When Kathakali Knocked on My Door

During my time in Dhrupad Kala Kendra, we were like a family, not caring at all about the outside world. We didn't mingle with other dancers much; we practiced by ourselves, went to shows, and came back. No socialising, no nothing, it was just the few of us from Dhrupad, always sticking together.
The first time we mixed with dancers from other groups was during this workshop that our guru had gotten us all to take part in. The reason she also agreed to do so was because the two dancers that were visiting Bangladesh for the workshop were both her gurus too -- Guru Thiruvalli Shankar Narayan, Kathakali dancer and trainer, also the former principal of Shantiniketan, and Guru Smt. Thankamani Kutty, Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancer and trainer, co-founder and principal, Kalamandalam. Since we're all Bharatanatyam dancers, we assumed the workshop would be taken by Guru Thankamani Kutty.
Instead, it turned out to be a Kathakali workshop and show held by Guru Shankar Narayan where Guru Thankamani Kutty's student and eminent artiste Malabika Sen also performed. Naturally, we were a little apprehensive of what was to come because the only exposure to Kathakali we had had before was watching the green men wearing an extraordinary amount of makeup and fancy costumes, dancing on television. I couldn't really imagine myself dressed like that. I had never even noticed their mudra (hand gestures) or anything else for that matter.
On the first day of the workshop, humble and poised, Guru Shankar Narayan introduced Kathakali to a bunch of until-then-ignorant dancers who had no idea about any other dance form apart from their own. It was love at first 'introduction'. The complexity, the beauty, the stories and the mudra were all quite overwhelming. This was indeed a dance form worth knowing.
Kathakali is a highly stylised classical Indian dance-drama noted for the attractive makeup of characters, elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the playback music and complementary percussion. It originated in the present day Indian state of Kerala during the 17th century and has developed over the years with improved looks, refined gestures and added themes besides more ornate singing and precise drumming. Kathakali is still hugely a male domain but, since the 1970s, females too have made entry into the art form on a recognisable scale. The central Kerala temple town of Tripunithura has, in fact, a ladies' troupe that performs Kathakali. There are a few performances that are either male-centric or female-centric and anyone who is comfortable with either role can play it -- a woman can play a male role while a man can play a female role.
The trickiest part of Kathakali is dancing with the outer sides of your feet mostly, instead of using the sole or heel. As painful as it might be at the beginning, once you get used to it, your feet will be able to maintain a closer relationship to the ground which will ultimately help with balance and posture -- something that can be useful for any form of dancing.
After a week of training in Kathakali, around 20 students from the many that had applied were chosen to perform with the senior teachers of the workshop. Thankfully, all of us from Dhurpad were chosen. And then rehearsing for the show began. It was the first time we had performed to live South Indian music -- vocalist, percussionist and all. Standing in the front row at the show, having this chemistry with the musicians, making eye contact at the change of beat made for a thrilling experience. It was a room full of artists, cooperating, coordinating and combining talents to produce something extraordinary while hundreds of people are watching. The whole night and the whole week afterward were times I will cherish for the rest of my life.
I guess it’s true -- you never really know how far you can go until you get there. In that one week, I realised that there's so much more in the world of dance that I still have to discover, learn and love. And it all started from Kathakali.

Naziba Basher is professional dancer, journalist, student, animal lover, cricket enthusiast, workaholic and dreamer.