Kathakali

Kathakalī is a ritualistic and ornate Indian dance-drama. The stories of Kathakalī are generally based on the two Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, or the Bhagavata Purana, an ancient text that celebrates the Hindu god Vishnu. As an art form, Kathakalī represents the major elements of performance: music, dance and movement, acting, and costume/makeup. This guide explores the origins of Kathakalī and the distinct style and structure of Kathakalī performances.

Terminology

• Attakatha: the scripts of Kathakalī dance-dramas.
• Kerala: a region of Southern India.
• Mudras: distinctive hand movements used in Kathakalī dance-dramas.
• Nātyaśāstra: an ancient Sanskrit text that catalogues art forms and aesthetic principles.
• Rama: a major deity of Hinduism, whose story is told in the epic poems the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
• Sita: the consort of the Hindu deity, Rama.
• Vishnu: one of the principal deities of Hinduism.

Key Dates & Events

• c.200 BCE - 200 CE - Bharata Muni's A Treatise on Theatre (Nātyaśāstra) is completed.
• 1965 - Italian theatre director, Eugenio Barba, published "The Kathakali Theatre", introducing the genre to the Western world.