Kathakali Dance – Story Telling Through Dance.

Traditional Kathakali dance on New Year carnival Kochi, India - January 1, 2016: Traditional Kathakali dance on New Year carnival in Fort Kochi (Cochin), Kerala, India. Kochi, formerly known as Cochin, is a city and port in the Indian state of Kerala. One of the famous events here is Cochin New Year Carnival, since 1984 at Fort Kochi. It is celebrated at Fort Kochi every year during the last ten days of December. There are massive procession of caparisoned elephants, games and partying. kathakali stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images

17th century, Kathakali, a classical Indian dance form originated, in the state of Kerala.

Kathakali meaning:

Katha means “story”

Kali means “performance”.

This Indian classical dance form is another “story play” dance performance.

woman wearing red and white dress

Kathakali is a highly stylish classical dance-drama form of India.

Traditionally, this Indian classical dance form was being performed by males. The dancers wear elaborate costumes and colourful face masks.

Kathakali, face make-up, Kannur, Kerala, India "Kannur, India - December 06, 2011: A close-up shot of a Kathakali performer's face make-up being applied by a make-up artist. Make-up of bold colours with intricate design is being used. The performer's face already has a white adornment in place. In this shot the make-is still very much in the early stages as it takes several hours to apply. The shot was taken at an all-night performance of Kathakali at the Parassinikadavu Muthappan Temple, Kannur, Kerala, India." kathakali dancer stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images

Kathakali dance involves performing plays and mythical legends related to Hinduism.  Even if the origin of this dance form is more recent, it has similarities with some of the folk arts.

Dances like Kutiyattam and religious drama traceable to at least the 1st millennium CE, are the roots of Kathakali.

Kathakali performance has dance movements that are related to the ancient martial arts and athletic traditions of South India.

Kathakali Dance. Kerala's Classical dance, Shot at Ernakulam , Kerala. kathakali dancer stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images

Even if Kathakali is linked to the temple dancing traditions like Kutiyattam, Krishnanattam, and others, Kathakali is different.

In the older dance forms, the dancer-actor along with dancing also had to play the role of the vocal artist.

Kathakali dance form separated these roles, now the dancer’s role is to focus on the choreography and the vocal artists would focus on delivering their lines.

Free stock photo of adult, art, classical

Do let me know,

What do you think about this Dance form?”

in the comments section below.

Leave a Reply