Kapila Venu, a Koodiyattam dancer will perform at Jagriti’s annual classical music and dance festival, SwarTaal, which will be held in Bengaluru between September 27 and 29.
Kapila, who has been learning the form since she was a child, describes Koodiyattam as an ancient living theatre tradition. “It has a continuous unbroken lineage of about two millennia. “It evolved in Kerala with its repertoire consisting of the performance of Sanskrit plays.”
Koodiyattam, Kapila says, has a highly developed technique of abhinaya and stage craft. “It is a stylised form and actors go through years of intense training to be able to embody this form.”
Kapila will present Shaiva Koothu for the festival and she will be accompanied by Kalamandalam Rajeev, Kalamandalam Hariharan and Kalanilayam Unnikrishnan. “Shaiva Koothu is a performance series based on the Tamizh saint, Thiru Karaikkal Ammaiyar’s Thiruvalangattu Mootha Thiruppadhikam.”
Ammaiyar, Kapila says over the phone from Kerala, was a remarkable female poet and devotee of Shiva who lived during the 6th Century CE in Tamil Nadu. “Shaiva Koothu is a vibrant and expressive Nangiar Koothu, which is a solo storytelling tradition of the female performers of Koodiyattam, which incorporates music, dance and storytelling.”
It serves, Kapila says, as a means to portray the spiritual and mystical experiences of Thiru Karaikkal Ammaiyar and her deep devotion to Shiva. “The songs and verses sung during Shaiva Koothu are in Tamizh.”
Feeling a strong connection to Tamil growing up in Tamil Nadu, Kapila says, “A decade ago I was introduced to the poetry of Karaikkal Ammaiyar. I found her poetry to be potent with imagery, the type that could easily be narrated through Koodiyattam. I was drawn to the poetry and wanted to explore.
Aware of the convention of using only Sanskrit text, Kapila says, “I was aware that if the text was translated to Sanskrit, it would lose it essence. Finally two years ago, I had the opportunity to perform something new in Mumbai. That is when I started developing Karaikkal Ammaiyar’s poetry into Koodiyattam.”
Kapila took to Koodiyattam easily as her father, G Venu, is a practitioner of the form. “My mother, Nirmala Paniker, is a practitioner of Mohiniattam and is also researching female performing traditions of Kerala. I was naturally introduced to the world of performing arts and though I learnt the art since I was a child, it was only much later that I realised that this is what I wanted to pursue for life.”
Bengaluru rarely sees Kathakali or Koodiyattam performances or even dance schools that specialise in these forms, unlike Odissi or Kathak. “This is not the case with Mohiniattam, which is popular in Bengaluru with many learning and teaching the form. “Koodiyattam and Kathakali are both theatre traditions, which only work in an ensemble production unlike Kathak or Odissi, where you can train as a solo performer and dance irrespective of where you are.”
With Koodiyattam and Kathakali, Kapila says, you have to exist in an ecosystem with fellow artistes to develop this form. “These forms cannot be performed to recorded music. They are also, in many ways, culture specific. The same goes for Yakshagana.”
Kapila will perform on September 27, 7.30pm at Jagriti Theatre. Open to anyone aged eight years and above. Tickets on BookMyShow
Published - September 26, 2024 11:48 am IST
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