4 from ritual to theater and back: the efficacy ... - AAAARG.ORG

magnitudes of performance 311
Plate 8.10 Two kathakali trainees at the Kerala Kalamandalam are
massaged in order to give their bodies flexibility, shaping their
bodies into proper kathakali instruments. (Photograph by
Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi)
or transfer point linking previous practice with future practice. A hiatus
of several centuries divides the Sanskrit theater of the Natyasastra with
even the oldest of the still-performed Indian dance-theater, the kutiattam
of Kerala. But in kutiattam, as in its sister genre, kathakali, a rigorous
training continues the tradition of the Natyasastra. In kathakali there are
numerous exercises for the eyes and facial mask (see plates 8.10–8.12).
In these exercises the forehead, eyebrows, eyelids, cheeks, and lips are
all manipulated independently to gain individual control of the
muscles like that demanded of the eyes. The eyebrows are exercised
up and down while the eyes remain fixed on one point. While keeping
the eyebrows raised and the eyes open and fixed on a point, the eyelids
are independently articulated and fluttered. The lips and cheeks are
exercised by practicing a closed-lip smile. . . . Similarly the muscles