Attend these women-centric dance performances that explore folklore at the Keli festival this weekend

Kalamandalam Sindhu performing Nangiarkoothu in the story Kamsavadham

It is a day before her performance at the New Bombay Keraleeya Samaj Hall in Nerul when we catch Kalamandalam Sindhu for a conversation on the classical set she is bringing to the city as part of the Women's Theatre Festival on folklore by Keli, a Mumbai-based cultural organisation. Running short on time and high in spirit she takes the initiative to explain the ancient dance form to us, "Koodiyattam is an 1,800-year-old ancient theatre from Kerala that borrows solely from Sanskrit plays for scripting. It was initially a form of dramatised dance worship but later it expanded to the realms of theatre as well. Natyashashtra's Dasharupakam talks about the dramaturgy of Koodiyattam in detail."

Kalamandalam Sindhu enacting Sita during a performance of Sreeramacharitham Nangiarkoothu

Originating in the sangam era and relying on expressions, acting and music to drive the storytelling of the play, the history of Koodiyattam has been through many interesting transitions. "Initially, Koodiyattam as a dance form was restricted to the people of the Nambiar and Chakiyar community. They would learn and practice it strictly within their families. It was only in 1965 that the Kerala Kalamandalam started teaching Koodiyattam to everyone. Now, it has spread to every nook and corner of the world. Earlier, women were also not allowed to be part of Koodiyattam. But with time, women were allowed to be part of it with changes in the choreography as well," she tells us.

Sindhu's performance is spread over two days; the first day will see her explore the inner turmoil of Tara, Bali's widow who gets betrothed to Sugriva, his brother, and then gets abandoned later when Sugriva retreats to the forest on failing to keep his promise with Lord Rama. "In Ramayana, nobody talks about the torment that Tara went through and none of the Koodiyattam texts also narrate her side of the story. During my research I came upon Udatta Raaghavam written by Mayuraja, which is a six-act drama of the Ramayana and I decided to build upon the fourth act, which introduces Tara to explore her reaction on being abandoned by both Bali and Sugriva," she explains. As part of her performance, Sindhu consulted Dr CM Neelakandan, a Sanskrit scholar to write her the shlokas for the performance and scripted an acting manual especially for the act, all by herself.

Ramachandran Keli

Building on the same, Ramachandran Keli, the director of this festival, shares, "In Indian mythology and folklore, there is a concept of the five noble women. They are Draupadi, Ahilya, Sita, Tara and Mandodari. They are powerful because they asked questions about a patriarchal system that was unjust to them. Koodiyattam was also very patriarchal, which is why Sindhu's innovative stance on the Ramayana and specifically, Tara's story is relevant from a culture and gender politics perspective." The second performance is based on a prahasanam or farce play by Bodhayanan that depicts an interesting conversation between two women.

A teacher in Margi, a classical arts organisation in Kerala, Sindhu will be performing in Mumbai after almost 30 years, "I have been working on Tara's soliloquy for a while, and I am excited for people to see the performance. It is important to tell such folk stories that aren't usually talked about. It fuels the artiste in me. Without Koodiyattam, I cannot imagine this life," she signs off.

On December 21 and 22; 6.30 pm
AT New Bombay Keraleeya Samaj, Dr D Y Patil Vidyanagar, Nerul, Navi Mumbai.