Absolutely wonderful piece. I am an Irishman who has lived in India for 4 years and I am continually amazed by this unique nation and her incredible people.
@Bidu Bidu Yes I do. I think I would become a citizen someday if it weren't nearly impossible (given the regulations ). The people here are the kindest and most welcoming in the world. I am deeply grateful for the time India has given me.
Dude the video has been here for two years, they most likely got reported or YT algorithm pushed them down. It's good though. I would most probably feel suffocated after seeing them.
I've seen it once and it is extremely expressive dance form and really intense. The way they tell story through dance, music and especially their facial expressions is amazing!!
To all those people, let me tell you one thing that kathakali is not rolling your eyes alone, this is the dance form which is being found from the 17 century, the classical dance form of kerala,India. Kathakali involves the theme of mahabharath and ramayana , the puranas. You have to learn a lot of mudras or signs using hands and specially that eye movements show emotions. So you need to convey a particular story from the puranas to the people, you should be that much experienced to show that specific eye movements or the mudra at the time of story telling. Not everyone can perform this art form.
This dance and south indian culture has nothing to do with old and rich epics like mahabharta and ramayana they were written by north indians and their archaeological evidences are also in north india. North india had and have rich culture than mallu south and tamilian culture. This dance is related to more of sangam literary texts written by brahmins of south which talk about valor of south indian kings chera, chola and pandyas. But don't relate it with mahabharata and ramayana for god's sake and misinform people out there. Even during mauryan dynasty in north indian southeners were living life of nomads and were known as megalith builders. They have no authority administration and whatever. Dawn of History is late in south than north and not as rich as north. It is nothing in compare to north.
@@mr.rachetphilanthrophist601 lol, South culture is more rich than your north(ye comment sirf iss bande ke liye likha hain aur kisi aur north Indian ke liye nahi likha hain )
@peepee9161 ok im gonna make a generalisation and assume you are christian, since I generally only see such disgusting comments from american christians. Your pray to a bloody and thin man nailed to a cross. You don't see anyone disrespecting your faith, so have some decency and respect others.
@Carpe Diem i don't disagree my comment was incredibly disrespectful. I am sorry for having decent people read this, I'm just so tired of unknowledgeable people acting and talking so badly about other peoples cultures, especially they have no knowledge or understanding of it. Um but i don't get what that has to do with TSeries....?
I'm from Bangladesh and I've never seen this art form in person. The first time I saw it on Nat Geo on TV I was amazed by the intensity of performing they do with their eyes. Hollywood actors would go crazy for that skill. Remember Bane from Dark Knight Rises? His whole performance was through his eyes, but this is on a whole new level.
Many people might have not noticed that these dancers always keep their thumb toe uplifted. That's a minute detail, which even some dancers often forget.
In Bali, Indonesia there's a dance that has similarities with this Kathak named Pendet dance. Indian influence does exist in Indonesia. Meanwhile as a largest muslim nation, Indonesia really proud with their hindu past culture like in Bali.
Culture and religion are two different things.. We must protect our culture. But look at Pakistan. They are ashamed of their past, they ashamed of the Indus valley Civilization and they ashamed of everything that against Islam.
@Nur Raheemah haha that's just a joke 😊. It's not a hate comment. Maybe you are an outsider to this art form. It's natural for anyone to relate something strange to what they've seen.
The whole eye dancing thing seemed strange to me as first, as a foreigner, but after watching I started researching more and honestly its suprising how much work goes into practice for this, and the costumes my god, I love them. The vibrant paint, the gold, the amount of work put into the costumes is amazing. It really is beautiful, it is crazy how much work is put into getting a dancer ready, 4 hours average! Wow! I love this, it's a like classical Japanese theater, something I also enjoy. Thank you for sharing this piece of culture, it's beautiful seeing and learning about other cultures because compared to my own country, this is much more vibrant.
KD Do The 6 others are Bharatanatyam - from Tamil Nadu Kuchipudi - From Andra Pradesh Kathak - from North India Manipuri - from Manipuri State Odissi - from Odisha Sattriya - from Assam
Bidu Bidu they said ‘personally’. Dont bring others down to bring your race up. You really didnt need to do that. And no, they do not do surgeries to get eyes like ‘Indians’. What a weird and insecure reply.
Bidu Bidu what is whaaites? I dont understand your language. How do I lick my own boots haha. If it is a fact, which I highly doubt, show me the source? People go to tanning salloons to get tan. Not like any specific race. And Indians arent the only race with darker skin tone lmao. Dont be so insecure.
Chhau is from Bengal.. It's highly based on physical fitness, acrobatics.. Dancers wear huge masks.. Mostly the performances are based on Durga & Mahishashur story..
@@aakash7874 Chhau is not just from West Bengal. Chhau has three forms .i.e., Mayurbhanj Chhau, Purulia Chhau and Saraikella Chhau. Mayurbhanj Chhau is from Odisha, Saraikella Chhau is from Jharkhand and Purulia Chhau is from West Bengal. In Purulia and Saraikella styles heavy masks are used, whereas in Mayurbhanj chhau masks are not used which makes it distinct from other forms of chhau.
@@bikash_nayak7 Yes... Perfect... Anyways Bengal, Odissa, part of present day Jharkhand...we have so many things in common...starting from culture to food.. The exact present day border was not there earlier when these things evolved...
Dude, I wish I could see a whole performance of this-it’s easy as a foreigner to laugh at the closeups of them just practicing eye movements, but man once they were in full costume and we got that snippet of the actual performance, it’s wild how otherworldly it looked with those practiced expressions. I feel like it would be one of those experiences that leave a powerful and lasting impression on the viewer
You can look up for Kathakali performances in RU-vid. Though they won't give you the experience of watching them live, watching them in full-screen with lights off can almost replicate the feel of sitting in front of the stage. The performances can be quite long but since you seem to be very interested in it, you might enjoy it to the fullest. And you are absolutely right - at the end, you will be filled with awe of having witnessed a beautiful art and you won't forget it. I hope that you get to see it in real.
Luke Weller I am sorry to say this to you, but if you ever want to watch a Kathakali performance, please enquire about the story ahead of the performance. There is a saying in our place which literally translates to 'watching the dance without knowing the story', which means you are not trying to understand anything but only watch the scene. So, please get to know the story, before a Kathakali performance begins
I am sorry, but entertainment shows aren't supposed to work like that. You go to a dance show to SEE and hear the story. Its not an exam that you are supposed to be prepared or something.
Jon G the language used in kathakali is highly Sanskritised scholastic Malayalam. Also, the symbols depicted by hand gestures might also be difficult to understand for someone with no understanding of Indian classical dances. If your idea of arts is confined by boundaries such as your individual convenience and your individual knowledge, then your idea of arts need a major update. It is no different that trying to understand the meaning of a poem in a different language. Or would you rather demand that a poem should be enjoyable just by you skimming your eyes through it? When you're trying to appreciate something new, getting a bit of background knowledge about it is just part of common sense, which would only sound odd to entitled people who thinks the entire world should treat you like customer service would
Luke Weller i had went to India, Kerala once and saw KATHAKALI. It was my favourite language, religion, state and country. Actually, they do tell the story first (in English as most of the tourist Christian) and start the performance. It was really great.
I am Bengali but my name is kathakali, I am proud to be a citizen of the country consisting of so much diverse cultures and talents... I really love my name and also respect it
I loved how most people jumped down with facts and figures about Kerala instead of random abuses in reply to the racists. Malayalis may mostly adapt to whichever part of the world we live in but if you pull Kerala down, you bet we will defend it tooth and nail.
I'm an American Heinz 57. I find their are so many beautiful cultures in this world, and think it is wonderful there are people who devote their time, their life to keeping traditional art forms alive, passing their knowledge on to new generations. Once an art form, language or culture is lost, it can be lost forever.
I've been to India once, traveled through the State of Rajasthan and would love to experience watching such performance live. Indian culture is very colorful and rich. I really enjoyed my short visit and hope to be back one day, it will be in Kerala for sure. ❤
I have seen Kathakali in person when i was small and it scared the hell out of me😁😁. It is a really great art form and a big applause to those who have devoted their life for it.👏 Kudos to # GBS for covering this; & wonderful content as always.
First I learned about throat singing in Africa now I'm learning eye dancing; here I thought we've reached out creativity plateau. Fascinating world we live in! Looking forward to more discoveries!
The dance forms of india are called classical because they're derived from sanskrit dance books called "Natya Shastra" and are highly standardized and codified.
I always get emotional whenever I watch this dance.. Tears and smile at the same time.. Immense respect for the dedication and love they have for this dance form..
Aight, after a while of scrolling, 50% of the hate comments are regarding the thumbnail, which replaces the cultural face paint with Shrek or Pepe. The rest are insults of the artform, insults of Indians in general, and disgust involving the eye movements. There you go.
People outside of India treats us like dirt . I don't blame them . It's because all they get to see is the negative side of us . Our India is a great culturally diverse nation. If ppl start assessing us by our good side, it would take them their whole life just to cover the basics. So please if ur one of those ppl I challenge you to do some digging. You will be mindblown😏
What the hell😅😅 everyone in india will say that we are treated as dirt. I don't think you know how to feels like to be North Eastern in India. Then you will reconsider your comment.
@@readbooksinsteadofmyname7369 How does that justify people being racist towards Indians. We have discrimination in our country. Be it north-easterners or South Indians, but that doesn't mean someone has the right to mock our culture??
I had read about kathakali in Disney encyclopedia when I was little and the dancer's green face was really fascinating me. I ended up painted my face green too and spooked my whole family.
I know that many of you are searching for hate comments. Actually, after I searched a lot, I found out that they are not actual hate comments. Some foreigners who saw this artform for the first time got scared so, they expressed their fear. Some related the make-up to how Shrek looks like and some called it some cosplay. Some made jokes and memes with the make-up. So, a few people who love Kathakali got offended after reading them and began fighting with them. That's all. Maybe there were a few actual hate comments but I didn't see any. Also, those comments went much down and it was difficult for me to find some. So, it's better to not look for them ✌️😊
I was doing the same thing. But why we Indians do that. Do we have inferiority complex? Why aren't we comfortable in our skin without any person of other nationality validating it
@@prajwalsharma5877 how did inferiority complex came into this discussion...And no at least now That british slavery mindset has been erased from people's minds ...We do not want to bring back the dirty and torchurus past ...People will eventually get over it
This video reminds me of Balinese traditional dance! I used to practice Indonesian traditional dance and some of my friends are Balinese. Me and the rest will always have this dazed and awed look everytime we watched our friends did Balinese traditional dance because the eye dancing was compelling. Along with the music and movements, it was simply one of the most beautiful performances I ever watched in my life. To some eye dancing might be freaky but to others, it is a beauty to behold.
I would love to be able to see something of their final performance. 12 years of training just to perform, 4 hours before every performance, and all of that into one single dance. It would definitely be a sight to see.
Eyes are number one for any performance. In singing, I’m often told in competitions when performing, you convey your emotions within your eyes and singing. It’s easier to see how you feel in the song when you look into their eyes. Also, eye contact is important to understand somebody and how they feel about your presence. Eyes are such story tellers, the definition of show not tell.
Once i saw kathakali when i went to kerela i was facinated about there patience their eye and hand movements and the way they carried their makeup and that heavy costume. Afterall they are Indians and we are amazing.
As a person who comes from the state of origin of this artform, Kerala, let me tell you that even we don't know much. You can ask a Kathakali dancer to get more info but that will end you up in an actual Kathakali class. This and almost all Indian classical dance forms have vast information to learn from. I completely agree with your view about this video, but if they were to make a video with more details, then the video will become a movie - or maybe even longer. But thank you for showing the interest to know about our culture. Sending you lot's of love from Kerala ❤️❤️❤️
Beautiful.. I’m learning a different Indian classical dance form (Kathak) but through that have developed a better understanding and appreciation of other dance forms.. am getting to love watching Kathakali 😊 - a highly expressive dance form - a medium to convey a range of emotions from anger to compassion.. fascinating how the emotion (‘bhaav’) drips through the mask layers....
I am from Kerala and Yes, I'm a malayali. I have seen Kathakali many times during festivals and other occasions, it's a beautiful art according to me. There other indian dances too, I'm not a person who knows alot about dances but, it's awesome I guess.
@Alice Rodríguez So what is the essence of your criticism? A well wisher of India or just shit posting. And which fucking country are you from? Mexico?
Alice Rodríguez 1. You named 2 places in Japan....as horrific as those events were, that wasn’t the entire country, not even a large portion, quite a small one actually. 2. India IS developed and beautiful too. I’m assuming by your ignorant post, you’ve never actually been there, and don’t know much about it either. 3. What country #1 has, #2 may not, but at the same time country #1 lacks, country #2 may have....all countries have their good points, and “bad” points. The US is considered extremely “well off”, but we have a LOT of bullshit here too that other countries don’t have...so all of that’s irrelevant. Japan has its good and bad, India has its good and bad (and as someone who’s studied both countries well, and knows a lot about their cultures, TRUST me, Japan has a lot of things I wouldn’t call “selling points” either, and are things I don’t like myself, but those who live there, embrace it and it’s their way of life, just like what we do here may not suit others, but to us, it’s just fine.. Basically, your comment was remarkably ignorant, and every country has a beautiful culture, beautiful people, good and “bad” and a history full of ups and downs. So instead of worrying about someone “making excuses” for a country....figure out what your reason for being extremely ignorant is, and then fix it.
@SSK NETWORK Yes I'm sure one random guy on RU-vid is responsible for capturing Delhi and for converting everyone. Stop making everything about politics! I doubt you've ever even spoken to a Pakistani, at the end they're just people like us trying to live their lives, you know.
All dance takes work. Especially Kathakali. So anyone who doesn’t leave respectful comments shows himself to be devoid of culture. The pathetic state of basic education in the USA shows lack of cultural development. It’s why I began learning different languages when I was 8. Now I can greet people in 14 languages, showing my cultural respect.
Wow that's amazing. Here in India it is very common for people to be bilingual in the Northern parts, and Trilingual or Quadrilingual in the Eastern, Southern and Western parts..
I love our culture , everything in our country is interesting its have a story i am from odisha .. may be we are different from the south part of india but we are all united .. and think we all love and respect all the tradition , culture and history of different parts of our country.
nura o-o It is the land of 1 hindu god's 2 avatars. Both avatars are the avatars of Lord Vishnu,The Hindu god of Preservation. Their names are Vamanna and Parshuram. It is also the kingdom of a Demon King,but unlike any other demon,That demon king was a hardworking,kind and generous ruler. His name was Bali. The Gods wanted to make Bali leave his Kingdom. Seeing the constant begging of the other gods,Vishnu took the form of a dwarf called Vamanna. Vamanna asked 3 footsteps of land.Bali granted Vamanna the required land asked by him. Vamanna became a HUGE Giant and Stepped over Heaven and Sky,Vamanna asked Bali where can he keep his 3rd step. Bali Gave his head for Vamanna to step on it. Vamanna stepped on Bali's head. Bali was drowned to the Netherworld. Before Bali could be drownedto the Netherworld,Vammana gave Bali the boon of Living Forever and also to return to his kingdom back once a year. His kingdom is known as Kerala. The day when he comes back to visit and see his people is Known as Onam. And the one who created Kerala is Parshuram. Parshuram is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Parshuram is also booned with the power of living forever. Parshuram is an Archer also accompanied with a Magical Axe that can join islands with peninsulas. The Creation of Kerala was due to his Axe.
Dances of India explained: Bharatanatyam: The predecessor to jazz hands Kuchipudi: why would you do that to your feet Kathakali: HOW DO YOUR EYES NOT BURN AND DIE AFTER YOU PUT GROUND SEEDS IN THEM FOR REDNESS Odissi: Bharatanatyam but off brand Kathak: The black sheep of Indian classical dance Garba: c i r c l e t i m e Bagurumba: Get ready to kill your thighs Ras Dandiya: Ya know what this garba needs? STICKS Sattriya: Oddisi but also not Mohiniyattam: lol whats that Bhangra: Oh the Bollywood one Lavani: PINGA GA PORI PINGA GA PORI PINGA GA PORI PINGA
Odissi is extremely different from Bharatnatyam. Even the costumes are different. Odissi is about fluidity and grace while Bharatnatyam is somewhat athletic. And Odissi is famous too. Both are beautiful...
I am from odisha and I am an oddissi dancer....I have always wondered why this beautiful artistic dance of India,so expressive is not globally recognised like odissi dance.
The people who want to understand here some info in india we have told that eyes are most imp part of our body that connect our body with our soul the eye dance is telling u the story or senerio the folk song wanna convey hope this helps .
I tried the cheek and eye movement and I couldnt, simply couldnt!! They move their eyebrows, eyes and cheeks so fast!!! Outstanding amount of hard work and practice.