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Though
Kathakali music ragas are largely from the Carnatic genre, there are ragas
special to it and not known to Carnatic singing and even those common to
Carnatic music in usage and 'prayog' for this dance drama form follow an
individualistic mode.
('The nuance of Kathakali music' by Leela Venkataraman, The Hindu Friday Review, Sept 18, 2009) |
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Like
the rest of the country, Kerala too had a temple-dance tradition, Dasiyattam,
which was introduced from Tamil Nadu. Many kavyas and champus written from
12th century onwards describe courtesans and their social life. These extolled
the virtues of the highly polished courtesans who were well-versed in the
sensuous tradition of love poetry. Oriya poet Jayadeva's Geeta Govindam,
one of the most revered works in classical Sanskrit poetry, celebrating
the divine love of Radha and Krishna was introduced in Kerala with the
spread of the Bhakti movement, led by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the 16th
century.
("The gracefulness of Mohiniattam" by Harsh Verma) |
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Most of the early 20th century modern choreographers and dancers saw ballet in the most negative light. Isadora Duncan thought it most ugly, nothing more than meaningless gymnastics. Martha Graham saw it as European and Imperialistic, having nothing to do with the modern American people. Merce Cunningham, while using some of the foundations of the ballet technique in his teaching, approached choreography and performance from a totally radical standpoint compared to the traditional balletic format. |
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