Kerala natanam adds spice to ICFFK
KOCHI: With lustrous attires and dazzling jewellery, students of the Guru Gopinath Natanagramam enthralled the young film lovers with a different kind of visual experience- Kerala Natanam.
"Kerala Natanam is an evolved version of Kathakali which can portray contemporary issues in a simple style that even the common man can easily grasp," explains Solomon, one of the main organisers of the cultural event held at Tagore here. Initially known as Sargaathmaka
Nritham, the style of dance was developed by Guru Gopinath in 1994. The style adopts the angika abhinaya(body movements and gestures) and satvika abhinaya(facial expressions) from Kathakali and has made a significant deviation in the aharya abhinaya(costume mode) by dressing according to the theme portrayed.
"We wish to educate the children about cultural art forms indigenous to our culture," says Sudarshan, the secretary of Natanagramam, when asked about the purpose of the event. "I believe that the there is a growing interest among children towards these art forms and events such as these can encourage them to be part of a cultural society like ours," he added. Natanagramam was established in 1995 to impart training to young folks in various art forms such as classical music, light music and instrumentals such as veena and tabla.
The first of the three dances visually painted ONV Kurup's famous poem 'Pengal'. " Women being suppressed under the roles of a sister, mother and daughter- this is the theme of the poem," says S Pankajavalli, one of the coordinators of the event. Verses from the Vedic
'Paramapurusha' scripture were portrayed in the second dance and 'Malayalam Sreshtabasha' was the concept of the third.
"I've always been a lover of all dance forms but I was more curious about Kerala Natanam and hence I joined Natanagramam," said Parvathy Suresh, a class 12th performer of the institution. "I cut classes to attend dance programmes and my parents give me full support to pursue my passion," she added. Gangotri Skariah, a class 4 student was eager to see the new dance form that her friends were discussing about. "The interest towards dance is definitely growing. I know several of my friends who learn Bharatanatiyam and I too have performed at various stages," she said, when asked about the interest of her peers towards art forms.