Ancient art, modern appeal
Master dancers from India demonstrate why the kathakali has endured for centuries
By LAURA BLEIBERG,
The Orange County Register - Tuesday, April 19, 2005
When it comes to a first face-to-face experience with an ancient and alien art form, help in understanding is gratefully accepted.
Most likely, many in the audience were thankful for a brief pre-curtain speech at Sunday's marvelous kathakali performance at Fullerton College, featuring a troupe of master artists from India (co-presented by Irvine's Ektaa Center and the Organization of Hindu Malayalees).
The kathakali expert's tips were simple. What's paramount in kathakali isn't the actual telling of the story. Rather, an outstanding performance should fire up the imagination. And watch the dancer-actors' faces; they should express a rainbow of emotions as vibrant as their elaborate makeup.
Armed with that little bit of knowledge, and those welcome subtitles - projected on a large but awkwardly placed screen - we were ready for the two stories told in kathakali, "Kalyana Saugandhikam" and "Kiratam."
The surprise was not how foreign it was, but how easy it was to get into its rhythm and spirit. Sure enough, the trappings and traditions of this all-male dance-drama transported us from a staid auditorium in Orange County to India's southwestern state of Kerala, where kathakali was born and is kept alive. The four percussionists played their clamorous musical introduction and we could believe we were outsidebefore a campfire, awaiting the drama. Two attendants walked on with a quilted curtain to block our view. Once dancers Kottakkal Chandrasekhara Warrier and Margi Vijayakumar took their places behind it, the curtain was dropped and the 300-year old story of Bhima's grail-like quest for a flower began.
In kathakali, the face and hands do most of the "dancing." Through an extraordinary pantomime, human feelings were magnified and caricatured. The actors' gifts appeared simultaneously subtle and outlandish, thanks in part to the garish and fantastic makeup, for which kathakali is renowned.
Vijayakumar, for example, portrays female characters, and he has perfected a certain look of love, in which the face seems to glow and the features quiver with coquettish delight, though this was no beauty by our definitions. His simple rocking steps portrayed utmost delicacy. Warrier, as the brave Bhima, joggled his eyebrows and cheekbones, suggesting a self-satisfied, clucking rooster of a fellow. In a tour-de-force moment, he portrayed a python devouring an elephant, while the hapless creature was attacked by a lion.
The second scene featured the veteran performer Sadanam Krishnan Kutty as the monkey character Hanuman. Children in the theater giggled at this toad-like creature, his face swirling with red, white and black curlicues. Slow-moving and mischievous, Kutty stalked and gripped the stage with his feet, a figure of exquisite power.
After a brief intermission, a second, less interesting story told of how deities Siva and Parvati disguised themselves to test Arjuna's prowess and faith. A mere 200 years old, this story seemed improvised at points and the execution was less exact and definitive. Dancer Margi Raveendran appeared as the unfortunate Arjuna, who despite being vanquished by those naughty gods, eventually received their blessings.
Some rewards don't come easily, and 3-1/2 hours is a long show, especially when the viewer has to work at it. Still, there is a reason this fantastical dance-drama has survived so many centuries. This viewer was reminded of contemporary parallels, particularly on film, from the monsters in the Japanese film "Spirited Away" to the furry creatures in "Star Wars." Funny how artistry and imagination are universal.
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