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Keli Women’s Theatre Festival 2024


(On Folklore in Koodiyattam)

On 21, 22 December 2024



Presented by


     



Dear Art Lover,

KELI is a Mumbai-based registered cultural organisation striving to preserve, develop, and propagate India's cultural arts heritage. It has been active in this field for the past 31 years and has successfully handled a number of important projects during this period.

Keli is now entering the 32nd year of its journey exploring the rich and diverse forms of India’s artistic traditions. Over the past three decades, Keli has presented many unique and lesser-known performing art forms to contemporary urban audiences without diluting the essence of these forms. The annual Keli festivals, structured thematically each year, are well known among artists and art lovers in the city and have earned the organisation a significant place in the cultural life of Mumbai. Over the past three decades, Keli has curated 50 festivals, reaching over 1,50,000 audience members and working with more than 1,500 artists.

Keli is celebrating its 32nd anniversary with a women’s theatre festival on Koodiyattam.

The focus of this festival is to explore the contribution of folklore to India’s 1800-year-old theatre tradition, Koodiyattam.

This festival will feature curated performances of two episodes of Koodiyattam, exploring the various functions of folklore in this art form.

We have great pleasure in inviting you to participate in this festival.

Ramachandran. K
Artistic Director & Project- Co-ordinator

Day 1


Inagural Programe

Saturday, 21 December 2024,
at New Bombay Keraleeya Samajam Hall, Nerul (East), Navi Mumbai at 6.30 pm


Dedication: Dedicating the festival towards the memory of Dr. S.K. Nair

Dr. S.K. Nair (1917–1984)

Dr. S.K. Nair, also popularly known as S.K., was noted for his contributions to folk art forms, literature, and language that spanned Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and the broader Dravidian culture. His famous book, Keralathile Nadoti Natakangal, which was his doctoral thesis, remains a valuable reference for researchers engaged in folklore studies worldwide. S.K. translated Kambaramayanam from Tamil into Malayalam. He was a Kathakali exponent and wrote books on Kathakali while also advocating for the revival of ancient dance forms like Koodiyattam. As a language expert, he researched the history of Indian prose, poetry, drama, and fiction in Malayalam in the context of other Indian languages and Sanskrit as a source.

Felicitation:  Presenting the Silver Conch of Appreciation to Kalamandalam Sindhu

Guest of Honour: Swati Apte-Director, Kshir Sagar Foundation, Sajith Pallippuram, Thomas Mathew - Art enthusiast

Performance: Koodiyattam

Presented by Kalamandalam Sindhu and Group
for ‘Kutiyatta Kalam (for Performing Arts)
Story: Solilouy of Thara
(From the Udatta Raaghavam written by Mayuraja)


Summary:
This is an episode from the ancient drama Udātta Rāghavam written by Māyu Raja.The thoughts of Tara, expressed in the fourth act of Udāttarāghavam, form the core of this narrative.

After Bali's death, as Tara resumes her life as Sugriva’s wife, there comes a time when the monkeys sent to search for Sita fail in their mission. Upon learning this, Sugriva, unable to face Rama, retreats to the forest. When a companion conveys this news to Tara, she reflects on her misfortune and considers herself truly unlucky.

Tara contemplates all the misfortunes of her life up to that point, with Bali's death being just one among them.

Day 2


Performance: Koodiyattam

Presented by Kalamandalam Sindhu and Group
for ‘Kutiyatta Kalam (for Performing Arts)
Story:From the Prahasanam (Farce) Bhagavadajjukam
Sunday, 22nd December, 2024,
at New Bombay Keraleeya Samajam Hall, Nerul, Navi Mumbai at 6.30 pm



Summary:
Prahasanam is an ancient satirical theatre form written in the 7th century by the playwright Bodhayanan. In this performance, the heroine Vasanthasena and her maid Parabhruthika visit a garden. They describe the various objects and scenes they witness, such as beautiful flowers, twining plants, and bees sucking honey from the flowers. This sequence showcases the acting skills of the performers. The episode also includes the syllables of music called Chandanavally, a folk music piece before it was stylized into classical forms.

Felicitating Artist


Sindhu
Kalamandalam Sindhu
Kalamandalam Sindhu has been a Kutiyattam performer for the past 25 years. She has trained the students of Koodiyattam in Paimkulam Rama Chakyar Smaraka Kalapeedom, Paimkulam, Mani Madhava Chakyar Gurukulam. Margi Trivandrum and presently a guest lecturer at Kerala Kalamandalam deemed University. She has done many new choreographies and is the recipient of many scholarships and awards. She has traveled all over the world to present Koodiyattam. She is the director of the trust ‘Kutiyatta Kalam for Performing Arts’

Participating Artists :
Actors: Kalamandalam Sindhu( Thara, Vasanthasena) , Kalamandalam Sangeetha( Parabhruthika)
Mizhavu: Kalamandalam Jayaraj Nambrath, Kalamandalam Rahul T.S.
Idakka: Margi Akhil
Thalam: Kalamandalam Amrutha

Our Sincere Thanks to:


Sanjna Kapoor, Thomas Mathew, Swati Apte, Dr. Ajayya Kumar ( Chairman, Peruvanam International Village Festival), Venugopal Menon T ( MD Oasis Chemical Material Trading Co LLC) , Mathew Thomas, Sachin Menon, V. Shashikumar, Sreekumar Kaimal, DSK Associates, Rajesh, Indu Sagar, N. Sreejith, Jerry Sebastian, Sibi Sathyan, Hariharan T.N., Valsalan Moorkoth, Nisha Gilbert, Sasi Nair, Bindu Menon, Bose Krishnamachari, Dr. C.S. Venkiteshwaran, Riyas Komu, New Bombay Keraleeya Samajan, Mathrubhumi, Malayala Manorama, Manorama News, Mathrubhumi News, Asianet News

Photo courtesy:Malootty Karalmanna

Live Subtitles: Dileepkumar Thripunithura

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