Kathakali or 'story-play' took shape in Kerala in the seventeenth century. Stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata mainly provide its content. The theatre form divides its characters according to their nature and employs make-up and costume to build them up as larger-than-life, symbolic entities: the faces of actors are painted according to the type they represent. The main feature of Kathakali costume is a large, billowing skirt for male characters and various elaborate head dresses. The actor's performance is speechless: the liberetto is sung by two singers on the stage, while a pair of drummers also on stage play the Chenda. The story is enacted by actors using an established vocabulary of facial expressions and hand gestures.
You can get more information about this dance here.
No comments:
Post a Comment