• A symposium on Mohiniyattam @ DD Thrissur

    By Supriya Devi in Lasyatarangini (Mohiniyattam) (Files) · Edit Doc · Delete
    Mohiniyattam Symposium at DD Kendra, Thrissur- A report.
    It was very fortunate that DD Thrissur organised a symposium on ‘Mohiniyattam Then and Today’ just when I decided to be in Kerala. After a good two and half hrs journey by bus and autorickshaw I reached DD Kendra Thrissur and without my saying anything i was led to the recording studio where the symposium was happening. The programme had already started, Dr Thomas, Director of the DD Thrissur was making his speech. Eagerly i looked at the faces on the dias, those of the stalwarts of Mohiniyattam; Kalamandalam Satyabhama, Kalamandalam Kshemavathy, Kalamandalam Leelamma, Kalamandalam Hymavathy, Kalamandlam Saraswathi, Kalamandlam Suganthy, Sridevi Rajan, Kala Vijayan, Nirmala Panikker, and scholars; Kanjoor Krishnanan Namboodiripad, GS Paul, Dr Thomas, and Ravunni Master.

    Dr Thomas who looked every bit pleased and exuberant about the event humbly invited Kanjoor Krishnanan Namboodiripad to speak. Now an octogenarian who has almost lost his eyesight was associated with Kalamandalam during the 1950's when Mohiniyattam was reintroduced into the curriculum after a break of ten years. A musician and scholar, Sri Krishnan Namboodiripad defied his age in spirit and vehemently put forth the need for a structural and aesthetic change in Mohiniyattam and urged the gurus, dancers as well as students to come together in order to find a favourable solution and action to improve the status of Mohiniyattam.

    He began his talk by referring to an incident that happened during a conference in Kalamandalam few years back wherein Kalamandalam Leelamma expressed that when her students graduate and go out of Kalamandalam they tend to practice something other than what is taught in Kalamandalam. She wanted to know what the reason was behind it and reasoned out herself later that it was the responsibility of the institution to look for the answer.

    He tried to give us a picture of how Kalamandalam system functions citing the statement of a student who had been learning in Kalamadnalam from eighth standard till Post Graduation, with Mohiniyattam as elective. To Sri Krishnanan Namboodiripad's query on what she had learnt in all these years she said that "in eighth standard they were taught sets of adavus which they practiced and tried to perfect. In ninth standard, a new teacher came and introduced new style of adavus completely abandoning the adavus they had already learnt. It was all about undoing what they had already learnt rather than learning something new. In tenth standard a new teacher came and changed the previous two style of adavus they learnt and introduced new set of adavus".

    That was a pointer to tell us the importance of having a structure for learning, from basic exercises, adavus, repertoire et al. There should be a strong foundation and a widely accepted format, he said. There are innumerable styles in Mohiniyattam as there are gurus. This trend isn’t good for the survival of the dance form, he pointed out. That’s why a uniform code and guideline for instruction and an accepted format is necessary for Mohiniyattam.

    Mohiniyattam is more like a mix of Bharatanatyam and Kathakali. What Chinnammu Amma contributed as part of Mohiniyattam is 1 teaspoon of ghee, each one (first generation of mohiniyattam dancers) took a drop each and put it in different oils and called it pure Mohiniyattam. That’s why there is a lack of uniformity and innumerable styles; he said.

    It is interesting to note here a dialogue between him and Smt Nirmala Panikker. For the question of different styles, Nirmala ji said that when different singers sing a particular raga, each one will sing in his/her own style, and so she said she felt it is alright to have different styles; to which Krishnan Namboodiripad said that though they sing in their own styles, the raga remains the same.

    He next brought our attention to the present costume of Mohiniyattam. He was of the opinion that since the dance form itself is a Lasya style, the costume need to have an element of Tandava in order to have a balance. This he exemplified with the costume of Kathakali where he said that Kathakali in spite of being a Tandava dominated style, the costume of the main characters are curved giving it a Lasya element.

    Too much of Lasya in Mohiniyattam weakens the dance form, he opined. the costume, which is now being beautified more and more shouldn’t distract the dancer's face (the focal point) from the audience the costume shouldn’t overtake or rather take away the focus from the dancer and create division of interest.  
    Add some salt and spice to Mohhiniyattam, bring in an element of Tandava, have a strong foundation by accepting a fixed format; this is what he had to say, in a nutshell.

    Sri Ravunni, Secretary of Kerala Sangeeth Natak Academy spoke next. Humble as he could be he had only a few but very valid points to make. "All art forms are searching for completeness", he said. There is not just one truth in art. "It is a transition from one right to another", he added.

    Prof GS Paul (he is a scholar and has been writing many articles and reviews on dance) voiced his views next. He reminded us that we are celebrating 60 yrs of classical dance of India after independence and 60 yrs of Renaissance of Mohiniyattam.

    He considered Mohiniyattam as one of the ever evolving dance forms whose basic structure which according to him needs to be worked upon. As traditional dance form, it should meet the demands of presentation, innovation and dissemination. That’s what tradition stands for, he reiterated.

    Dance is for creation of beauty through movements and generates pleasantness. If it fails to do so, then we must understand that there is something wrong with the dance form or the way it is presented, he said. A dancer should be able to attract audience with her dance.

    He shared the same opinion as Sri Kanjoor Krishnan Namboodiripad in the aspect of overdoing of the costume which spoils the intention of the dance. He also pointed out that study of aesthetics is very important for artistes.

    Dr  Thomas who is also a research scholar in performing arts apart from being the Regional Director of DD Thrissur said in his concluding talk of the morning session that Keralites are capable of handling myriad Bhavas. He pointed to an interesting fact that Kerala has the highest density of traditional artforms.

    He feels that there is lot to study about traditional art forms that we have. As an example he talked about the similarity of Kathakali Stana to Buddhist Gompa and the similarity between Meibi dance of Manipur and Mohiniyattam. Devadasi tradition and Bhakti movement also calls for interesting study, he added.

    An interesting and enlightening session, the Symposium had more scope for addressing many aspects and issues of Mohiniyattam but couldn’t do so for want of time. Coming together of all the senior artistes was a rare phenomenon and the talks by veteran scholar Kanjoor Krishnan Nambooodiripad and scholars GS paul and Dr Thomas threw a lot of light on the practice and promotion of the dance form. It has paved way for greater possibilities in the coming together of artistes practicing and propagating the dance form. Since there is an urgent need to fix certain loose ends in the dance form, hope this will lead to another more conclusive meeting of the scholars, gurus performers and students.