THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Too many teams, but only a handful of trainers. Issues related to shortage of trainers were reflected in the HS Chavittunadakam competition held at Achankovilar, the venue at Karthika Thirunal Theatre. The 22 teams that took part in the contest were trained by less than six trainers. Naturally the contest was overshadowed by tight competition between trainers and a swarm of appeals.
“There were issues in the way competitions were held at the district level. That’s why so many appeal entries turned up,” pointed out trainer and Chavittunadakam artist Raju Natarajan from Gothuruthu in Ernakulam. Three teams trained by him competed at the state fest. This year, artist Roy Georgekutty from Kurumbathuruth alone has seven teams in the state-level competition. Similar is the case with other trainers too.
On Monday the venue had the gallery packed with the audience enjoying Chavittunadakam performances. The theatre was filled with fierce yet rhythmic stomps and choruses to the melodies of Christian traditional folk songs. The performances were competitive as 22 teams took part in the event, including eight appeal entries.
Even though modern shifts have transformed Chavittunadakam as well, the performers stuck to usual themes and songs. The popular stories of ‘Karalman Charitham’, ‘Sebastianos’, ‘Julius Ceasar’ and ‘Joan of Arc’ were floated, with a few new stories like ‘Holy Ausep’ and ‘Holy Valentine’ that hit the competition stage this year for the first time.
Though an artform usually performed by men, the competition stood out for its mostly girls-only teams. “This is a male artform in which grace and power can only be attained by several years of dedicated practice. When it comes to school-level competitions, the children only have a few months to learn. Since girls have more rhythmic sense than boys it is easy to train them for the competitions,” said Britto, an artist and a trainer of Chavittunadakam.
Judges come under criticism
Some artists questioned the qualification of the Chavittunadakam judges. “The judges are not experts. They are trainers of Margamkali and similar artforms. They might have done a diploma in Chavittunadakam or so. They are not qualified enough to understand authentic performances and intricacies of the art. This is not how a state-level competition should be conducted,” alleged one of the spectators.