Kathakali-Flamenco
fusion of Mahabharata theme entices Delhi crowd
· Performers from Kerala and Spain dance in
harmony to depict scenes of vengeance
Camaraderie
between two classical performing arts from different continents contrasted
tastefully with the rancour displayed by the mythological characters, as
Kathakali and Flamenco gracefully joined hands on the stage in New Delhi to
perform a violent episode from the Mahabharata.
Even
as the plot essayed the depth of vengeance between the Pandavas and Kauravas in
the ancient Indian epic, the performers of the Kerala ballet and Spanish
dance-and-song form entertained the gathering on Sunday evening by presenting
‘The Killing of Dussasana’ as part of the Delhi International Arts Festival.
“This
collaborative endeavour is the first of its kind,” said César Lorente Ratón,
the Spanish director of the 75-minute production that was shown at the ongoing
fete by UCO Productions and La Holandesa Errante Films in collaboration with
Kerala Tourism, the Cervantes Institute and the Embassy of Spain.
Ratón’s
compatatriot Tamar Gonzalez, a Madrid-based ballerina with immense
international experience, donned the role of Draupadi, while young Kathakali
artiste Kalamandalam Bijukumar performed as her husband, the mighty Bhima. N
Bijulal (Dussasana) and A N Gireesan were the other artistes on the stage,
which had background music from a guitar besides the chenda and maddalam drums
to lend a different audio-visual experience to an otherwise familiar scene in
Kathakali.
At
38, Ratón shares nearly a decade-long relation with India, more specifically
with Kerala. His cooperation with the southern state’s tourism department
started way back in 2004. “It has been my source of inspiration for this work,”
notes Ratón, who was producer on the location in his country for the 2012
Malayalam movie Spanish Masala.
Bijukumar,
a senior Kathakali student at Kalamandalam in
central Kerala, has shown his craft at seminars at the ESAD (Superior School of
Dramatic Arts), Murcia, where the The Killing of Dussasana was first staged in
2009. He and Bijulal had also spoken at symposia at the Carlos III University
in 2008.
As
for the guitarist in the production unit, Julián Vaquero graduated in 1994 from the Madrid Royal
Conservatory in harmony and classical guitar. He travels to Mexico to do some
courses on Latin harmony and to study about South American music. It was in
1983 that he started his career as a flamenco guitarist in "tablaos"
of Madrid, and has since been performing internationally
with top Spanish artistes.
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