Provides a clear guide to Kathakali, exploring the origin, evolution and characteristics of the form today and the ways it has adapted for a 21st-century audience.Kathakali provides an introduction to this vibrant mode of dance drama, which comes from Kerala in southwest India and combines poetry, music, rhythm and dance to represent stories of gods, demons and humans. Tracing the distinctive features of Kathakali - which is sometimes tightly structured with fixed conventions and sometimes fluid enough to incorporate imaginative flight of fancy. It charts how the form has changed over the centuries and assesses its cultural legacy today. It also includes translations of extracts from poems, plays and performance manuals, as well as interviews with actors and cultural historians.Kathakali, literally -story play-, originated in Kerala in the latter part of the 16th century. Today it commands attention and involves practitioners from around the world. Largely drawing its sto
