Break a leg? No, break the stage! : ChavittuNatakam (Kerala)

Humans love name, fame and money. We’re ready to do anything for power and status in the society. The Europeans, hundreds of years ago were ready to risk their lives taking sea routes to visit our beautiful land. But why India in particular? India was a socially, economically, politically and culturally rich country. Most importantly, we had the most significant natural resources for trade and of course, the most welcoming people!

Vasco da Gama, the first Portuguese sailor entered India in 1498. He set foot in Calicut, what’s now called Kozhikode, the west coast of India, Kerala.

The Europeans succeeded in converting a large no. of Hindus into Christianity. So much so that Kerala is also referred to as “The land of Christians”. The Portuguese felt that Kerala was devoid of culture, they felt cultural emptiness, so they introduced something called ‘Chavittu Natakam’. It was introduced in the 16th century. Only the Latin Catholics performed this. Latin Catholics are the converted Christians who were basically fishermen. It is now a recognised folk art form of the state.

The dance drama is based on Christian mythology, about the ancient Roman kings, their success stories and lifestyles. This art form majorly has European influence, as the whole idea was to imbibe Christian culture into Indians. However, the script is written in Tamil or Malayalam and is performed in the same. Chavittu Natakam is a beautiful mixture of Indian and western way of expression. This is usually performed on open stages. The stage where it’s performed is called Thattu. Traditionally, the stage is made by the artistes itself. They cut tree trunks to make rectangular wooden planks. The planks are arranged in such a way that there is maximum organic sound when they ‘stamp’ it while dancing. The ritual is that the stage must break by the end of the performance or Mangalam. It’s called Thattupolippan (stage breaker). For the next performance, they (the artistes) build the stage again. This shows that the Chavittu Natakam dancers are not merely performers, they’re skilled in various other aspects too.

Traditional christian costumes are worn, i.e., costumes of ancient Greek, Roman kings Velvet cloth, stockings, white gloves, reddish/golden brown wigs, helmets, sceptres, crowns

etc are used. Various plays are written over the years, like Karalman Charitham (about Charles the great), Kathrina Natakam, Anthony annavi etc. The steps in this dance form are also highly influenced by the martial art form Kalaripayatu. The ashans (masters) teach their students various steps. There are 24 steps, but 12 main steps including Kavithams, Kalashams etc. A lot of energy is required to perform the steps because the performance is considered a success only if the stage breaks by the end of it. It is astonishing how the Europeans have managed to influence us so much. But what’s lovely is that our country has seen ‘art’ as ‘art’ itself and nothing else. We have given immense respect to the art form and continue to do so even after independence. Irrespective of the socio-political disagreements, fights, wars and imperialism we’ve faced, Bharatiyas value ‘art’ at the end of the day.

Chinmayi Shastry R