Confusion prevailed during Kerala Nadanam (HSS category) over the criteria to select songs for the art form at the Zamorin’s High School grounds on Friday.
Kerala Nadanam has traditionally been performed to the works of Swathi Tirunal.
Over the few years since it started appearing at the school arts festivals, the art form has undergone many modifications to suit the whims and fancies of dance teachers across the State.
Many participants in the competition performed to famous poems composed in the semi-classical format. It was a little unsettling for the purists to see a contestant performing to Vayalar Rama Varma’s famous poem ‘Ravana Puthri.’
“It can not be considered Kerala Nadanam at all. We have made many changes and compromised on the costume and style of Kerala Nadanam over the years. This must be yet another compromise,” Praveena Prakashan, a dance teacher from Wayanad, who is specialising in Kerala Nadanam at the Sri Swathi Thirunal College of Music in Thiruvananthapuram, says.
But dance teacher couple Asokan and Radha from Palakkad do not share her opinion. Any verse that is purely in Malayalam and can be composed in the classical format could be used for Kerala Nadanam, says Asokan, who has tutored many a student to victory at the festival.
