Kochi - Kathakali Dancing and Dinner
Applying Make-Up for Kathakali Dance |
At 1800, we set off for a show of
Kathakali dancing, where they were performing a scene from the epic
Narakasuravadham. When we got there, the
two dancers, who were both men, were sitting on the stage and applying their
makeup. When they were done, someone
came on and explained the story which they were dancing – although we had
already been given a paper telling us the same.
Then he introduced another dancer.
Together they explained and demonstrated the different facial expressions,
the nine emotions, the alphabet of the dance and how concepts like a beautiful
girl and fish swimming were portrayed.
Applying Make-Up for Kathakali Dance |
Then the actual performance
started. A stage hand and the
interpreter held up a blanket and the two dancers came on in their costumes. I was sitting at the far right, so I could
see them before the blanket was dropped.
The costumes were quite fantastic.
The older dancer played the hero, but his costume resembled a dress. The other dancer played the beautiful woman
who was really an evil demon in disguise.
She didn’t seem that evil to me – she just seemed to be guilty of loving
the hero. But he broke through her
disguise and cut off her breast, which wasn’t a nice thing to do. As well as the two dancers, there was a
drummer and a singer who were both very good.
Hero Flirts with Demon |
After the dancing, we walked on to the Hotel
Cochin Fort and went to the Thandoor restaurant, which was next door to the one we had
been to the evening before. The
restaurant was full, but two tables were set out in one line so we could sit
together. I sat next to Andrew and we
chatted quite a bit. I don’t think I
impressed as he went to sit with Diane and Guilland as soon as he was able.
Hero Recognises Demon |
Service was slow as the
restaurant was busy, but the billing wasn’t bad and the waiter made sure he got
things right. He had a sheet of paper
with grids for each place setting and wrote our orders in the corresponding
blocks. Simple but effective.
Then we walked back to the hotel. Bella came in for a few minutes with her
scissors. She cut my fringe so it didn’t
keep going into my eyes, which was a big relief.
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