This is Crash Course Theater, and today I'm gonna move my hands in very intricate and meaningful ways as we discuss Kata Kali, the Indian dance drama that followed Sanskrit drama, and it's still being performed today.

Carter Kali performances would last all night and climax at dawn with the killing of a demon, because after eight hours, you need a big finish.

Do you like colorful and frightening stage makeup?

Then you have come to the right place.

New Nice by the 13th century Sanskrit drama wasn't performed much anymore, but someplace had been adapted for a form of dance worship called Katia Tom.

Another form that absorbed Sanskrit drama is the Krishna Tom Ah cycle of eight dance dramas created around 16 50 dedicated to the God Krishna, with one drama performed every night for eight consecutive nights, as religious works could be, Tom and Krishna Tom were mostly performed in temples in the state of Kerala for any gods who happened to be watching.

Though high caste people were also allowed to attend.

That's a pretty small audience.

So enter Kata Kali as with most ancient and early modern forms of drama, everyone say it with me.

We don't know exactly when it began, but it was fully developed by the 17th century.

Historically, Captain Cali was performed in the outer courtyard of temples so anyone could attend evening performances.

Winter to spring.

Thousands showed up for popular works like U Thiha Tom and Krishna Tomcat.

Akali, whose name literally means story play, is a fusion of music, dance and acting, a plus, some awesome martial arts.

Most caught Khali like Sanskrit drama, borrows stories from the great Hindu epics the Mahabharata and the Ra Mina.

But some Cock Ali plays borrow from other sacred texts, especially the Peronnas.

More recently, there have been caught Khali adaptations of Shakespeare and other Western dramas, too.

There's a repertoire of 60 plays still performed today, most written and Molly Alum, the most widely spoken language in Carola.

But there are portions in Sanskrit.

The place typically were and still are performed by men.

But some contemporary troops include women and honestly, underneath all that makeup in those fake demon breasts, How can you even tell the counter?

Kali Stage is a square of ground in the temple courtyard with a satin curtain at the front, which represents worldly illusions, and a brass lamp, which welcomes divine presence.

At dusk, a drum invites the gods to take their seats and then 2 to 3 hours of preliminaries.

Begin prayers, warm up acts and drum solos before the eight hour performance.

There are no set pieces except for a wooden stool, and there are no props except for weapons.

The play usually ends at dawn with the slaying of a demon or a demon king, followed by a dance thanking the gods and asking for blessings on the audience.

Then the lamp is extinguished.

Contemporary audiences may not have the stamina for an all night dance theater extravaganza that culminate in demon killing.

So these days performances last about three hours and usually include scenes from three different place and chaotic Ali.

There are three kinds of performers.

Actor dancers, percussionists and singers.

Actors were once drawn from the ranks of martial artists and would pledge to their patrons that they would perform until their dying day.

Now things are a little less strict.

Still, you have to apprentice for 20 years to be considered a fully trained kata Kali performer.

Characters are typically based on archetypes.

King's heroines, demons Demon s is God's animals priests, though some seemed drawn from life after dancers create their roles by learning highly regimented choreography.

And I was not kidding.

500 distinct hand gestures called Mu dress as 90 case faras medieval Travis Abby, nine.

Dark Panem says for wherever the hand moves there, the glances flows where the glances go, the mind follows.

Where the mind goes, the mood follows, and where the mood goes, there is the flavor.

These gestures and a huge range of facial expressions allow them to tell the stories with just their bodies and reflect the interstate or bubba of each character.

As we mentioned in Sanskrit drama, there are nine above us the erotic, the comic, the pathetic, the angry, the heroic, the fearful, the repulsive, the wondrous and peace.

Here is how to perform the erotic bala.

Open the upper lids as wide as possible.

Keep the lower lids slightly closed with the lips.

Make a soft, relaxed smile, but do not show the teeth.

Keep the gaze focused straight ahead.

Having assumed this position begin to flutter the eyebrows, keeping the shoulders still using the neck.

Move the head first to the right and then to the left back and forth.

Move the head to a 45 degree angle to the right, continuing to flutter the eyebrows.

Repeat to the left.

Meanwhile, a three drum percussion orchestra is keeping time, while two onstage vocalists clank brass symbols and sing the text.

Both the third person narration and the first person dialogue because trying to perform any Baba and sing throughout an entire all night show would be exhausting.

Scripts for the Cacique Ali dramas typically run a 30 or 40 pages.

And if you're thinking that sounds really short for an all night performance, you're right.

That's because the scripted words are only one component and not even the most important one.

The music and the singing and the dancing matter.

Just a CZ much.

Once an actor has become an expert in a role, he's encouraged toe add some passages of dance and dialogue that he has created.

This dialogue is always spoken, and never some audiences expect to see these improvisations, and it's one of the ways that they judge performances.

Success.

Lots of stuff makes Kata Kali awesome, but the stage makeup is really something to behold.

So hold onto your blending sponges, people.

We're gonna go to the humble.

There are seven types of characters in contact Kali, and every type gets his or her or its own makeup, which takes 2 to 4 hours to apply.

Green or buncha is for gods and epic heroes like our Juna, their upright moral and full of calm inner poise.

Right or by Abou is an orange red to shade that's used for the gods.

Bella Rama, Rama Shiva and Syria.

Knife, a k a cutie, refers to the sinister mustache that evil king characters wear.

Their faces are green, just like heroes, But the red mustache lets us know that this green person, good beard or top is pretty self explanatory.

White beards are for divine types like the Monkey king Hanuman.

Black beards are for evil schemers.

Red beards are for evil characters who aren't schemers.

Black stage makeup, called Qari is for demon s is radiant or shining.

Makeup called Vainuku is used for heroines and spiritually woke heroes.

Special or taboo is for the other characters in the repertory.

About 18 of them don't fit any of the above types.

After actors are made up and dressed.

They placed a crushed seed called Contempo under each island.

Supposedly, the seed doesn't hurt.

It irritates the I just enough that the eyes turned red, which is considered Maur expressing evil beard.

Characters insert fangs.

Black demon s characters strap on fake breasts.

Elaborate headdresses are a fixed.

And just before going on stage, actors apply, along with silver nails to their left hand, which helps accentuate of those hand gestures.

Thanks that bubble.

While Contin, Kali is a more secular form than its predecessors and intended for a larger audience.

It still draws from both sacred and secular traditions, and its stories often show the gods engaged in a form of divine play because even gods need a break from all that God stuff to enjoy some amateur dramatics.

Let's look at an example from a popular Conta Conley drama.

One still performed today with a story drawn from the Mahabharata.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's Kurata are Juna, one of the pond of a brothers and pretty much the greatest archer the world has ever known discovers that he's gonna need an incredible weapon to defeat his mean cower of a cousin's.

The Pasha Petach Stra should do.

It's the most destructive weapon in the universe, kind of like an arrow with a nuclear warhead on the tip.

In order to convince the God Shiva to give it to him, he goes to the Himalayas and does a bunch of penance in advance because of Shiva likes austerity.

Shiva is impressed, but he still wants to test our Juna, so she even disguises himself as a hunter named Kurata.

In disguise, he starts giving Arjuna a hard time about which of them killed a wild boar and they fight.

So here's some advice.

Don't go up against a God because Shiva wins easily.

But luckily, our Gina has the good sense to realize he's been subdued by a god.

Instead of getting mad, he humbles himself and goes back to penance.

This self discipline impresses Shiva, who gives him the arrow.

Gina thanks him and praises his play acting and disguised by saying, by means of your play, you protect the whole universe, which is pretty good.

Review care.

Autumn isn't the most dramatic of counter Kali plays.

There's no demon to kill it.

The end.

But it's a play that shows how the form dances between the secular and the sacred and honors values dear to Hinduism like bravery and humility.

And it argues that playing around with makeup and costumes and fancy dialogue can also be a holy act.

Most theories of theater have the art form, beginning with song and dance.

And while in the Western Theater the written word has gained primacy in many Asian and Southeast Asian countries, highly communicative forms of music and dance remain essential components of performance.

So join us next time as we look at Beijing Opera, a form with even more elaborate headdresses.

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