Theatre and dance makeup, India
Kerala Kalamandalam, Cheruthuruthy
The arts school on the Bharathappuzha river that trains Kathakali performers and makeup artists.
Kerala Kalamandalam, at Cheruthuruthy on the banks of the Bharathappuzha river in Thrissur district, is the best-known school of Kerala's performing arts. It was founded in 1930 by the poet Vallathol Narayana Menon to revive Kathakali, and moved to Cheruthuruthy in 1937. Students train for years in dance, music and the painted faces of Kathakali and Koodiyattam.
The painted face
In Kathakali the face is the costume. Make-up artists, a specialist role, spend hours preparing each actor. Green pacha faces show noble heroes; kathi faces, green with red marks, show proud villains; red, white and black beards (thadi), black kari faces and the soft yellow-orange minukku of women and sages complete the types. The white chutti frame is built out from the jaw, and seeds placed in the eye redden the whites.
The school
Kalamandalam teaches Kathakali, Koodiyattam, Mohiniyattam, Thullal and the music that goes with them in a traditional gurukula style, with students living on the campus and training from dawn. It became a deemed university in 2006. Koodiyattam, the Sanskrit theatre of Kerala taught here, was recognised by UNESCO in 2001 as one of the first masterpieces of the intangible heritage of humanity.
Guides of Kerala Kalamandalam, Cheruthuruthy
Still to be written: Kathakali, Koodiyattam.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Theatrical makeup: Mrgarden 2342, CC BY-SA 4.0, source