<p>If Kathakali is known for elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements, popular Spanish dance form Flamenco is all about passion, sensuality and graceful moments. The marriage between the two dance forms culminated in the city recently with dance-drama Draupadi that was loosely based on the episode “Draupadi Vastraharan” from the Mahabharata.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Directed by Madrid-based Cesar Lorente Raton, the role of Draupadi, wife of five Pandava brothers, was essayed by Spanish danseuse Bettina Castano and it staged the scene where Dushasana, a Kaurava prince, tries to undress Draupadi before divine help saves her.<br /><br />The anti-hero is eventually killed by Bhima, who is one of Draupadi’s husbands, in the Mahabharata war. The euphoria of the husband and the wife came as a mix of <br />Flamenco and Kathakali movements.<br /><br />“Love, hate, anger are all universal feelings. The Mahabharata has many such stories,” says Cesar. “I took one episode that I had seen being performed in Kathakali and used it to express my concern about horrific crimes and abuse against women in all parts of the planet.”<br /><br />Cesar also notes that Draupadi in the Vyasa classic was made into a commodity to be pawned during a gamble by her husband. “She is later being humiliated in public. It shows how women were treated as objects as far back as 3,000 years ago. I chose this story, as it is a universal theme, which anyone can relate to,” he says.<br /><br />It was a fellow theatre person who suggested Cesar to give Kathakali a contemporary twist. “I worked on the idea for almost a year before Kathakali met Flamenco on stage,” he adds.<br /><br />Stage artistes from Kerala Biju Kumar and Biju Lal played the roles of green-faced Bhima and red-beard Dushasana. Indian pop star Suneeta Rao and singer Radakrishnan sung songs in languages ranging from English to Hindi to Sanskrit to Malayalam.<br /><br /></p>
<p>If Kathakali is known for elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements, popular Spanish dance form Flamenco is all about passion, sensuality and graceful moments. The marriage between the two dance forms culminated in the city recently with dance-drama Draupadi that was loosely based on the episode “Draupadi Vastraharan” from the Mahabharata.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Directed by Madrid-based Cesar Lorente Raton, the role of Draupadi, wife of five Pandava brothers, was essayed by Spanish danseuse Bettina Castano and it staged the scene where Dushasana, a Kaurava prince, tries to undress Draupadi before divine help saves her.<br /><br />The anti-hero is eventually killed by Bhima, who is one of Draupadi’s husbands, in the Mahabharata war. The euphoria of the husband and the wife came as a mix of <br />Flamenco and Kathakali movements.<br /><br />“Love, hate, anger are all universal feelings. The Mahabharata has many such stories,” says Cesar. “I took one episode that I had seen being performed in Kathakali and used it to express my concern about horrific crimes and abuse against women in all parts of the planet.”<br /><br />Cesar also notes that Draupadi in the Vyasa classic was made into a commodity to be pawned during a gamble by her husband. “She is later being humiliated in public. It shows how women were treated as objects as far back as 3,000 years ago. I chose this story, as it is a universal theme, which anyone can relate to,” he says.<br /><br />It was a fellow theatre person who suggested Cesar to give Kathakali a contemporary twist. “I worked on the idea for almost a year before Kathakali met Flamenco on stage,” he adds.<br /><br />Stage artistes from Kerala Biju Kumar and Biju Lal played the roles of green-faced Bhima and red-beard Dushasana. Indian pop star Suneeta Rao and singer Radakrishnan sung songs in languages ranging from English to Hindi to Sanskrit to Malayalam.<br /><br /></p>
