Ever since its revival in Kalamandalam during the 1930s, Mohiniyattam has continuously evolved as a dance form. Although once upon a time boys were allowed to compete in this dance form in State school youth festivals, it had to be discontinued owing to stiff resistance from scholars including the late maestro Kalamandalam Kalayanikutty Amma who once commented: “Any boy attempting to do Mohiniyattam in the female costume has to be scared away from the stage.”
Viewed against the practice prevalent in other dance forms, her views appeared to be much relevant, for all of them had male versions characterised by esoteric costumes and even subtle differences in movements that highlighted masculine features.
Dance of the enchantress
However, in Mohiniyattam, the name itself posed a challenge to dance researchers. It was after all a ‘dance of the enchantress.' What encouraged Jolly Mathew, a dancer, researcher and choreographer to address this problem was a senior fellowship granted to him by the Ministry of Culture, Delhi, making him the only male dancer to be awarded a fellowship in Mohiniyattam. It was Kavalam Narayana Panicker who assured him that a male could delineate Mohiniyattam by exploiting the ingenious technique of ‘Pakarnnattam' widely employed in Kerala theatre forms such as Koodiyattam and Kathakali, which involved the same actor enacting multiple roles. So, as suggested by Kavalam, the new dance form was christened ‘Pakarnnattam,' which entailed the technique of enacting the female dance by a male.
Thus Jolly designed a special ‘kachcha' for this. The ‘otta naack,' prominently displayed in the front of the kachcha resembled the costumes of male characters in Kathakali, Koodiyattam, Thullal and so on. The array of crescents on them symbolise Shiva.
Jolly's debut recital in Thrissur embraced fresh choreographies in which the artiste endeavoured to add rhythms that are peculiar to Kerala. The invocation to Ganapathy had ‘Marma talam,' ‘Lakshmi talam,' and ‘Karika talam' common in Thullal.
The ‘cholkettu' in Khantajati Ada tala was especially noteworthy for the extremely low tempo with which it started, before picking up pace. The invocation to the ‘ashtadikpalakas' – Indra, Agni, Yama, Niruthi, Varuna, Kubera, Vaayu and Eesana – added a new dimension to this indispensable item of Mohiniyattam.
The varnam ‘Kiathozham deva sree Nilakanta' composed in Hymavathi and Adi tala was an obeisance to Siva. Ravana's ‘Kailasodharana,' especially the way he tossed the mountain, showcased the dancer's abhinaya. The balance of nritta (pure dance) and nrithya (interpretative dance) was commendable and the jathis were remarkable with their variety and crispness. Iswara Warrier's lyrics and Kolathappalli Narayanan Namboodiri's music were impressive.
Varied emotions
The vibrant varnam was followed by a lighter number that narrated the story of a mother bird and her young ones living in a forest. The story, an excerpt from Ezhuthachan's ‘Mahabharata,' gave ample scope for the dancer to delineate the varied emotions of the three characters. Interestingly, the presence of Thullal talams enhanced the beauty of this number.
The recital, a first-of-its-kind in the history of Mohiniyattam, concluded with a thillana in Shankarabharanam. It was a tribute to Jolly's mentor and guru Kalyanikutty Amma, who composed the piece in Trisa gati.
While adhering to the grammar of Mohiniyattam, Jolly seems to have totally done away with lasya. This is counterproductive for a lasya-rich dance form like Mohiniyattam and one felt that lasya elements could have been introduced, at least, in a measured manner.
