KOZHIKODE: Jayaprabha Menon, who is one of the most accomplished mohiniyattom dancers of the new generation, attempts to encompass Kerala ‘thalams’ to mohiniyattom. The dancer, hailing from Kozhikode, has been a part of some of the most prestigious productions in the country. She is also pursuing research which looks for the scope of mohiniyattom as an art.
Jayaprabha was first trained under Kalamandalam Saraswathy for almost two decades, and she attributes the reason for her excellence in the art to the thorough foundations of her learning. “The confidence in me as a dancer was imparted from Kalamandalam Saraswathy. She used to make changes of her wishes in the last minute and trust me to do it well. It has helped me to bring changes to my work even when I am on stage,” says Jayaprabha. She has also learned from Bharati Shivaji and learned Bharatanatyam from V C Chandrashekar.
“All my teachers were perfectionists, which has also somehow made me a perfectionist,” adds Jayaprabha.
She is at present researching on the topic ‘Regional taala patterns of Kerala’ under the guidance of Kavalam Narayana Panikker. “What I am trying to achieve is to fuse the Kerala vaythari with mohiniyattom poses and techniques. It would be like mohiniyattom with a new rapporteur,” says Jayaprabha. Though it may seem radical to think that the taala pattern of Kerala artforms like theyyam could be brought to the purview of mohinyattom, Jayaprabha thinks it would create a complete new platform for mohiniyattom to explore in. “Kerala taalas like chembada and ayyadi can be induced into mohiniyattom. The use of silence in these taalas has not been exploited by mohiniyattom,” adds Jayaprabha.
The dancer, who has performed extensively in India and abroad for the past three decades, is also a member of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations. She also heads the ‘International School of Mohiniyattom’ at Delhi which has a strength of 150 students.
But the artiste thinks that the art is not recognised in Kerala like in other parts of the world.
“Here learning mohiniyattom ends with school youth festivals for children. There is only a very slight change in the awareness and learning about mohiniyattom in Kerala,” says Jayaprabha.
