Renowned master painstakingly prepares notations for three dance forms of Kerala
Our country has traditionally had a practice of oral transmission for training and performance of classical music, while in the West the system of notation has been prevalent since medieval times. Staff notation for Western music was invented by Guido d’Arezzo, an Italian monk who lived in the 11th century. In dance, attempts to record the movements of dancers in space and time began in Spain in the 15th century. Since then, the list of noters has grown incredibly long. Among the various notions introduced by Rudolf von Laban, what is known as ‘labnotation’ was widely accepted and, in fact, Kapila Vatsyayan, an acclaimed scholar of Indian dance, applied it to some dance forms here. Was.
But the notation for the dance was actually written in G.I. Venu, who is now more well known as an outstanding artist, choreographer and promoter of Koodiyattam. In a recent chat, Venu told how much he worked in the initial days to develop a notation system for Kathakali, first for Kathakali, then for Mohiniyattam and finally for Koodiyattam.
Kathakali notation.
Initiated in Kathakali at the age of 11, Venu trained under great gurus including Guru Gopinath. Venu says, “I was fascinated by hand gestures in Kathakali when I was a student at his Vishwa Kala Kendra. Like spoken language, Kathakali gesture is a perfect medium of communication. I felt the need to document this sign language. In this way I developed a system of letters for basic gestures and a system of notation for various hand gestures.” As his training in Kathakali progressed, his interest in the depiction of postures deepened. He always sat with a pencil and notebook.Over time, the number of notebooks increased.
Venu soon came up with a comprehensive system of notation, which he shared with exponents of Kathakali, including Guru Chengannur Raman Pillai. But his lack of formal training in drawing made him reluctant to publish, even though he had inherited a love for painting from his artist-father, Chittor Gopalan Nair.
Mohiniyattam Mudra
In the end, he decided to visit Cholamandalam Artist Village near Chennai to meet KCS Panicker. Panicker looked at the notebooks and also asked Venu to display some postures. Then he said to Venu, “These symbols serve the purpose you want and need no change.”
books on currency
In 1977, the Kerala Sangeet Natak Akademi published 373 coins Kathakaliyil Kai Mudra:. In 1984, his own organization, NathanKairali published an English edition, Mudras in Kathakali. And finally in 1994, the Department of Cultural Publications, Government of Kerala published a collection of 587 Mudras titled Kathakali Mudra Nikhandu (Dictionary), which was highly appreciated by artists and researchers.
Koodiyattam currencies.
Venu says, “Taking cues from Dr Kapila Vatsyayana’s suggestion, the system, though initially developed with Kathakali in mind, can be applied to other Indian dance systems with some minor modifications and the use of some other gestures. Is.” Mudras at Mohiniyattam with research support from his wife and Mohiniyattam exponent Nirmala Panicker. based on palmistry And BalaramaBharatam:, translated into hand gestures notation and published in 1983.
For Koodiyattam, Venu’s guru and guru Ammanour Madhav Chakyar trained him in the pose. attaprakarmi or acting manual ramayana samstam, Venu painstakingly recorded each currency according to his notation system. It took three years to complete – from December 1982 to April 1985. interesting thing attaprakarmi Almost all the mudras used in Koodiyattam plays are based on Ramayana. The historically significant work was published as a bilingual volume in 2013.
Venu’s notation system won international acclaim at an exhibition ‘Four Hundred Years of Dance Notations’ held in New York in 1986. It featured 55 original notation systems from the 16th century to the present. Venu was the only one from Asia.
writer and culture critic
He is a trained musician.
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