Face To Face With Kathakali At Kalakshetra!

The beats of the maddalam and the chenda can be heard from a distance. They mean that a Kathakali performance is about to begin. The drummers (not seen in the accompanying picture) are standing in the portico of the beautiful Rukmini Arangam at the Kalakshetra in Chennai. 

Photo by Lata

Now, watching Kathakali is a multi-layered experience. You have to decide whether to be completely taken in by the elaborate make up and colourful costumes of the actors, or to listen to the wonderful verses in Manipravalam (a mix of Malayalam and Sanskrit), or be mesmerised by the energetic accompanying music, or to pay attention to the exquisite hand gestures, or to follow the movement of eyes and facial muscles of the artiste, or to absorb and appreciate the spectacle in its entirety. 

For people used to watching other dance forms, it may take a while to appreciate Kathakali. But once you get past the initial awe, and overcome the unfamiliarity; Kathakali opens up to you and embraces you in its majestic grandeur and subtle nuances. And when you realise how rigorous and demanding the training that the artistes undergo is, you simply bow to them with reverence.

Kathakali (literally meaning story play) is drama, dance, storytelling, folk art, and mime all rolled into one. Ideally the training should start when one is in early teens. There are excellent residential schools in Kerala imparting lessons. In fact the initial training to get one's body adapted to this dance form is very similar to what students of kalaripayattu (traditional martial art from Kerala) go through. The aspirants work hard for years to get complete control over their bodies including eyes and facial muscles. And then they have to learn to be comfortable in the make up, costume and jewellery all of which weighs several kilos if put together.

I watched some videos to get an idea about the process of wearing make up, costumes and jewellery for Kathakali. And the two words that came to my mind on watching those were: patience and surrender. An actor must have these qualities in abundance to be a good practitioner of this art. It takes between three and five hours to get ready, with the actor lying down flat on the floor to get his or her face painted by an expert. There is a prescribed colour code, and colours are used according to the character being played.  All the ingredients are natural and the coloured pastes are prepared freshly before the performance. Then putting the costume and jewellery on oneself is again an arduous task. The striking face paints, the bold headgear, the exaggerated eye make up, the curved extensions stuck from the chin to either side on the jawbones, the shiny discs that hide the ears, the ornaments around the neck and on the arms, the umbrella-shaped skirt held aloft by layers of pleated strips of cloth tied around the waist with a rope, the metallic nail extensions making fingers of the left hand look longer, waist-length hair extensions, the pleated pieces of cloth worn around the neck with their knotted ends dangling in front, and the red eyes make for a larger-than-life image of a character. I found that actors insert a part of a particular flower in their eyes to make them red. The reason? Else the eyes would look pale compared to other bright colours on the face.

Now the artiste is all set and ready for the act. Almost all the Kathakali stories are derived from mythological texts, so the plays are often long and go on for several hours. The stage is mostly bare other than the mandatory kalavilakku (oil lamp) placed in the front. The major characters usually enter the stage from behind a curtain held by two men. They pay their respects to the drums, drummers and singers before starting their performance. And then the story unfolds to the tune of the songs, the clang of the cymbals, the beat of the drums and the precise gestures and movements of the player. The dedication and devotion of all the performers is amazing. The actors bear the weight of their costume and accessories, while the drummers bear the weight of their drums, for hours and in a standing position. They bring alive a delicate romantic scene and a ferocious war scene with equal ease, the drumbeats reaching a deafening level during depictions of combat.

Kathakali was an all-male domain until some time ago. Female characters were also enacted by men. Now with women entering the world of Kathakali, the scene is slowly changing. 

Photo by Lata

It is always a pleasure to watch a Kathakali performance at Kalakshetra. Kathakali is traditionally performed in the open air, so the open and informal theatre suits it completely. The totally natural ambience, the lovely students in traditional sarees and veshtis, the fragrance of sambrani, the kolams, the floral decorations, the oil lamps, the picture of Rukmini Devi Arundale standing gracefully,  and the image of Nataraja all add up to make the experience magical and memorable. The five-day Kathakali festival which concluded last week was a perfect way to inaugurate the recently renovated performance space--Rukmini Arangam. Thank you Kalakshetra and Guru Sadanam Balakrishnan for putting together this fabulous treat!

Read my previous post on Kathakali here.

It Is Margazhi, Chennai Is Singing And Dancing!

The music season is on in Chennai. Corresponding with the Tamil month of Margazhi, this is the time of the year when the city celebrates its love for music and dance with hundreds of recitals in dozens of sabhas in the months of December-January. The weather in " hot-hotter-hottest" Chennai is at its best. Flocks of NRIs return home for a tryst with Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam, for a taste of mouthwatering goodies in the sabha canteens, and for a reunion with family and friends.

When it comes to Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam, I am a novice. So don't expect technical inputs on these classical art forms from me! However, I do enjoy going to concerts and soaking in the lovely atmosphere there. It is as if the whole city is enjoying a festival. Maamis in their best silk sarees -- diamonds sparkling in their nose and ears--, NRIs showing their city and its culture to their foreign-born kids, visitors and tourists from other parts of India as well as other countries, connoisseurs from the city who are adept at the art of sabha-hopping honed from years of experience; and students, practitioners and teachers of music and dance are all there relishing this annual extravaganza.

I caught up a bit with the cultural scene during last few days. Chennai as a city rises early. The concerts start from as early as eight in the morning. Usually the morning and afternoon sessions are free for all, while the late afternoon and evening slots require a ticket. I chose a post-lunch Nadaswaram recital by Kollangode R. Subramani and Parali E. Gowtham at the well-known Narada Gana Sabha. The Nadaswaram and Thavil combo presented a high-energy, high decibel performance. I wonder why the musicians were not acknowledging each other through gestures, words of appreciation or smiles. These would have added a lot to their performance.

I tried buying a ticket to the violin recital by Akkarai sisters at the same venue later in the day, but alas, it was sold out. I quickly glanced through my copy of the newspaper to explore other possibilities in the neighbourhood. Decided to try a vocal recital by N. R. Prashanth. It was conveniently scheduled in the auditorium of PS School on RK Mutt Road in Mylapore. The Kapaleeswarar Temple almost next door was going to be my next stop later in the evening so the location suited me fine. I enjoyed the concert a lot. The rapport between the singer, the violinist and the mridangam player was great and that made the recital delightful.The thin attendance in the auditorium was a bit of a dampener for me, but gladly not for the artists.

Later at the temple, it was a vocal recital by an all-women ensemble. Led by the graceful Saashwathi Prabhu, the women sang several devotional compositions. The imposing gopuram of the ancient temple provided a fitting backdrop to the proceedings. It was nice to see Aswini Srinivasan on the mridangam. She handled the instrument with poise and aplomb, earning a place for herself in the male-dominated bastion of the drum.

Another day, another performance. It is Bharatanatyam by Medha Hari. Her slender frame occupied the stage with amazing energy and grace. Considering that it was an early afternoon session, the auditorium was reasonably full with rasikas (connoisseurs) appreciating her nimble steps and movements. After this very enjoyable recital I stepped into another concert that was already in progress in another hall at the same venue. A vocal recital by Archana and Aarathi. It is common for sisters or brothers to perform as a team. I liked what I heard, but not what I saw.The lighting on the stage was so insufficient that the musicians looked dull. On the other hand, the whole auditorium was lit very brightly. It seems it is normal for the lights to be on in the auditorium during a Carnatic music concert. Later, when I saw the sisters at the canteen in natural light, they looked bright and lovely.

I decided to follow the pattern of the previous day and went to the PS School in Mylapore for a vocal recital by Snigdha Venkataramani. It turned out to be a well-attended concert, and very nice too.  What I liked about the recitals was that almost all of them began on time and ended at their stipulated time. There were no felicitations, introductions or speeches. Just artists directly face to face with the discerning audiences!

Photos by Lata

I ended the day with a Kathak presentation by dancer couple Hari and Chethana with their group in the Kapaleeswarar Temple. It was full of rhythm, colour and awesome footwork by the dancers. The flowing costumes of the performers looked magical during the numerous swirls. They even managed a change of costumes between performances making their act a visual delight. Their performance was enhanced by the ambience of the temple, so suited to the dance form. Sitting in the audience and watching them dance, I couldn't help thinking how appropriate the flowing garments are for the whirls in Kathak, while the tight costumes with a pleated fan in the lower garment that opens out beautifully when dancers strike the half-sitting (arai mandi) or full-sitting (muzhu mandi) pose are just right for Bharatanatyam.

Happy with my outings, when I looked up the performers later, I was even more impressed to learn that many of them have parallel careers in diverse fields. N R Prashanth is an engineering graduate in Instrumentation Technology from Mysore University. Medha Hari is a Chartered Accountant. Snigdha Venkataramani is not only a Carnatic vocalist, but also a Bharatanatyam dancer. In addition to this she has majored in Zoology and completed her Masters in Anthropology from Delhi University.

All this is very inspiring indeed!

Celebrating Oneness With Devotional Music

16 July 2016. It is supposed to be an evening of music at the beach. When I reach the venue, I find volunteers of the "Urur Olcott Kuppam Vizha" standing there holding a banner. They are politely directing visitors to a compound across the road saying there has been a change of venue. Sure enough, a colourful announcement has been put up at the gate of the compound. This lovely place is called "Spaces". It offers a platform for experimental work in the performing arts to artists and students.

Inside, it is a sprawling area having an old world charm. There are leafy trees and a good old well adding a nice touch to the ambience. There is a small performance area built in the Kerala style, complete with a stage and parapets along the boundary walls in the audience area for those who do not wish to squat on the floor. Volunteers are busy preparing the area for the evening's performances. The sudden change of venue has meant last minute hectic activity for them. But the saving grace is that the small theatre matches the mood of the event perfectly, informal and open.

Noted Carnatic vocalist T. M. Krishna, who is the main force behind this event echoes the sentiment of the people associated with this movement saying they wished they could have had the performances at the beach as planned. There are some permission issues. But they go ahead enthusiastically anyway. The evening opens with a group song by the children from the nearby fishing village, Urur Olcott Kuppam. They are smart and their presentation is well-prepared.

Now it is the turn of the singers belonging to the Nagore Sufi Trio, Abdul Ghani, Ajah Maideen and Saburmaideen Babha Sabeer. They come from the Nagore Dargah, a sufi shrine in coastal Tamil Nadu. They are dressed in flowing white robes, their green and pink turbans adding colour to their costumes. Their singing is full of devotion, energy and rhythm.

Next, several young men and women belonging to the Choirs of Angels from Loyola College take the stage. Their singing changes from mellow and soulful to rapid and exuberant at times. They manage to present a good sample from their repertoire.

The last performance of the evening is Namasankirtanam by Karthik Gnaneshwar and group. Their abhangas and bhajans are mesmerizing, the repetitive refrain taking the listeners in a trance. Devotion is of course the common theme for the evening, wonderfully highlighting the idea of "Celebrating Oneness" through different styles of music. 

The thought behind this movement is to make music accessible to people and learn from each other. And they do it while Celebrating Oneness, in keeping with their tag line.  I wish it a long life and look forward to being there for the next editions. I had enjoyed the first edition a lot. Here is my post on that.

"Celebrating Oneness" With Music And Dance At The Beach

"Music, theatre and the arts are meant to be bridges to connect across cultures, civilisations and other artificial boundaries that divide people. But, often they fall prey to the same divisions created by man. As arts get more and more esoteric -- with artists and the audience seeking comfort in homogeneity of class, caste, race or creed -- even it begins losing its ability to communicate and build bridges across the vast and wondrous diversity of people and places. The art and the artists stop growing."

Says noted Carnatic vocalist T. M. Krishna in a note on the thought behind putting together the Urur Olcott Kuppam Margazhi Vizha, a unique festival of dance and music by the beach that took place on January 15 and 16 in a fishing village in Chennai. By taking classical music and dance out of the closed environs of elite auditoriums and bringing it right in the middle of a fishing village, he and his team have taken the first step towards "celebrating oneness" as the tag line in the banner says.

The idea sounds so attractive and inviting that we decide to go. As we turn in a narrow lane just off the road parallel to the happening Elliot's Beach, it feels as if we are transported to a different world. Local women selling flowers guide us to the "kutcheri" that their village is hosting. I am told some social organisations have pitched in to do the cleaning up and to raise funds privately for this fest. What used be a dumping yard for old cars has been transformed into a lovely performance space, with the Bay of Bengal providing a beautiful backdrop.  A Matador and a Qualis have been left behind while the rest of the area has been cleared of all the old cars. Spray-painted and decorated with strings of light bulbs, these vehicles add an authentic local touch to the venue. Later, many kids get onto the top of the Matador to enjoy a better view of the performances. A couple of walls in the area have been painted in festival-related graffiti. The kuppam (fishing village) is now ready for the festival.

People come full of curiosity and anticipation for this novel event, many preferring to sit down in the sand while several take chairs thoughtfully provided by the organizers. The programme is compered confidently by two girls from the kuppam. Local youth perform an energetic paraiaattam with drums, and a group of girls engages the audience with their wit and charm in villupaattu (musical story-telling performed using bow as the primary musical instrument). It is a pity that I cannot enjoy the story-telling because of my inadequacy in Tamil, but judging from the reaction of others, they are having a great time.

The first classical offering of the day is an instrumental ensemble featuring  young and talented musicians on flute, violin, chitra vina, kanjira, mrudangam and morsing, followed by a Bharatanatyam recital by Anita Guha's troupe. The second day opens with the customary paraiaattam and villupaattu. Later, popular playback singer and Carnatic vocalist P. Unnikrishnan takes the stage and regales the audience with well-known compositions amid requests for film songs from the kuppam kids. He obliges in the end crooning a few lines from the super-hit ennavale adi ennavale. The festival draws to an end with "Krishnan Tudhu" by Kattaikuttu Sangam.

All through the festival, the energy and enthusiasm of not only the performers but also that of the organizers and volunteers is overwhelming and infectious. The kuppam residents have been co-operative and supportive of the event. What has this whole exercise achieved? Well, it is too early to say. Certainly a new initiative has been taken. Congratulations to T. M. Krishna for conceptualising this fest and actually making it happen. One of the "Aha" moments for me is when he decides to introduce all the musical instruments in the ensemble to the local kids, pointing at each instrument and saying its name loudly. Getting the kuppam girls to compere the proceedings is a great way to include them too. Most of the villagers have not had any exposure to any classical music, musicians or instruments before this. This effort has brought them slightly closer to all those. Hope more such efforts will follow. T. M. Krishna sums it up nicely when he says, "Let them listen to it all, and even if one of them likes it and wants to learn, my purpose is served."

Here are some more images from the festival that will help to get a feel of the wonderful ambiance.

A Celebration Of Talent

The last three days were so full at the Svanubhava in Chennai that I feel very empty today. The lovely Svanubhava theme music is echoing in my mind throughout the day. They describe themselves as a cultural movement by students of the performing arts. It is amazing what a bunch of dedicated and enthusiastic people can put together. The Rukmini Arangam at Kalakshetra was buzzing with activity, what with hordes of school children and dance/music loving elders descending on it at nine in the morning every day. The day was chock-a block with performances and question-answer sessions back to back, but for a short lunch break and even shorter tea break.

Most of the artistes who performed are stalwarts in their fields and it was heartening to see how humble they are. When curious kids asked them about the feats they can so effortlessly perform in their chosen art form, they simply attributed them to the blessings of their Guru or God, not mentioning their own hard work and years of practice behind it. There was a fairly varied spread for all to enjoy. Vocal and instrumental music in Hindustani and Carnatic style, qawwalis, baul sangeet, thevarams (Shaivaite hymns), a Bharatanatyam lecture-demonstration, yakshagana, villu pattu (folk story-telling), and a discussion on 'Does Indian cinema reflect the reality of Indian women?'. Some of these performing arts were of special interest to me as I was watching them for the first time. My appreciation for villu pattu and yakshagana would have been several times greater if I had a good knowledge of Tamil and Kannada respectively.  But even without that they were a pleasure to watch because of the involvement and passion of the performers.

The ambience contributed a lot to the enjoyment. The open auditorium at the Kalakshetra and the informal seating arrangement made one feel as if it was a mehfil in a friend's house that one was invited to. Everybody sat together, everybody ate the same food together and everybody had a good time together watching whatever was going on on the stage. Almost all the volunteers in their twenties or early thirties were wearing traditional attire...veshtis and tops for men and cotton sarees for women. That presented a pretty picture too. A bunch of foreign students were no exception.

All these art forms have been existing for a long time, but when you experience so many of them in a short span of time, it makes you proud of your heritage as an Indian. The young men and women who belong to the Svanubhava team deserve a big applause for their efforts in bringing together such gems from various parts of our country, organising a celebration of their talent, and sharing it with dance and music lovers across the world. Webcasts of all the events have been made available on their blog for those interested.

The organising team headed by T M Krishna, an accomplished vocalist in the Carnatic style, has put in a lot of work and it shows. Fresh sheets about the day's programme were handed out everyday, giving brief but well-researched introductions about the artistes for the day and their accompanists, complete with lively illustrations. Students from several schools were not only invited to attend the event, but were encouraged to ask questions to the performing artistes. For many of them, this must have been their first exposure to the cultural scene in their city and country.

I sincerely hope that this movement continues and gets bigger every year. This year, after the Chennai leg, it has gone to Delhi, where it will be on until the 15th of this month. It will be nice to see more representation in terms of performances from states in the North, East and Central India in the future editions of Svanubhava. And inviting some younger artistes will be a good idea too. But for now, heartfelt thanks to the whole team for letting me share this wonderful experience, which has been very enriching and which I will cherish for a long time to come.

http://svanubhava.blogspot.com/2011/08/svanubhava-2011.html