DANCE | INDIAN DANCE | CLASSICAL DANCE | KATHAKALI

KATHAKALI

Kathakali  is one of the major forms of classical Indian dance. It is a "story play" genre of art, but one distinguished by the elaborately colorful make-up, costumes and facemasks that the traditionally male actor-dancers wear.  Kathakali primarily developed as a Hindu performance art in the Malayalam-speaking southwestern region of India (Kerala).

Kathakali's roots are unclear. The fully developed style of Kathakali originated around the 17th century, but its roots are in the temple and folk arts (such as Kutiyattam and religious drama of the southwestern Indian peninsula), which are traceable to at least the 1st millennium CE. A Kathakali performance, like all classical dance arts of India, synthesizes music, vocal performers, choreography and hand and facial gestures together to express ideas.

The traditional themes of the Kathakali are folk mythologies, religious legends and spiritual ideas from the Hindu epics and the Puranas.The vocal performance has traditionally been performed in Sanskritised Malayalam. In modern compositions, Indian Kathakali troupes have included women artists, as well as adapted Western stories and plays such as those by Shakespeare and from Christianity.

Costumes

Kathakali is famed for its elaborate costumes and facial painting.

Of all classical Indian dances, Kathakali has the most elaborate costuming consisting of head dresses, face masks and vividly painted faces. It typically takes several evening hours to prepare a Kathakali troupe to get ready for a play.

The makeup follows an accepted code, that helps the audience easily identify the archetypical characters such as gods, goddesses, demons, demonesses, saints, animals and characters of a story. Seven basic makeup types are used in Kathakali, namely Pachcha (green), Pazhuppu (ripe), Kathi(knife), Kari, Thaadi, Minukku and Teppu. These vary with the styles and the predominant colours made from rice paste and vegetable colors that are applied on the face. 

• Pachcha (green) with lips painted brilliant coral red portrays noble characters and sages such as Krishna, Vishnu, Rama, Shiva, Surya, Yudhishthira, Arjuna, Nala and philosopher-kings.
• Tati (red) is the code for someone with an evil streak such as Ravana, Dushasana and Hiranyakashipu. Some characters have green face (representing heroic or excellences as a warrior) with red dots or lines on their cheeks or red colored mustache or red streaked beard (representing evil inner nature), while others have full face and beard colored red, the latter implying excessively evil characters.
•  Kari (black) is the code for forest dwellers, hunters, and middle ground character. Demonesses and treacherous characters are also painted black but with streaks or patches of red.
• Yellow is the code for monks, mendicants and women.
•  Minukka (radiant, shining) with a warm yellow, orange or saffron typifies noble, virtuous feminine characters such as Sita, Panchali and Mohini. Men who act the roles of women also add a false top knot to their left and decorate it in a style common to the region. 
• Vella Thadi (white beard) represents a divine being, someone with virtuous inner state and consciousness such as Hanuman. 

• Teppu are for special characters found in Hindu mythologies, such as Garuda, Jatayu and Hamsa who act as messengers or carriers, but do not fit the other categories. Face masks and head gear is added to accentuate the inner nature of the characters. The garments colors have a similar community accepted code of silent communication.

Acting

Sringara, one of the nine facial expressions mentioned in Natyasastra

Like many classical Indian arts, Kathakali is choreography as much as it is acting. It is said to be one of the most difficult styles to execute on stage, with young artists preparing for their roles for several years before they get a chance to do it on stage. The actors speak a "sign language", where the word part of the character's dialogue are expressed through "hand signs (mudras)", while emotions and mood is expressed through "facial and eye" movements. In parallel, vocalists in the background sing rhythmically the play, matching the beats of the orchestra playing, thus unifying the ensemble into a resonant oneness.

Several ancient Sanskrit texts such as Natya Shastra and Hastha Lakshanadeepika discuss hand gestures or mudras. Kathakali follows the Hastha Lakshanadeepika most closely, unlike other classical dances of India.

There are 24 main mudras, and numerous more minor ones in Kathakali. There are nine facial expressions called Navarasas, which each actor masters through facial muscle control during his education, in order to express the emotional state of the character in the play. The theory behind the Navarasas is provided by classical Sanskrit texts such as Natya Shastra, but sometimes with different names, and these are found in other classical Indian dances as well.

The nine Navarasas express nine Bhava (emotions) in Kathakali as follows: Sringara expresses Rati (love, pleasure, delight), Hasya expresses Hasa (comic, laugh,mocking), Karuna expresses Shoka (pathetic, sad), Raudra expresses Krodha (anger, fury), Vira expresses Uthasa (vigor, enthusiasm, heroic), Bhayanaka expresses Bhaya (fear, concern, worry), Bibhatsa expresses Jugupsa (disgust, repulsive), Adbhuta expresses Vismaya (wondrous, mavel, curious) and Shanta expresses Sama (peace, traquility).

Sequence

A Kathakali performance typically starts with artists tuning their instruments and warming up with beats, signaling to the arriving audience that the artists are getting ready and the preparations are on. The repertoire includes a series of performances. First comes the Totayam and Puruppatu performances, which are preliminary 'pure' (abstract) dances that emphasize skill and pure motion. Totayam is performed behind a curtain and without all the costumes, while Puruppatu is performed without the curtain and in full costumes.

The expressive part of the performance, which constitutes the dance-drama, is split into four tyes: Kalasam (major and most common), Iratti (special, used with battles-related Cempata rhythm), Tonkaram (similar to Iratti but different music), and Nalamiratti (used for exits or link between the chapters of the play).

Entrance of characters onto the Kathakali stage can be varied. Many of these ways are not found in other major Indian classical dance traditions. Kathakali employs several methods: 1) direct without special effects or curtain; 2) through the audience, a method that engages the audience, led by torch bearers since Kathakali is typically a night performance; 3) tease and suspense called nokku or tirassila or tiranokku, where the character is slowly revealed by the use of a curtain. The "tease" method is typically used for characters with hidden, dangerous intentions.