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Kathakali Sitting next to a oil lamp, a dancer applies make-up
before a performance of Kichaka Vadha, The Death of Kichaka.
Another dancer had earlier built up the flared white beard on his cheeks,
shaped line by line from a paste. The dancers grind their colors from
local stones and mix them with coconut oil. Their vivid make-up and
oversized costumes help transform them into the larger-than-life, mythical
figures that fill the epics. Kathakali, literally "story
play," involves elaborate gestures, dramatic eye movements, and slow,
precisely choreographed steps--all of which requires over ten years of
training before a dancer takes to the stage. Every color, every piece of
clothing, every turn of the hand carries symbolic meaning. Two musicians
stand to one side of the stage, setting the rhythms of the play with a
gong and cymbals. They also sing all the dialogue. The only sound from the
dancers are short cries of surprise or the final gasps of death. In
this climatic scene, Kichaka approaches a covered form on the floor.
Believing it to be the lovely Malini, he will be dismayed to discover her
husband instead, knife in hand to avenge her dishonor. In the foreground,
you can see the large oil lamp that burns throughout the performance.
Traditionally, the epics unfolded through the night and climaxed at dawn.
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