Kathakali Lecture/Demonstration

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Join us for a lecture-demonstration of the Kathakali dance-drama plays from Kerala in South-western India featuring renowned artist Kalamandalam Manoj Kumar and lecturer V. Kaladharan.

Kumar will unfold the language of Kathakali, the stylized and semi-stylized hand-gestures, leg-exercises, body-movements, eye-exercises, facial expressions and enactment of characters, male and female, without facial make-up and costumes but accompanied by vocal and instrumental music. V. Kaladharan writer and art-critic will speak briefly at the outset and in between the demonstration on the history, aesthetics and transformations of the art-form.

Part of the U-M Fall 2023 Festival of Asian Music

Festival of Asian Music

Kathakali, literally story-play, is a highly evolved dance-theatre tradition that originated in Kerala, south India, in the 17th century. It is an amazing amalgam of dance, drama, and music; vocal and instrumental. The facial makeup & costuming of Kathakali are both stylized and semi-realistic. The ornamentations in Kathakali are intricate, intriguing and incredibly elaborate. It takes three to four hours for a Kathakali actor to transform himself/herself into a Kathakali character. Traditionally Kathakali plays dramatize stories from the great Indian epics: the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Srimad Bhagawatha.

Free and open to the public; Presented by the Center for World Performance Studies with support from the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, the Center for South Asian Studies, and the U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant.

If you are a person with a disability who requires an accommodation to participate in this event, please contact Center for World Performance Studies, at [email protected] or call 734-936-2777, at least one week in advance of this event. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the University to arrange.