Rhythmic fusion of Yakshagana and Western art

The rhythmic fusion of the traditional folk art Yakshagana with that of the Western choral accessory is being innovated by a group of theatre artistes which has come down to the temple town for a refined product of the amalgamation.

The saga begins with the epic story of Shikandi, a unique character in Mahabaratha. The plot is synchronized around Shikhandi’s character using Yakshagana ‘Mudras’ with the lyrical connotation of English language.

“It is truly a wonderful experiment and one of the toughest tasks in the career,” the director and the writer of the play Faezeh Jalali, an Iranian, said. Speaking about her memories and the desirability towards the folk art with DH, the theater artiste explained why she wanted the experiment to be done.

She added that she had written a simple play of Shikandi while studying theatre in Germany. She was fascinated with the character and wished to extract the character through the script of contemporary English words. It is the blend of tradition and modernism with the lace artistic skills. The English text does not fit with the traditional Indian body. However, as Shikandi’s character is so fascinating involving the question of gender, the unique experiment is being held. Shikandi is either both male and female nor both, she added. 

Faezeh said that six of the team members who are at present attached to the theatre company, ‘Fats Thearts’ which she owns in Mumbai, are undergoing the training for a week at Yakshagana Kala Kendra here. It is an attempt to incorporate and reinvent in the sense to get fit into the text form which is already in the body with its language. Urban Indian bodies are not mobile enough to twist to the rhythmic and rigorous performances attached with the Indian traditional arts, which is organic and instinctive connected to Mother earth and the nature, she added.

She said she had earlier done a theatre play which had many number of shows across Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pondicherry, Delhi and Chennai. The plot was based on the prison diary of a Iranian woman named Reyhaneh Zabbari who was hanged for assaulting the person who tried to sexually assault her. Faezeh has many more such experiments to add to the profile of her career.

Mahnaz Damania, one of the team members who had her theatre experience borrowed from New York theatres, said that it is interesting to learn the techniques she never experienced before. It is not that easy as one imagines. The beautiful Mudras are really much more difficult when compared to the western ballets and other dancing styles, she added.

Kartavya Sharma added that one requires seven to eight years to acquaint with the basic techniques of Yakshagana. The ‘Rasas’ and the dancing rhythm is different which combines with lots of skills. He is thrilled to learn the new art form.