Mysore Dasara - Yakshagana

Yakshagana combines, dance, drama and music

Yakshagana is one of the most popular folk theatre-dance forms of Karnataka. With its characteristic music, grand costumes, vigorous dance movements, subtle expressions, and extempore dialogues, Yakshagana depicts stories from Indian epics.

Music, dance and extempore dialogues are closely intertwined in a Yakshagana performance, where the dialogue narrates the interpretation of the story/character, while the song and dance part portrays the emotional aspect.  The dancers undergo rigorous training not only in the dance and music but also in the learning and understanding of the culture and characters of the mythological figures. The dancers have to be great orators as well who can extempore interpret the

Bright and colourful costumes and interesting headgears

characters they are depicting. Through dance and dialogue, a versatile and experienced Yakshagana artist can inspire the audience to feel connected with the characters, evoking emotions, empathy, and excitement. However, nowadays the dialogues are mostly memorized but the thrill remains as mesmerizing as before.

The tempo of the music depicts the emotion of the situation; for example, pathos is played out in slow, gentle beats while fury, fights, and conflicts are played in fast beats. The movements on the stage are usually circular or semi-circular except in the battle scenes where diagonal movements are used. Each character has his or her own style of dancing, acting, and placement in stages. This dance form consists of footwork, rhythmic movements of the neck, arms and palms, fine postures, as well as squatting, jumping and reeling movements.

Facial expressions, melodic songs, witty dialogue and  

hand gestures are important features of Yakshagana

Colour plays an important role in identifying the character on stage is any Yakshagana performance. Each colour emphasizes the nature of the character, for example, red stands for heroism, war, haughtiness, temper; green denotes peace and eroticism, and black is related to death, cruelty and tragedy. Generally, female characters are dressed in green and sometimes in a red sari.

Extravagant costume, make-up, and ornaments are the physical highlights of any Yakshagana performance. Ornaments are made out of light wood, pieces of mirror, coloured stones and pearls. Costumes consist of flamboyant headgear, decorative chest armour, ornate armlets, and belts. They all are made up of light wood and covered with golden foil. Mirror work on these ornaments helps to reflect light during shows and add more bling to the costumes.

While the dancers take the centre stage, the musicians - the playback singer and the artist who plays the percussion instrument – sit at the back of the stage on an elevated table. The artist playing the drum is positioned either on the right or left side of the stage depending on the Yakshagana style.

It is a grandiose visual art not to be missed and by encouraging such performances, we help to revive the dying art and keep it alive and thriving.