espaces galilée's file cards

AGORA - Danse Kalashas @ The

Danse Kalashas was one of the first companies to put on a dance show at l'Agora, in 1991, shortly after the opening of this dance venue in the Dance Department of the Université du Québec, in Montreal. For a whole week, the company featured its main program of contemporary dance, at 8 PM, Kathakali at 10 PM, and a week end program for guest artists. In the afternoon, one had an opportunity to attend conferences and demonstrations dealing mainly with the Kathakali dance and music. Supervised by Diagramme (artist management organization in Montreal), all shows and related activities layed emphasis on the cultural and artistic interweaving of influences, in Richard Tremblay's dance work. In 1995, Danse Kalashas returned to L'Agora, to present a fresh contemporary dance, La Courbe en Flocon de Neige, at Danse Cité's Volet Chorégraphes XII.

Church bells and the Kathakali percussion instruments

In North America, the Kathakali drums are heard in rare occasions. In August 1997, a local audience in Montreal attended a memorable open air concert. In the first part of the concert, the musical prelude(*), for percussion instruments and the five bells of the church of Notre Dame de Grace, was performed at twilight, prior to a Kathakali dance performance taking place in the church. The audience thus experienced a memorable performance event which added the overpowering combined sound of the bells and the Kathakali percussion instruments, and the costumes of the Kathakali Dance-theatre.
_______________
(*) Prologue for Church Bells and the Kathakali Percussion Instruments. Arrangement and composition by Bruno Paquet, with the participation of Jean-François Pedneault, Shawn Mativetsky, and Patrick Graham. Dance by Richard Tremblay, to the Chenda percussion, by Bruno Paquet.

Greek Epics enter the Kathakali repertoire

The Iliad, or The Story of Achilles, by choreographer Richard Tremblay, goes down in the annals of Kathakali. It was created in India, at the Kerala Kalamandalam and Thrissur Regional Theatre, in January and February of 1988. Thus, Richard Tremblay became the first theatre artist from the West, to have made a contribution of this nature to the Kathakali repertoire. The work was revived in 1991, 1994, and 2000, in India and Singapore. The Story of Achilles is part of a series of Kathakali works authored by the choreographer, including Ulysses (from The Odyssey), which was created in India, in 1994. Unlike other European themes, the Greek Epics, as other World Epics, are closely related to the Kathakali universe in that they share the same values with the Indian epics: common ethics of war, same meaning of live, love and friendship, among other things. Thus, it is assumed that the Kathakali theatrical function is to convey the Epics, be it for the transmission of cultural heritage, religious values or myths. These works are one of the major contributions in the field. To some Asian critics, The Iliad in Kathakali is "the colonization of the Greek Epics through Kathakali, done by a Canadian." (See: The Story of Achilles.)

Initiation to dance training in India (An)

Article, by Richard Tremblay, first published in The Journals of Indian Dance (Montreal, 1981). Available (in French) on this site. See page on Kathakali

K. Gopalakrishnan in Montreal

Invited by Richard Tremblay, in 1981, K. Gopalakrishnan participated in several conferences and demonstrations, notably in Montreal Place des Arts series "L'Art du Mouvement" hosted by Henri Barras. During his four month stay in Montreal with L'Institut de Kathakali, today Kathakali Opus IX, and besides classes and workshops, he participated in a tour of Canada appearing with Richard Tremblay in performances of the following Kathakali Dance Theatre works: Santana Gopala, Kalyana Saugandhigham, Duryodhanawattam, and Gitopadesham. K. Gopalakrishnan also danced in the The Iliad first performance (1988), playing the part of Achilles. On a visit to Mexico, in 2002, K. Gopalakrishnan returned to Montreal for a brief appearance in a solo performance and a workshop with local theatre group.

Kathakali dance-theatre and percussion intruments, in Canada (The)

As early as in 1976, choreographer Richard Tremblay introduced Kathakali on a permanent basis in Canada and North America. From 1985, composer Bruno Paquet joined the venture as a percussionist, to bring in the Kathakali percussion instruments. Beside participating, as performers, in presentations of the Kathakali repertoire, the choreographer and the composer joined their efforts to integrate their practice of Kathakali interpretation into compositions using the Kathakali percussion instruments, and in contemporary dance choreographies that derive their shapes and rhythms from Kathakali. See: Le Lion du Panjshir (2003), and In Himalayas, Prayer for a Rope, a Pope, And a Rogue (2003). Richard Tremblay gave his first Kathakali concert in Saguenay, in 1976. Since then, he danced in Victoria, Vancouver, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City, with K. Gopalakrishnan (1981 tour of Canada), K. Karunakaran (1980) and the Kathakali National Dance Company, the Kerala Kalamandalam (1981). Since 1984, Bruno Paquet and Richard Tremblay have presented less known pieces from the Kathakali repertoire, like Gitopadesham, and pieces of their own like Au Clair de la Lune (premiered in Montreal, in 1985), Origines (Montreal, 1988-94-96), The Iliad or The Story of Achilles (Kerala, 1988-91-93), and Ulysses (Kerala, 1994). A previous attempt to base Kathakali in Canada was made, in the 50's, by a Guru family (Gurukkula) member from Kerala, who lived for two years on Sherbrooke Street, in Montreal, giving various dance concerts with his partner, a national of Australia.

Kathakali images

A collection of photographs by Richard Tremblay, taken in Kerala between 1976 and 1981. It includes exclusive photographs of dancers Ramam Kutty Nair and Kalamandalam Gopi. See: Kathakali Album.

LECAT - A collaboration with Jean-Guy ( )

Revived in October 2000, at Singapore WTC Auditorium, The Iliad was an opportunity for choreographer Richard Tremblay's first collaboration with Jean-Guy Lecat (one of Peter Brook's long standing and close associate for years). This collaboration came from previous projects, mainly that of a work with the Galeries du Grand Palais, in Paris. The project, in collaboration with the UNESCO Service de la musique, including La Fondation Vivier (Montreal) and many partners in Paris, could not materialize for lack of interest on the part of arts funders in Quebec and in Canada. Danse Kalashas and Usine C's copresentation of Prayer for a Rope, a Pope, and a Rogue (2003), is the most recent instance of these two creator's collaboration.

Modifications made to the Kathakali drums

The Chenda and the Maddalam are tuned traditionnally by strongly pulling on cables that strech the heads. Bruno Paquet has contribed a system by which the traditional ropes, used in tuning the instrument, are replaced by levers which provide the drummer with greater control over the tension. The Chenda clothing covers tuning knobs. See: Innovations made to Chenda tuning.

Mridangam and the Kathakali Percussion Instruments

TBC

Paccha (Green)

"This character belongs to the Kathakali green type, or 'Paccha', whose make-up colour symbolises the highest degree of achievement in nature, according to the Indian treatises on aesthetics. It has its name, or 'Nama', written on forehead, and lotus eyes and dewdrop lip corners underline its soft nature. A three-layer paper frame mounted on rice paste is fixed on the lower part of the face in order to accentuate the facial expression, which is performed through the use of the facial muscles. Heroes from the Indian Epics, like the Pandawa brothers, including Arjuna, or kings like Nala, belong to this set of characters. Because the Kathakali function is to convey the Epics narrative, characters like Achilles in The Iliad have recently been included in Paccha Vesham". (Richard Tremblay)

Paccha and Parapurappada

The Parapurappada is the Kathakali grand opening of war, including the make up of weapons, and a formal call to his armies by the hero warrior. Traditionally, it is widely used by the Katti ("Knife") character. It was in The Iliad or The Story of Achilles, that Parappurappada was first made use of as a choreographic pattern for the Paccha ("Green", or of benevolent) type. As designed by Richard Tremblay, in The Iliad, the Parappurappada emphasizes Achilles' wrath as he returns to war after his friend Patroclus was slaughtered by the Trojans. Thereafter, the pattern was used in other new Kathakali works, for similar purposes.

PALLAVI KRISHNAN - Montreal Salle Saint Sulpice

In April 2002, the Espaces Galilée invited Indian Mohiniyattam dancer Pallavi Krishnan, from Thrissur (India), to present her work in Montreal. Mohiniyattam is a classical dance from Kerala, in India, and is related to Kathakali. Beside Mrs, Krishnan, the ensemble included two percussionists at the maddalam, the chenda, and the edakka, one flutist and one vocal artist. The dance program was hosted in a modest venue, the salle Saint Sulpice of the Quebec National Library - however modest the venue, it holds a special rank in the evolution of the Montreal artistic milieu, having hosted Les Enfant du Paradis (today Carbone 14) in its first productions, at the end of the 70s, and many artists of international reputation presented their solos and /or duos in the venue. There also, Danse Kalashas staged Of Mice and Other Similar Devices,in 1990, in collaboration with Tangente who hosted his dance series in the venue. In 1994, on the same stage, Kathakali Opus IX put on a revival of Origines, by Richard Tremblay and Bruno Paquet. Pallavi Krishnan's dance show along with many Indian music concerts have contributed to enrich this unique performance space.

TÉÂTRAM - Choreographic Theatre

Founded and directed by Richard Tremblay, during the seventies, the Groupe Téâtram company became a crucible for Richard Tremblay's Choreography-Theatre at the time. Besides, and at the inception of Richard Tremblay's Kathakali work, the company became a laboratory for young learning actors who had the chance to go through this fantastic experience in acting training. Richard Tremblay's main creations at Téâtram were: Rhinocéros (after Ionesco's), presented to the Montreal festival for the Canadian Amateur Theatre Association, in 1970; Les Corbeaux (after Hildesheimer); Intermède, a choreographic poem presented at the Université du Québec de Chicoutimi theatre festival, in 1974; Madam's Being Carried Away (MBCA) (after Genet, Racine and Euripides), presented at the National School of Drama, New Delhi, in 1975. The reworked version of MBCA, The Erenyes, was premiered at the Baltimore New Theatre Festival, 1977 (The Drama Review, Vol. 21, No. 3, Sept. 1977)*. Téâtram last production, La Tentation de saint Antoine, featured at Montreal Cinéma Parallèle, in 1980. Richard Tremblay's Choreography-Theatre used choreographed movement along with re-created texts.
______________
* "Le Groupe Teatram (Quebec) confronted established texts"...