Ft. Cochi – Day 5
Today, a walk along Ft. Cochi’s waterfront and tonight the
Kerala Dance Performance at the Greenix Centre. We will be seeing a variety of Kerala dances, including the Kathakalli dance. Our other choice is a Kathakalli-only show which is an hour long and our host, Saj (not one to hold back on his opinions) tells us is about 45” more than we will find enjoyable!
The waterfront is quite amazing – as touristy as this place
is, you can still buy fresh fish, then take it to a restaurant and have them
cook it to order. There are still
operating Chinese fishing nets – most are too inefficient now – and the
ever-present parade of water craft, ferries, container ships, coast guard
vessels, something we can’t identify – some kind of huge pleasure craft – and
the occasional speedboat.
We get
to see one fishing net in operation, a most ingenious but labor-intensive
activity involving a minimum of four men and a set of huge boulders used to
counter-weight the nets. I still
don’t understand how they actually work, but it is fun to watch this centuries’
old technique. When they pulled up the net, there appeared to be about 20 wee fish in it.)
A few more photos of life along the waterfront.
This was a dead tree imaginatively painted; the lower left limb is supposed to be a snake with its jaw open.
This physical affection between young men is very common; we didn't see this with young women.
Off to the dances!
The best part is that we get to watch the Kathakalli dancer getting
ready. This involves an hour-long
process of applying an elaborate, symbolic make-up culminating in the
application of a set of three light-weight plastic(?) semi-conical thingees
shaped like a small scoop – this is way too difficult to describe! I hope the photos help . . .
Makeup - part 1:
And then the facial enhancers . . . the fellow on the left mixes some sort of powder adhesive which is dripped on the dancer's face in a curving line, into which is placed the thingee.
Checking the placement of the first thingee.
We take a break (this is like watching thingee adhesive dry) and take a quick look at the dance museum. An amazing variety of costumes.
Now, to watch the dancers! An off-stage narrator introduces each dance and describes
what is happening, why the dance is important, and what the dance gestures
mean. It is all steeped in
ancient tradition, Hindu mythology, and Keralan folklore – an interesting mix to
say the least. There are
approximately 25 hand movements each signifying a kind of dance sign language.
This is the same dancer we watched being made-up. Quite the transformation!
In addition, there are several dances
which involve combining the hand movements with exaggerated facial
gestures. Our favorite is a dancer
(obviously male) made up as a woman with the most acrobatic eyebrows imaginable! It was impossible to get a photo that wasn't blurred; he was in constant motion. Reminded us of one of the old time comediens – circa 1960, Milton Berle, Henny Youngman?
This was the final dancer - very dramatic.
At the finale, members of the audience were invited on stage
to have their photos taken with the dancers. Well, you know who hopped right up there – after all, I was
wearing my go-everywhere pink blouse!!
The couple sitting next to us at the dance were from Australia, and we all decided to head across the street to one of the three places in town that serve beer. Another invitation to visit fellow travelers!
Tomorrow we're off to Alleppey, the staging point for excursions through the Keralan backwaters. We both enjoyed Ft. Cochi - fun town in which to be a tourist.
