4 months ago
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Dressed successful glittering costumes and ornate headgear, and moving with thunderous, foot-stomping precision, the performers of St. Sebastian Higher Secondary School, Gothuruthu, connected Friday transformed the Town Hall successful Thrissur into a satellite of valiant knights, omniscient kings, and loyal companions drawn from the medieval French epic Chansons de geste. Their 20-minute excerpt, Fights of Wives, brimmed with synchronised energy, theatrical flair, and infectious verve.
“Chavittu Natakam runs successful their veins,” said trainer Sebastian Abhilash. “These students person grown up with the creation form, and St. Sebastian School has been bringing it to the festival signifier for years. We adapted a tiny information of the epic for a 20-minute performance, but the strength and theatrics stay uncompromised.”
A 16th-century Christian dance-drama of Kerala, Chavittu Natakam blends section people traditions with European operatic influences. It weaves unneurotic stories of the Bible, saints, and kings, marked by elaborate costumes, vigorous footwork, and a affluent taste premix of Malayalam, Tamil, and Latin Christian elements.
RMVHS, Perinjanam, besides held the assemblage spellbound with Yohannante Thala, depicting the beheading of John the Baptist, with stark theatrical precision. The show traced the biblical communicative of John’s imprisonment and execution by King Herod Antipas, carried retired astatine the behest of his stepdaughter, culminating successful the chilling representation of the severed caput presented connected a platter.
Once dominated by boys owed to its carnal intensity, Chavittu Natakam contiguous sees girls excelling successful ample numbers. “I’ve trained students for 13 years— astir 1,700 successful total. Around 1,500 of them are girls,” said trainer Thambi Payyappilly. “Girls whitethorn person little earthy stamina, but they bring unmatched flexibility and grace to the movements.”
“Systematic signifier makes each the difference,” added Swetha S., a Plus One pupil from Fatima Matha Girls HSS, Koompanpara.
With its heady premix of heritage, heroism, and youthful fire, Chavittu Natakam continues to beryllium a pulsating item of the State School Arts Festival.
