Click to play videoBangalore: Kathakali has traditionally been a male-dominated dance form. But now a group of women in Bangalore is trying to popularise the art form among women.
The mudras in the dance form are intricate and the expressions are tough. But once you master them, you can easily get into your part.
A group of women are gutsy enough to step into the male-dominated world of Kathakali to play the angry Dushasana.
The group is gearing up for its first performance this week. Since make-up is an integral part of the dance form, the dancers are preparing hard.
It’s a red face for the evil in Dushasana and yellow for the femininity in Draupadi. The dancers say women are ready to take up the challenge.
“Girls from the age of five to women are taking up the challenge. We can see an increase in the number of women who are learning the dance form. Even socially, we're accepting women in Kathakali,” said one of the dancers, Revaty Iyer.
“What's special about Kathakali is that there's a lot of freedom. Each character can be developed in one’s own way. We have to jump, roar, and while you may think women find it difficult to do all that, we do it on stage,” said banker and dancer, Radhika Varma.
The group is now planning to popularise Kathakali among school children and college-goers as well.
“Our aim is to take it to them instead of waiting for them to come to us because that the need is now the other way around,” said Revaty.
“So many non-Keralites are into this art for watching and for taking up the dance form,” said Radhika. So heavy crowns and costumes are no longer a put-off.
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