Says Dakshayani to her husband lord Shiva, with her arm around his shoulders, "Oh, my dear honey, I think we should go to our house..."
Replies Shiva, "How can we go to our house, we can only come to our house!" Ha, ha, wonder where this is?
A Yakshagana show at Krishna Gana Sabha, last evening. Yes, on New Year's eve.
And the group from Mangalore simply rocked the rasikas (the scanty few who were present). Prof. M.L. Samaga, Principal, M.G.M. College, Udupi, who adorned the role of Dakshayani told KutcheriBuzz, "What we present is the southern style of Yakshagana. While our costumes, make-up, dance and music is traditional, the novelty here is the English dialogues. And this is to communicate to the non-Kannada speaking audience. The lyrics in the songs though are in Kannada."
He adds, "Yakshagana is a ritual art and is usually an all-night performance in Karnataka. While adapting it to the stage, we try to condense it as much as possible, and showcase it for about two hours".
The performance last evening was titled, 'Dakshadhwara and Girija Kalyana' and narrated the story of Daksha's Yagnam.
The Yakshanandana troupe featured 19 artistes, including actor-dancers, musicians, make-up men and assistants. And the artistes are doctors, lawyers and professors by profession. The team was founded by the late P.V. Aithala, a Mangalore based advocate, who has been staging shows with English dialogues for over two decades now.
If the troupe returns to Chennai another time, make sure you don't miss the show.
Contact: P. Santhosh Aithala, 'Yaksha Nandana', Mangalore Taluk, Karnataka.
Ph: 0824-407204.
