G. Venu is a performer, teacher
and scholar of Kutiyattam and a senior disciple of Guru Ammannur Madhava
Chakyar. He has devised 'Navarasa Sadhana' module as a transformative process
for artistes seeking a deeper insight to the depths and diversity of human
emotions. He is Chairman, Natanakairali, Ammannur Chakyar Madhom in Irinjalakuda.
I came across this extremely
interesting and informative article by Shri G. Venu on Navarasa Sadhana in
Narthaki.com the dance website of Dr. Anita Ratnam. These workshops are conducted by G. Venu, the
veteran Kathakali and Kudiyattam artiste and revivalist of Natanakairali,
Irinjnalakuda (Kerala) has the theatre world by storm.
The article contains the process
of teaching the acting methodology for actors and dancers. Famous actors from
cinema and theatre have benefitted from this workshop.
Venu ji has dived in the deep
waters of the ocean of abhinaya and found some pearls of wisdom of Bharata’s
Natya Sastra. It is an amazing read and I earnestly urge all dancers to read
this article. Here is the link.
http://www.narthaki.com/info/articles/art436.html
Way back in 1995, I met him for
the first time in an 8-day workshop by Rajeev Sethi and performance organized
by N.C.P.A. and its dynamic Director, Vijaya Mehta. I knew about his exhaustive
work to revive Kudiyattam and other dying arts of Kerala. I spoke to him about
my association with Bhagavata Mela and sought his guidance. The legendary
Ammanur Madhava Chakyar was also present.
In 2000, I received an invitation
from his institution to participate in a two-month residency workshop on Netra
and Hasta Abhinaya. At that time, I was already in the process of bringing
Melattur and Mumbai together for the Marathi natakam Sakuntala.
Those two months were educative
and opened the horizons of what theatre and dance could achieve. The intensive
eye exercises, meeting international artistes like Peter Oskarson besides
artistes from China and Japan, infused new meaning into my life as a dancer.
With G. Venu, Niramala Paniker, Tomoe Irino , and Kapila. Kneeling L-R Reiko Irino, Arabella Lyons and flautist Ludwig Pesch at the workshop (2001)
I met his brilliant daughter
Kapila whose Nangiar Koothu performances are exquisite and unforgettable. Every
single nuance of abhinaya is performed with clarity through her eyes but seated
on a wooden stool. She had undergone intensive training from the Guru Ammanur
Madhava Chakyar which included exhaustive sessions of eye exercises and
memorizing volumes of learning Sanskrit texts.
Ms. Tomoe Irino, a Japanese
percussion artiste, also trained regularly in Nangiar Koothu. Here is a report of the workshop and its
content written after the workshop in 2001.
Natana Kairali of Irinjalakuda (Thrissur, Kerala) celebrated its
silver jubilee year in 2001 with the inauguration of a unique concept -the
'Abhinayakalari'. Japan Foundation with Sanskriti Pravah as its executive
agency supports the international Acting Laboratory, first of its kind in
India. The Abhinayakalari was inaugurated in September 2000 and the first two-
month long workshop on Netra-Abhinaya and Hasta Abhinaya was conducted in
December. This project was launched at Natanakairali in association with the
Ammannur Chachu Chakyar Smaraka Gurukulam.
Smaraka Gurukulam.
The workshop is the brainchild of
G.Venu, Director of Natana Kairali. Venu's research in Kerala's lost arts like
puppets, Kutiyattam and Nangiar Koothu has resulted in their glorious revival
and has created an international demand for them. His wife, Nirmala Paniker,
was going back to the roots of Mohiniyattom when she discovered its close
affinity to Nangiar Koothu. For over a decade, she collaborated with Ammannur
Madhava Chakyar, the legendary Kutiyattam actor, to reconstruct the lost
repertoire of Nangiar Koothu. The immense histrionic potential of these two
arts is based on the use of eyes and elaborate hand gestures. The workshop
focused on a holistic approach to juxtapose pan- Asian concepts of abhinaya.
The dancer-participants and resource masters were selected from all over India
and countries like Taiwan, Korea and Japan. The strenuous working schedule
began at 7.30 am with Yoga lessons from Swami Hari Om Ananda of UttarKashi. The
participants were then introduced to lessons in Kutiyattam (Ammannur Kuttan
Asan), Kathakali (Sadanam Krishnan Kutty) Mohiniyattom (Nirmala Paniker)
Bharata Natyam (Indu Raman), Le Coq dance Technique (Arabella Lyons), Dun Huang
(Jessie Fan Ko) and Kamigata Mai (Keiin Yoshimura). Documentation of eye movement
and hand gestures has now enabled the project to enlarge the vocabulary of
dance. G. Venu conducted the master classes in eye exercise in front of an oil
lamp and with application of ghee in and around the eyes. Senior Kathakali
actors like Ananda Sivaram, V.P.Ramakrishna Nair, and Keezhpadam Kumaran Asan
spoke extensively about their experiences and shared insights into the
traditional eye care and exercise routines. These veterans discussed the
Navarasas and their presentation at length. Octogenarian Ammannur Madhava
Chakyar elaborated on Shringara Rasa with demonstrations and splendid
performances of rare items from the Kutiyattam repertoire. The participants
were taken to visit the Tantra Vidya Peetham near Alwaye where K.P.C.
Bhattadripad spoke and demonstrated the use of mudras in tantra practice. A bit of history was introduced by Dr. K.G.
Paulose who clarified the process of how Natya became "Attam" in
Kerala. The Hindustan Kalari Sangam gave demonstrations of Kalari. The project Director, G.Venu's vision in
planning this workshop was greatly appreciated by visiting payattu and the
special oil massage for the face. The most illuminating lectures on Tantra as practiced
by them came from this group. In a simplified manner, they explained the
SriChakra and its equivalents and significance with relation to our body.
Dignitaries Tadishi Ogawa and Reiko Irino
(Japan), Peter Oskarson (Sweden) Padma Subramanian, Ludwig Pesch, and
Vasundhara Doraiswamy. A team from Folkteatern i Gavleborg (Sweden) who are working
on the production of a Greek play was invited to study the ancient Sanskrit
theatre traditions in India. They were present for the annual festival of
Kutiyattam and Nangiar Koothu that took place at the beautiful NatanaKairali
auditorium from Dec 1 to 14th. The young dancers of this tradition, Renjith,
Rajneesh, Sooraj, Kapila, Aparna, Rajeev and Hari won the admiration of all for
their devotion, dedication and performance of an exceedingly demanding
tradition. They were also completely in charge of the arrangements of the
workshop. In addition to this extravaganza, Venu had invited troupes to perform
Pavakoothu (hand Puppets), Tolpavakoothu (Leather shadow puppets who perform Kamba
Ramayana) Mudiyettam, Theyyam and Kummatikali (masked dancers). The beauty of
the Natankairali campus, the generous and warm hospitality of the hosts and the
excellent vegetarian Kerala cuisine made this an unforgettable and wonderful
experience for the participants.
