Kapila Venu. Pārvatīviraham

The performance is organized by the Intercultural Institute of Comparative Music Studies and is part of an Italian tour conceived and promoted by Sapienza University of Rome as part of the research project: “TEXT_ACT. TEXTs living on stage: goddesses, queens, and courtesans from Sanskrit theater to the ACTresses of present-day Kutiyattam”. In addition to Venice (Giorgio Cini Foundation) and Rome (Nuovo Teatro Ateneo), the tour includes stops in Bergamo (Teatro Tascabile) and Palermo (Antonio Pasqualino International Puppet Museum).

Kapila Venu is an internationally renowned performer of Naṅṅyār-kūttu and Kūṭiyāṭṭam, which in 2001 became UNESCO Intangible Heritage.

The traditional actress of Kerala is Naṅṅyār. Naṅṅyārs are not really dancers and have a very long lineage. Mythologically, we can trace our lineage back to Ghṛtācī, an apsaras, a divine performer, who was sent from heaven. This is very unique because we are still a living tradition and there are not many traditions of female actresses that are so strong around the world.

In Kūṭiyāṭṭam the Naṅṅyār plays specific characters. Kapila Venu will present at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini the Pārvatīviraham, one of the most iconic piece in the Kūṭiyāṭṭam repertoire, traditionally performed by her guru Ammannūr Mādhava Cākyār.

It has been performed exclusively by male actors for centuries. The female version is presented by a woman telling the story of this dynamic of the husband, the wife, and the other wife. Definitely, when a woman performs this sequence, the woman’s empathy for the female characters that appear in the story brings a significant shift in approach. It is the same sequence but there is a difference in nuance. The bhāva, the flavour, is very different.

“Nowadays, because art must reflect the changing times that we live in, I think that women are reclaiming an equal space in the world as well as on stage”.  Kapila Venu

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