Steps as easy as breathing

KOCHI: Nothing is as easy as breathing. Important, as well. For Rachana Narayanankutty, equally vital for her existence is kuchipudi. “Like all art forms, kuchipudi has evolved over time. What once used to be a dance drama performed by young Brahmin boys is now mostly a solo tradition followed female dancers. My efforts are to understand the essence of the art form so that I can preserve it for the future generations,” she says. The dancer-actor will lead an orientation workshop for aspiring kuchipudi dancers on January 31 at River Bourne Centre in Tripunithura. 

Having completed her masters in kuchipudi and currently preparing to pursue a doctorate in the field, Rachana has taken up arms to eternalise the art form across the world. “Kuchipudi is popular already. But I want to increase its popularity. When parents enlist their children for an Indian classical dance class, they have some obvious choices such as bharatanatyam in their minds; kuchipudi usually never is that option. This is especially the case with Malayalees and I want to change this attitude,” says Rachana. 

Coinciding with this effort was her master’s thesis on the need for a system of notation in kuchipudi. “In Western music, there is staff notation, which is universal. There is a notation system in the ballet called choreology. My intention was to notate the basic adavus (64 basic steps) and their jathis. For this, I learnt the dancer’s anatomy and Western staff notation, and attempted to implement both of these to kuchipudi.

When you learn the notation, one will be able to understand the choreography of the whole dance composition just by reading it. Once a reality, one will be able to write a whole dance,” says Rachana. While she has already completed the pada bhedas (positions of feet), she hopes to notate the rest for her PhD thesis soon. On January 28, Rachana did a homage performance to honour ottanthullal artist Kalamandalam Geethanandan, who passed away last year, at Koothambalam in Kalamandalam. For this, she performed ottanthullal padas to indigenous thalas in kuchipudi style. 

Rachana is currently working on a dance composition which discusses gender issues and the problems faced by the transgender community. “In Mahabharata, there is a character: Yuvanashva, a king who becomes pregnant. Focusing on the question of gender, I wanted to do a composition based on his story. I was inspired by Devdutt Patnaik’s ‘The Pregnant King’. The research for the work is going on. We are still discussing the music and script,” she says. After the orientation workshop, Rachana will be teaching kuchipudi in February at River Bourne Centre in Tripunithura.