Kerala Kalamandalam opens Mohiniyattam doors for boys

THRISSUR: Men will soon be admitted to Kerala’s premier arts institution for formal courses in Mohiniyattam, the state’s own dance form in which, according to famous exponents, the movements of the dancers should be “like the soft oscillation of paddy leaves and coconut leaves in a gentle breeze”.

Mohiniyattam, considered a preserve of the female gender and traditionally believed to embody “lasyam (feminine grace)” as its core bhava, has long been out of bounds for males at Kerala Kalamandalam which has enforced this gender divide for years.

This is about to change.

On Wednesday, in a historic move, Kalamandalam decided to admit boys to its prestigious Mohiniyattam course. Unlike other classical dance forms, like Bharatnatyam or Kuchipudi, Mohiniyattam, said to have originated in courtesan performances, has had very few male exponents.

Wednesday’s decision was taken at a meeting of Kalamandalam’s executive committee. Vice-chancellor B Ananthakrishnan said boys will be admitted in the next academic year itself at the high school, degree and PG levels. At all these levels, boys will have the same curriculum as the girls currently have.

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Kalamandalam has been on the defensive for a while for what many considered was an orthodox attitude. Last week, the issue snowballed into a major controversy after Kalamandalam Satyabhama, a well-known Mohiniyattam dancer, publicly said that women had a natural advantage in Mohiniyattam, implying that men could never really attain the rarefied standards that women artistes set. Her rant was reportedly motivated by Mohiniyattam dancer and expert RLV Ramakrishnan’s repeated attempts to perform at Kalamandalam.

Satyabhama, allegedly referring to Ramakrishnan’s complexion, also said that fair skin, as much as the right gender, was a desirable aspect for a Mohiniyattam dancer. Following a huge public outrage, Kalamandalam not only distanced itself from Satyabhama’s remarks but also invited Ramakrishnan to perform on Tuesday. The decision to finally admit boys comes in the wake of this controversy. Interestingly, Kalamandalam started permitting girls to join Kathakali courses only two years ago.

Responding to the Kalamandalam decision, Ramakrishnan said, “It is the most welcome news. I am particularly happy that this decision has been taken on the very next day I was given an opportunity to perform at Kalamandalam, for the first time. I was there for about 10 years, from 2007 and 2017, doing my MPhil and PhD, but I couldn’t perform Mohiniyattam there then as it was defined as a dance form designed exclusively for females.”

Ramakrishnan said that the late Vallathol Narayana Menon, who founded Kalamandalam, had spoken about the need to rename Mohiniyattam as “Kairali Nritham”, a move that would have prevented the taboo against males performing the dance form. None of the texts on Mohiniyattam has banned males performing Mohiniyattam, Ramakrishnan claimed.

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