church in america to do bhakti
 * example, Bhima falling to Hanuman after being tricked
 * the action of the actor causes the emotion in the audience
 * also differences between ages of characters (ie young, unwed girls are played differently than mothers or older women)

Other play genres in India - 9/21/09 media type="youtube" key="F7tejRb8cDk" height="344" width="425" Jatra- popular theatre form in Bengal and Bangladesh - very declamatory, very emotional - exciting theatre form, but without the formal conventions - adapted in recent years - media type="youtube" key="jVc96Urv71E" height="344" width="425" Bhavai- from Gujarat - mostly humorous - raucous and often sexual in nature - punctuated with dance activities - dying and had to be saved by the government

Ankiyanat - from Assam - one act plays - very separated from the rest of India - associated with religion and religious practices in the temples - the temples don't have idols - people believed in the words of Krishna

Tamasha - Maharashtra (Bombay) - folk popular theatre - 40000 companies at one point - spectacular dancing - very sensual female dances - milkmaids in Krishna recreations - reaches out to male audiences - no stripping, but a close to that provacativeness - extremely humorous - media type="youtube" key="HDRPvWKSCFg" height="344" width="425" Ramlila - North India - huge spectacle - example: burning of 3 story effigies filled with fireworks, the burning starts with a fiery arrow -played for huge audiences - not at all refined - goes through the Ramayana - leads you through over a period of nights - at the end of the monsoon, the festival happens

Raslila - throughout India, but primarily near Vrindhavan where Krishna was born - stories of Krishna - like the Krishnattam, but is more broad than that form Many more classical dance forms

Ras Lila Theatre Theatre and Religion on Krishna's Stage: Performing in Vrindavan by David V. Mason of Rhodes College
 * 3 Things: Ras Lila and its form and why its religous, Streetcar Named Desire, something in World of Warcraft relevant to Ras Lila
 * We can learn something about the relationship between audience and performer
 * Bahkia - prayer (component) - manifestation of it - attitude towards others, how you feel about your relationship with god
 * Temple worship in India
 * what happens visually is really important
 * The temple image acts as a physical manifestation as divinity
 * literally by many as incarnation of divinity
 * Murti - temple image
 * You go to the temple to have a personal interaction with divinity
 * Dars'an- physical encounter with your eyes - it's important as a Hindu to encounter divinity visually
 * Rocks with eyes - the physical form is immaterial as long as the form is contextualized as a physical divinity
 * Vampire and cross example - the vampire sees the physical manifestation of deity
 * Theatre
 * God can also appear in the form of an actor
 * Actors are treated as divinity
 * Svarup (accent over the a) - the real form, the true form, the literal form
 * Going to Ras Lila theatre is very much the same as going to the temple
 * Ras Lila is a genre that dramatizes the story of Krishna
 * Krishna takes the form of a child, and often a mischievous child
 * Krishna childhood stories form the basis of Ras Lila - over 150 different stories - any given troupe will have 10-30 stories
 * Puja- Worship, includes prayer and ritual, other modes of outward manifestations of devotion
 * performances don't begin without preliminary rites
 * Preliminary rites from the Natyasastra
 * Puja runs through the play in the form of music
 * Everyone knows all the folk tunes, so everyone joins in
 * No clear delineation between the three stages - flows from one to the other
 * Everyone in the audience gets a chance to pay respects to the deity
 * Town bigwigs go first, then common people go (sometimes in the middle or end)
 * Sermonizing - time set aside in the middle of the show for pontification on Krishna
 * Dance- present in every Ras Lila performance
 * Not unusual for about half of a 3 hour performance to be dance
 * The dance that opens every performance has a relationship to one story - the breastfeeding girls who drop their babies to run into the forest - the story of the girls is reiterated, demonstrating the girls calling to Krishna, ending in a circle dance with Krishna
 * Drama- Dialogue driven action
 * Pith and the marrow of these stories is how Krishna gets on everybody's nerves
 * God's got it out for me - the foundation of the Krishna stories -
 * Stealing, lying, breaking things, getting in trouble, running away when he's done
 * The audience is completely wrapped up in the presence and absence
 * Referred to as the imitation of Ras Lila, not quite as simple as straight imitation
 * God is willing to take an actor's form so that you can interact with him - story of the woman and Krishna eating dirt
 * Metatheatre - explicit theatricality - theatre about theatre - play within the play
 * Audience looks at the Gopis who look at Krishna who is really pointing to the true Krishna
 * Bhav - your religious sensibility - religious feeling for Krishna
 * Reason why kids have to play the characters - because the sense that Bhav is purer in children
 * The child who flushes the keys down the toilet understands the lesser importance of materials
 * Devotees want to be closer to the idea of Krishna
 * Technically, boys can't see Krishna - the girl child is the most pure example of bhav
 * Ras Lila and Streetcar Named Desire
 * Stanley punches Stella - wince, shout, pull away
 * We're acting when we go to the theatre - the belief in the in game of theatre
 * You inhabit a certain kind of role
 * Patrons are ready for the Gopi role
 * We're inhabiting the chair in the theatre, and at the same time, we're developing an identity as an observer of the action - A role that is real in the world of the play
 * There's something going on in the brain that accounts for being able to perform both of these roles in the theater
 * World of Warcraft
 * Online games, etc, show something similar in the way that we perceive reality
 * Same thing in theater? Possible?
 * The brain distinguishes between the real and the imaginary world

Kathakali performers 10/23
 * Facial expressions
 * Hand gesture language of Kuttiuatam and Kathakali are similar but different
 * Kathakali - includes non-textual dance gestures, has no relation to the text, but to augment the dance
 * Abstract and realistic hand gestures
 * Till 1990, no other education from age 12 on.
 * Now, high school BA, Masters, PhD
 * 10 years of training
 * There are dropouts; they come after being entranced by the color and movement, but can't take the pain and discipline
 * 85-100 students at any one time
 * Applications are advertised in April; there's a written test; interview follows the test; acting tests for strength and physicality
 * The makeup for the female characters prevents older actors from playing them
 * The male makeup creates a mobile mask which allows them to be played in later years
 * Part of the discipline of demonstrating facial expressions is the hand position, some of which are advanced
 * Part of the physical discipline is to isolate parts of the body