Now, Kathakali reaches Egypt

A Kathakali dance troupe from India performed at the 14th Summer Festival organised by Bibliotheca Alexandrina

With its distinctive style of dance and colourful costumes, a Kathakali dance troupe wooed the audiences during its performances in different cities of Egypt.

The visit of the nine-member Kathakali dance troupe was a part of the 14th Summer Festival organised by Bibliotheca Alexandrina on August 1, and they perform in other cities as well, including Port Said, Ismailia and Cairo.

“Egypt has a great culture and there are many similarities between the two countries,” the leader of the troupe, Rajumohan Padinharey Kizhikkilode, told PTI in an interview.

Kizhikkilode, who is recognised as a highly successful Kathakali artist, said this is the first time that the troupe has performed in Egypt.

“Kathakali dance came from Hindu mythology and its movements are like yoga movements, but it also involves musicians, instruments and make-up to create a wonderful, colourful performance.”

Kizhikkilode, as well as his troupe members, said there were no barriers for people to understand their show and that the audience usually enjoys their colourful costumes and make-up, in which they use natural stones.

The members of the troupe also expressed their happiness at being well-received by the Egyptian audience.

“After we performed in Alexandria, we found that the audiences were awesome,” said Kunhi Raman Abhishek, an actor in the troupe.

“We are all so happy that we are here and we are very excited to see the pyramids,” he added.

Abhishek said that he was attracted to the Kathakali art form as he was brought up seeing all his family members practise the same art.

“All of my family are in this field, so I see this everyday and thus have the passion for it,” he added.

Abhishek said that although it is a tiring job, he enjoys it. “We have to do many rehearsals in order to study the full character and it takes four hours to get ready for a Kathakali performance.”

Kathakali, a complex art form, is a combination of many different forms of art. It includes dance, drama, literature, music — both vocal and instrumental — and plastic forms of art, such as painting and sculpture.

The troupe, however, made certain innovations to this classical art form.

“We incorporate innovations in Kathakali. We have turned Shakespearean plays into Kathakali performances. We performed plays like Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet and others,” Abhishek said, adding that people in India support them and like to see their innovations.

As part of their tour, the Indian dance troupe performed in different places, including Port Said Cultural Palace and Ismailia Cultural Palace, and they will perform their final performance on Saturday at the Egypt Society for Culture and Development (ESCD) Cultural Palace, in Cairo.

The first story, Poothanamoksham, presents an episode from his childhood, and Santanagopalam, which is also adapted from Srimad Bhagavata, depicts the travels of a Brahmin.