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Bharatanatyam dancer
/ scholar Sandhya Purecha is the only dancer in India to have rendered
the full text of the Abhinaya Darpana's 324 slokas into an audio-visual
narrative, at present carefully preserved by the IGNCA. The work grew from
1986 to 1996, to be eventually consolidated in the IGNCA archives.
(“Bonding shastra with sampradaya” by Utpal K Banerjee, Pioneer, New Delhi, Sept 2, 2003). |
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Adoor Gopalakrishnan,
leading filmmaker, made a 3-hour documentary on Koodiyattam for screening
before the Unesco jury in Paris. Avoiding the hustle and bustle of filmmaking,
Adoor filmed the performances in the koothambalams in Kidangoor and Harippad.
Originally 7 hour long, the documentary was cut down to 3 hours. The jury
unanimously decided to honor Koodiyatam after watching 15 minutes of the
film. The film captured the essence of different plays but does not feature
the art form's living legend Ammannoor Madhava Chakyar.
('Dance of joy' by Vinu Abraham, The Week, June 3, 2001). |
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When Ragini Devi went
to Kalamandalam for the first time, Mukunda Raja, the director, told her
that Vallathol had gone deaf in his thirties and he communicated by means
of Kathakali gestures and writing on the palm of the hand with a finger.
('Dance Dialects of India' by Ragini Devi). |
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