Hi friends,

I am a new member of the Kathakali group. I came to know about the
group from my friend Mr.Nair, who is an active member of the group.
I wish to say a hello to you all and congratulate Sri. Kannan for
his praiseworthy effort to maintain this interactive Kathakali net
group. Probably this is something,whcih many lovers of this great
art like me who live outside Kerala, have been looking for. I wish
all success for all the activities of this group.

Let me introduce myself to you all. I hail from EVOOR in central
travancore. I am a scientist working with the Department of Atomic
Energy of India. At present I am on leave from the department and
pursue research work at the University of Cambridge, UK.May be it is
more appropriate to introduce me as an ardent lover of Kathakali.

Kathakali is the main vazhipadu in our temple and this gave me many
opportunities to see it from my childhood. While I watched this art
with a sense of curiosity and amusement in my childhood,later I was
attracted by its sheer beauty and totality as  a wonderful art.
Needless to say, Kathakali offers tremendous opportunities to a
rasika/researcher interested in classical art to dwelve deep and
enjoy the state of bliss.

As I am out of Kerala for long time, I am not able to associate with
Kathakali the way I would have liked to. But I tried to contribute
to it, whenever I got an opportunity to do so. In this context, I am
happy to say that I have actively participated in the KATHAKALI
SAMAROHAM conducted and telecasted by ASIANET, by way of expressing
my opinions/criticism/suggestions to the organisers and artists. I
was amazed to see the humility with which many prominent Kathakali
artists/singers responded (through letters) to my suggestive
critisicm of their roles.I still preserve all these communications
as their invaluble gifts to me.

I look forward to a pleasent interaction with you all

Cheers,
Mohandas
--------------------------------------------
Dr. K.S. Mohandas
Dept. of Materials Science & Metallurgy
University of Cambridge
Pembroke Street
Cambridge CB2 3QZ

http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/djf/Mohandas.htm
--------------------------------------------

Ellavarkkum Namaskaaram - Warm greetings to everybody
  I am a new member to this group -
  My name is Sankaran Unni and I hail from a little village called
Sreekrishnapuram in Palakkad dist. I am currently employed in Ohio USA.
  I have always been an avid kathakali fan and would never miss an
oppurtunity to see a performance in my younger days.
  It was during those times that I had the oppurtunity of meeting
Ettumanoor Kannan (Shilpashala near Cherplassery) and spending some
time listening to the conversations between you, my uncle Dr. TSM and
other knowledgable folks..I dont know if you remember me Kannan..
  I hope to post a thread about some of the fine performances that I
have had the fortune to witness later.
  I did attempt to start a similar thread earlier in Hotmail but that
one died a quick death..
  Wish this one the very best of luck and assuring you of my best
efforts at participation.
  Regards
Unni

Hi friends,

I am a new member of the Kathakali group. I came to know about the
group from my friend Mr.Nair, who is an active member of the group.
I wish to say a hello to you all and congratulate Sri. Kannan for
his praiseworthy effort to maintain this interactive Kathakali net
group. Probably this is something,whcih many lovers of this great
art like me who live outside Kerala, have been looking for. I wish
all success for all the activities of this group.

Let me introduce myself to you all. I hail from EVOOR in central
travancore. I am a scientist working with the Department of Atomic
Energy of India. At present I am on leave from the department and
pursue research work at the University of Cambridge, UK.May be it is
more appropriate to introduce me as an ardent lover of Kathakali.

Kathakali is the main vazhipadu in our temple and this gave me many
opportunities to see it from my childhood. While I watched this art
with a sense of curiosity and amusement in my childhood,later I was
attracted by its sheer beauty and totality as  a wonderful art.
Needless to say, Kathakali offers tremendous opportunities to a
rasika/researcher interested in classical art to dwelve deep and
enjoy the state of bliss.

As I am out of Kerala for long time, I am not able to associate with
Kathakali the way I would have liked to. But I tried to contribute
to it, whenever I got an opportunity to do so. In this context, I am
happy to say that I have actively participated in the KATHAKALI
SAMAROHAM conducted and telecasted by ASIANET, by way of expressing
my opinions/criticism/suggestions to the organisers and artists. I
was amazed to see the humility with which many prominent Kathakali
artists/singers responded (through letters) to my suggestive
critisicm of their roles.I still preserve all these communications
as their invaluble gifts to me.

I look forward to a pleasent interaction with you all

Cheers,
Mohandas
--------------------------------------------
Dr. K.S. Mohandas
Dept. of Materials Science & Metallurgy
University of Cambridge
Pembroke Street
Cambridge CB2 3QZ

http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/djf/Mohandas.htm
--------------------------------------------

Hi all,

 

        Hope all are fine..... Here is the stories of Thripunithura and Vaikom:

 

Thripunithura

 

 8-12-04 -Puthanamoksham (Kottakal Sivaraman) & Santhanagopalam
 9-12-04 -Utharaswayamvaram
10-12-04 -Nala Charitham 3 (Sadanam Krishnankutty)
11-12-04 -Rukmini Swayamvaram & KalyanaSougandhikam
12-12-04 -Nala Charitham 2 (Ladies Troup)
13-12-04 -Bana Yudham (Usha and Chitralekha) & Narakasura Vadham
14-12-04 -Kuchela Vritham & Kiratham

Vaikom

 

1-12-04 Nala Charitham  4 (Sadanam Krishnankutty and Kottakal Sivaraman) &

              Prahlada Charirham (Narasimham:-Nelliyodu , Hiranyakashipu :- RLV Gopi)

2-12-04 Puthanamoksham & DHURYODHANA VADHAM INCLUDING KIRATHAM

               ( Dhuryodhanan 1&2: Kmdlm.Srikumar&Bhagyanad,,,,Dhussasana:-Nelliyodu,,,Krishna:-R L V Gopi.,,,,

   SONG =HAIDHARALI (2-DAYS)
   CHENDA=  BALARAMAN(1ST)SADANAM DIVAKARAN (2ND)

 

regards
 
N Ganesh
Software Engineer
Network Systems
Sasken Communication Technologies
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Email : nganesh@...
Tel: 91-80-25355503 Xtn:5261
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Hi all,

I am a new mwmber of this group.......
I came to know from newspaper that there is Kathakali on 23rd and
24th of November on Kumaranelloor, Kottayam......

23:  Nalacharitham 2nd day
     Uttaraswayamvaram
24:  Kalyana Sougandhikam
     Dakshayagam

Anyone came to know about kathakali at any place, please mail to
this group....

regards

Ganesh

Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online.

Hi all,

I am a new mwmber of this group.......
I came to know from newspaper that there is Kathakali on 23rd and
24th of November on Kumaranelloor, Kottayam......

23:  Nalacharitham 2nd day
      Uttaraswayamvaram
24:  Kalyana Sougandhikam
      Dakshayagam

Anyone came to know about kathakali at any place, please mail to
this group....

regards

Ganesh

Dear friends,

It is really an interesting discussion.

It will take four or more hours for fixing the
'chutti' on face only with 'rice-paste'. They put one
level of rice paste and let it dry. Then add second
level. It may go 12 to 15 levels to make a one and a
half inch high chutti.

The chutti-ari (the paste for making chutti which is a
mixture of rice and boiled sea-shell "Chunnambu", in
the ratio 3:1) has a lot of specialties. It will
become like cement if you add cotton with it. Once you
add cotton to that past, it is unbreakable. If you fix
it on a wood, you cannot pluck it from the wood. It
will be strongly fixed to the wood like cement. But if
you fix it on your skin, you can take it away. That is
its peculiarity. I guess it may be because there are a
lot of tiny holes in our skin. And when it is fixed on
the face, it allows the actor to move his facial
muscles. The chutti gets cut itself appropriately so
that the facial muscles can move. If you use any other
paste, it won't help you in this way. But, yes, it is
a bit heavy on your facial muscles.  What in Kathakali
costumes, is not heavy?

In olden time, after the actor reaching the place of
performance from another performance place, he, after
having an early dinner (ie. at 4 or 5pm), lays down
for fixing the chutti. That is the time for him to
remember about the character or just to have a light
nap. After 4/5 hours at 9pm he is ready for
performance, which will last for another 8/9 hours.

In 1920s a school master from Thiruvalla (his native
place is Nedumudi- Nedumudi Ramakrishna Panikker)
introduced paper in chutti. One day it was a belated
plan to conduct a performance for that night. (It is
usual in Thiruvalla because Kathakali is a ritual in
that temple, even now) The make-up artist (Ramakrishna
Panikker) didn't have enough time to prepare so much
Chutti-paste for that performance. Being a drawing
master in the school, he knew how to use drawing paper
to make chutti. That was how the first chutti with
paper was introduced. It was a revolutionary
discovery, because the change in the shape and art of
the chutti influenced Kathakali a lot.

Thank you
Kannan


=====
Ettumanoor P. Kannan
Artistic Director,
Abhinavam School of Theatre Expressions,
Centre for Research and Training on Kathakali.

Address:
International Centre for Kerala Studies,
University of Kerala, Kariavattom 695581,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

Tel#: 9447021779 (mobile)
+91 471 2571779 (Home)
+91 471 2412168 (Office)

Please visit:  www.groups.yahoo.com/group/kathakali







__________________________________
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Dear All,
nice to see many discussions in the group. the idea of
conducting a kathakali programme exactly in the way it
had been performing many decades ago is indeed
interesting. but personally i'm not against using the
light and sound devices. probably the spectators would
have a different visual effect when it is performed
purely under the orange light of a traditional lamp
but i guess the music part may not be enjoyable if we
don't use a 'mic set'. it would be really tough for
the singers to bring their voice above the sound of
'chenda' and 'maddalam'. i have seen a few old
pictures of 'chutty' made totally with rice paste. it
might have had more perfection,i don't know, but
obviously at the cost of time. i remember once
Ramankuttynair ashan saying in an interview that in
those days the chutty takes hours to finish and the
actor was not supposed to sleep during these hours. in
order to keep himself awake they (actors) used to hold
a burning 'thiri' (wick) in the hand throughout this
period. if he doze the 'thiri' will fell in the body
and if it happened once that person will never sleep
when lying for chutty thereafter!!

today while surfing through the online print edition
of Keralakaumudi Daily i saw one awful article against
kathakali by one Dr.M.S.Jayaprakash. did anybody else
read that? it really hurts me. we should be tolerent
to criticism, but i felt it as a verbal abuse than a
criticism. Ofcourse one Jayaprakash cannot undermine
this great art form but still it would have been nice
if someone could give a fitting reply to him. (i have
a copy of that page. it is not worthy to put in the
group homepage).

with regards,
Gireesh

________________________________________________________________________
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Dear Krishnan Namboothiripad,

Thank you for your reply.

Vasupisharodi asan is going to do his first
performance on Dec 5th. Kuchelavritham Kuchelan.
(Krishnan by Balasubrahmanian) He will be doing
Sudevan (Nalacharitham 3rd) in Thrippunithura.
Kalamandalam Gopi asan also has started doing
performances after his short illness.

It was a great loss for Kathakali audience when both
Gopi asan and Vasu asan became ill, because they are
two great actors who cannot be replaced by anything.
(I agree that no one can be replaced by some one else)
Now they are back. I really enjoy the occasions when I
perform with them.

We will talk more...

Best
Kannan


=====
Ettumanoor P. Kannan
Artistic Director,
Abhinavam School of Theatre Expressions,
Centre for Research and Training on Kathakali.

Address:
International Centre for Kerala Studies,
University of Kerala, Kariavattom 695581,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

Tel#: 9447021779 (mobile)
+91 471 2571779 (Home)
+91 471 2412168 (Office)

Please visit:  www.groups.yahoo.com/group/kathakali







__________________________________
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Meet the all-new My Yahoo! - Try it today!
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Dear Mr. Krishnan Namboothiripad,

Thank you for your mail. I am so much pleased to read
your good words. There are only very little people
now, who have experienced the Kathakali performances
of the sixties. Your words have so much value.

I am sure that you must have watched the performances
exclusively in light of oil lamps and with 'chutti'
only with the rice paste. It is my dream to watch such
a performance. During that time, I have heard that,
the singers did not have to stand up on one place as
they do now, but they could just walk around along
with the actors because they didn't have the bondage
of the 'Mic' at that time. While I was doing a
documentary for Doordarsan, I imagined of recreating
such a scene for showing the people how Kathakali
looked like before the electric light and all such
things were introduced. We showed one padam from
'Kalyanasaugandhikam' (Manchel mizhiyale) both in
modern costumes in electric lights and the old
costumes with '100% rice paste chutti' in the light of
oil lamps. (I am not satisfied with the scene in the
documentary, anyway) 

I am really happy to arrange such a performance here,
when you visit Kerala in Nov 2005. We may videograph
it with a perfect camera so that we will able to watch
it at any time. Thank you for your suggestion. Please
let me know what you are thinking about this.

Where is your native place in Kerala?

Best
Kannan


=====
Ettumanoor P. Kannan
Artistic Director,
Abhinavam School of Theatre Expressions,
Centre for Research and Training on Kathakali.

Address:
International Centre for Kerala Studies,
University of Kerala, Kariavattom 695581,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

Tel#: 9447021779 (mobile)
+91 471 2571779 (Home)
+91 471 2412168 (Office)

Please visit:  www.groups.yahoo.com/group/kathakali






           
__________________________________
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Dear Anupama,
Nice to meet you via the internet.  You may have read the
piece I submitted to our group about my four-volume book
entitled Kathakali Plays in English.  If by chance you are
interested in acquiring these books, Volumes One, Three
and Four are available for Canadian $16.00 (for the set).
  Too bad we could not have met earlier:  I've been in
Toronto for 6 weeks.  But I'm leaving for Kerala in 10
days, so if you want the books, contact me soon.
  Sincerely,
Jane Pilaar






On Tue, 09 Nov 2004 08:47:22 -0800
   Jorge Vismara <axe@...> wrote:
>Hi Anupama,
>Nice to meet you.
>I'm only and admirer, a distant admirer of Kathakali
>performance and a personal friend of the moderator,
>Kannan.
>I'm trying to put in my calendar and budget a trip to
>Kerala for next Kathakali season...
>see you around.
>
>dinesh_anu wrote:
>
>>Hello,
>>I am Anupama from Toronto.I am a student doing food and
>>nutrition
>>management pgm.B'fore I was a computer teacher .have 2
>>kids.I am a
>>performer and admirer of the great artform,kathakali.My
>>native place
>>is Tripunithura and my guru is FACT Padmanabhan
>>asan.Thadi , Pacha and
>>kathi are the veshams that i like to perform . I also
>>like stree
>>veshams,especially poothanamoksham.
>>i joined this group to share , know and get more info and
>>opinions in
>>this field.
>>My email address is anudin29@...
>><mailto:anudin29@...>.
>>
>>Regards
>>Anupama.
>>
>>
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>Do you Yahoo!?
>>Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com
>><http://www.yahoo.com>
>>*Yahoo! Groups Sponsor*
>>ADVERTISEMENT
>>click here
>><http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=129nv9sjv/M=294855.5468653.6549235.3001176/D=grou\
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.yahoo.com/ydomains2004/index.html>
>>
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>>      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kathakali/
>>
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>
>--
>Keep smiling !
>°  Jorge Vismara
>°  http://pelourinho.com - about the Brazilian culture
>°  http://capturedemotions.net - digital emotions
>
>Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the
>blind can see.
>-- Mark Twain
>
>° nature in Bali 2004:
>http://pelourinho.com/bali/2004/nature
>° xtras in Bali 2004:
>http://pelourinho.com/bali/2004/xtras
>

Dear Mr. Krishnan Namboothiripad,

Thank you for your mail. I am so much pleased to read
your good words. There are only very little people
now, who have experienced the Kathakali performances
of the sixties. Your words have so much value.

I am sure that you must have watched the performances
exclusively in light of oil lamps and with 'chutti'
only with the rice paste. It is my dream to watch such
a performance. During that time, I have heard that,
the singers did not have to stand up on one place as
they do now, but they could just walk around along
with the actors because they didn't have the bondage
of the 'Mic' at that time. While I was doing a
documentary for Doordarsan, I imagined of recreating
such a scene for showing the people how Kathakali
looked like before the electric light and all such
things were introduced. We showed one padam from
'Kalyanasaugandhikam' (Manchel mizhiyale) both in
modern costumes in electric lights and the old
costumes with '100% rice paste chutti' in the light of
oil lamps. (I am not satisfied with the scene in the
documentary, anyway)

I am really happy to arrange such a performance here,
when you visit Kerala in Nov 2005. We may videograph
it with a perfect camera so that we will able to watch
it at any time. Thank you for your suggestion. Please
let me know what you are thinking about this.

Where is your native place in Kerala?

Best
Kannan


=====
Ettumanoor P. Kannan
Artistic Director,
Abhinavam School of Theatre Expressions,
Centre for Research and Training on Kathakali.

Address:
International Centre for Kerala Studies,
University of Kerala, Kariavattom 695581,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

Tel#: 9447021779 (mobile)
+91 471 2571779 (Home)
+91 471 2412168 (Office)

Please visit:  www.groups.yahoo.com/group/kathakali







__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page.
www.yahoo.com

Dear Roko,

It will be wonderful, if you can visit here during
sept-Nov 2005. The Kathakali season starts from Oct
and ends on May. Dec-March is the peak time. You may
plan your visit. Once you reach here, you may travel
along with me to watch performances. There usually
will be some friends who do the same, some time. You
are heartily welcome!

Thank you
Kannan


=====
Ettumanoor P. Kannan
Artistic Director,
Abhinavam School of Theatre Expressions,
Centre for Research and Training on Kathakali.

Address:
International Centre for Kerala Studies,
University of Kerala, Kariavattom 695581,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

Tel#: 9447021779 (mobile)
+91 471 2571779 (Home)
+91 471 2412168 (Office)

Please visit:  www.groups.yahoo.com/group/kathakali







__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page.
www.yahoo.com

Dear friend,

Thank you for your openness in admitting that "you
know very little about Kathakali". I appreciate you,
because you 'know' that you don't know much. That is
the beginning of learning something.

I am a Kathakali actor. I also admit the same thing,
that 'I know very little about Kathakali'.

In my opinion knowing about some thing is not the main
thing for appreciating it. Even if you know a lot of
things about Kathakali, you may not be able to enjoy
it. It is an "interest to the art appreciation" that
is needed for effective enjoyment of any art-form. If
you have that interest in your heart, you may start
watching this performance. Gradually you will start to
learn some thing about it. Even after a long time, you
will realize that you know only 'very little'. That is
because classical art forms like Kathakali have a lot
of depth which requires your constant effort to
penetrate into it. That is a different subject. For
enjoying an art form, you ONLY need an interest in it.

The majority of the youngsters in Kerala are not
interested in appreciating the classical art-forms
like Kathakali. It is a fact. It is my observation
that it has been the same always...in all
places...There will only be a minority in front of
classical art-form performances. Those people who have
a 'interest' in serious art appreciation, are a
minority in all society. We expect only such people in
front of Kathakali performance. Only such people, who
have an interest in real classical form of art, that
support the existence of Kathakali.

Thank you
Kannan

--- sunnydaysat <sunnydaysat@...> wrote:
> Hello
>
> I am new in here. Thought of saying hello! Though a
> Keralite, I know
> very little about Kathakali or for that matter any
> of our
> traditional art forms. I suppose that'll be the case
> with most of
> our youngsters who had their education in the
> so-called main stream
> with the ultimate aim of landing up a while-collar
> job. I belong to
> the same sad club!
>
> Cheers........

=====
Ettumanoor P. Kannan
Artistic Director,
Abhinavam School of Theatre Expressions,
Centre for Research and Training on Kathakali.

Address:
International Centre for Kerala Studies,
University of Kerala, Kariavattom 695581,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

Tel#: 9447021779 (mobile)
+91 471 2571779 (Home)
+91 471 2412168 (Office)

Please visit:  www.groups.yahoo.com/group/kathakali







__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page.
www.yahoo.com

Dear Jorge,

Thank you for your plan to visit Kerala in the next
season(or this season?)

Kathakali season has started, this year. I have
started giving performances in many temples. Usually
Kathakali actors have performances almost every day
during the season. 20-25 days in a month. We travel
from one place to another after performance and get
some rest before the programme. Some day, we never get
enough time for sleeping.

Usually Kathakali performances are in the night.
Starts at 8/9pm and ends at 5/6am. The other night, in
Kalarkodu temple near Alleppy, the performance started
at 9pm and ended at 7am. The sun was shining in the
east, blessing the golden crown of the actor with His
golden morning rays, while he was doing 'Dhanassi' the
dance which denotes the end of a full-night
performance. It was on 6th of Nov. On 7th I had two
programmes. In Kottayam there is a 'Nalacharitham
festival'. The complete scenes from Nalacharitha
(story of Nala) is performed in 10 months. One
performance in each month. (It is a great privilege,
that I am performing as Nala in all these 10
performances) So this performance started at 4pm and
ended at 7.30pm(3 & 1/2 hours). On Nov 7th, after this
performance, I traveled to Alleppy for another
performance which started at 9pm. (My role was in the
second play which started around 4am and ended at
6.30am.

This a model of the schedule of the kathakali
performers. It already started this year.

I welcome you to this different and exciting
experience. Thank you

Best
Kannan

=====
Ettumanoor P. Kannan
Artistic Director,
Abhinavam School of Theatre Expressions,
Centre for Research and Training on Kathakali.

Address:
International Centre for Kerala Studies,
University of Kerala, Kariavattom 695581,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

Tel#: 9447021779 (mobile)
+91 471 2571779 (Home)
+91 471 2412168 (Office)

Please visit:  www.groups.yahoo.com/group/kathakali







__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page.
www.yahoo.com

Hello,

I am Anupama from Toronto.I am a student doing food and nutrition management pgm.B'fore I was a computer teacher .have 2 kids.I am a performer and admirer of the great artform,kathakali.My native place is Tripunithura and my guru is FACT Padmanabhan asan.Thadi , Pacha and kathi are the veshams that i like to perform . I also like stree veshams,especially poothanamoksham.

i joined this group to share , know and get more info and opinions in this field.

My email address is anudin29@....

 

Regards

Anupama.

 

 

---

Do you Yahoo!?
Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com

-- Keep smiling !
° Jorge Vismara
° http://pelourinho.com - about the Brazilian culture
° http://capturedemotions.net - digital emotions
Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
-- Mark Twain
° nature in Bali 2004: http://pelourinho.com/bali/2004/nature
° xtras in Bali 2004: http://pelourinho.com/bali/2004/xtras

Hello

I am new in here. Thought of saying hello! Though a Keralite, I know
very little about Kathakali or for that matter any of our
traditional art forms. I suppose that'll be the case with most of
our youngsters who had their education in the so-called main stream
with the ultimate aim of landing up a while-collar job. I belong to
the same sad club!

Cheers........

Hello Master Garrett

i am very pleased to make your acquaintance.  i will
be in Bali next June for the arts festival (again),
and i would be very pleased indeed if you should be
there as well and we could manage to engineer a chance
to meet!

i was indeed refering to the modern Legong, of course,
(which is easy to see, if not always very good), but I
was also referring to Gambuh (i have seen two
different performances of it in Bali, by two different
troupes), which also seems very sparing with literally
representative dance.  and the old original temple
dance of legong to which you refer seems, from your
description, to be even less literal and less story
driven.

of course, my only knowledge of Balinese dance
consists of 4 weeks at the Denpassar arts festival in
2003 and the lecture of de Zoete"s "Dance in Bali".
While in Bali, i looked for other books on the subject
but couldnt find anything suitable.  do you perhaps
have any suggestions?

also, in her book, de Zoete writes that "Javanese
dancing is the most beautiful dancing in the world".
i went to Yogyakarta for a few days in search of it,
but, to my terrible disappointment, was only able to
see the awful tourist show at the Shivaite temple
complex (i still shiver at the memory).  and then, on
the day of my departure i glimpsed a video of the
utterly otherworldly dance at the royal kraton and
have since been burning with the desire to see more
Javanese dance.  do you have any recommendations or
suggestions as to where and when to go to see more of
it?

my very best regards to you and all

tom potocki
Chiang Mai, Thailand



--- kathakali Moderator
<kathakali-owner@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

>
>
> (Dear friends,
>
> this is a responce from my friend, Mr.Garrett Kam
> who
> is a scholar of dance forms of Bali/Indonesia and a
> Javanise dancer himself, after reading Mr. Tom
> Potocki's 'Impressions from the Kathakali festival,
> Trivandrum'. This will be a nice subject for
> everybody
> to read and discuss about.
>
> Thank you, Garrett.
> Kannan)
> --- garrett kam <garrettkam@...> wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > I read with interest the comments about kathakali
> > and Balinese dance by Mr. Tom Potocki who went to
> the
> > festival last year in Kerala. I think there are
> some
> > errors in his judgement of the two forms. Balinese
> > dance, or what he described was legong, is a very
> > new form compared to ancient kathakali. The
> original
> > legong dance from the 18th century was done with 7
> > masks by a pair of young boys (the final mask is
> not
> > danced) and had no story except showing the 7
> > celestial maidens. It is a sacred temple dance,
> and
> > no photographs or videos may be made of the dance,
> > which is performed by young girls today.
> >
> > What most people (and I suspect Mr. Tom Potocki
> who saw
> > and described it in the email) see today is the
> trio
> > of girls dancing a version of one story that was
> > choreographed during the 1950s for an
> international
> > tour. Lots of changes were made: cutting it short,
> > making it more dramatic for Western audiences,
> > speeding up the tempo, for example. Plus this
> > version is not a temple dance at all, having
> itself
> > been a secularized version for royal entertainment
> > of the original masked dance that came about
> during
> > the early 1900s. Gone is the long narrative
> section,
> > and a lengthy abstract middle section. All that
> are
> > left today are an introduction and the narrative
> > part.
> >
> > Anyway, that's a short history of the legong.
> > Regards,
> > Garrett
>
>
>
>
>
>
>


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Chennithala Chellappan Pillai

 

Chennithala Chellappan Pillai was one of the famous kathakali actors of 20th century. He was well known for his individuality and creativity in improvisational roles in Kathakali.

Chennithala had expired in 1998 october 31st due to heart diseace
His 6 th memmorial function is being conducted in 2004 october 30-th at
Chennithala Mahatma girls high school auditorium at 18 hrs by Chennithala Chellappan Pillai Memmorial Kala Samskarika Samithi and
Major set kathakali is being played after. This organisation respected
Sri. Mankombu Sivasankara Pillai ,Sri Champakkulam Pachu Pillai and
Sri.Oyoor Govinda Pillai in last memmorial functions.

 

Chennithala Chellappan Pillai born in a poor family.Father-Sri.Krishna panicker and Mother-Smt Parvathi Amma in othara house Chennithala.
He trained kathakali under his grand father Sri.Chennithala Kochu Pilla
Panicker.At the age of 15 he had performed first role as krishna in
Rugminiswayamvaram at chennithala Thripperumthurai Mahadevar temple.After the demise of his grand father he had accepted Sri
Chengannur Raman Pillai as his Guru and his training and advice made Chennithala as a famous Kathakali Actor.Hamsam in Nalacharitham 1
and Manthrikan in Nizhalkuthu became his MasterPiece role. He was famous in kathi,Pacha and kari roles. His Harichandran,Rugmangadan,
Kachan,Karnan, Arjunan, Bhiman, Krishnan and Sreeraman was famous. He was performed 'Banan" at the Internatinal kathakali Club,
New Delhi and Duriyodhanan in Mahabharatham at London ,Germany and France with FACT kathakali troup.He got Sangeetha Nataka Akadamy award in 1991 at Jaipur,Kerala Kalamandalam Award in 1996 and so many awards from kathakali clubs and organisations. 

Ettumanoor P. Kannan
Artistic Director,
Abhinavam School of Theatre Expressions,
Centre for Research and Training on Kathakali.

Address:
International Centre for Kerala Studies,
University of Kerala, Kariavattom 695581,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

Tel#: 9447021779 (mobile)
+91 471 2571779 (Home)
+91 471 2412168 (Office)

Please visit:  www.groups.yahoo.com/group/kathakali

 

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> ATTACHMENT part 2 image/pjpeg name=Chen1.jpg


> ATTACHMENT part 3 image/pjpeg name=Chen 2.jpg

Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online.

Hi guys,

As soon as Kannan told me about this list, I joined.
Not that I'm an erudit or expert in Kathakali, but I admire the
performance as an art and I admire Kannan as an artist.

Let me introduce myself: I'm a computer system analyst, but lately
have been dedicating a lot of my time to digital photography, where
the dark room is the computer.
Have taken some nice pics in Bali, after three seasons in the little
village of Pengosekan, close to Ubud, two of which had the pleasure to
share with Kannan.
Online I have pics of the first two (hopefully soon will be able to
upload the ones of last year):
http://pelourinho.com/bali

I'll be mostly silent, reading and learning... but I'll be here...

Luv,

--
Keep smiling !
° ° °   Jorge Vismara
° ° °   http://www.pelourinho.com
Brazilian events in Los Angeles and around the World.

... expect miracles ...