Guru Gopinath
Encyclopedia
Guru Gopinath (June 24, 1908 – October 9, 1987) was an Indian classical dancer, Kathakali
master and mentor of a relatively new creative modern dancing style called Kerala Natanam
.
, lying in obscurity, to the outer world.
He is considered one of the epic personalities of Indian dancing in the twentieth century like Uday Shankar
. He carved out a contemporary style of dancing, classical in form but popular in appeal, through which the fame of Kathakali spread far and wide in the beginning of the 1930s.
He showed how Indian dancing could handle themes other than those from Hindu mythology
. Indian classical dance is the language of humanity
, the global language. He popularised it by choreographing
dance and ballets having biblical social
current and political themes.
He was trained in both southern (Kaplingadan) and northern (Kalluvazhi) style of Kathakali. He was invited for higher studies when poet Vallathol Narayana Menon
started Kerala Kalamandalam
at Mulamkunnathukavu in Thrissur
. He got rigorous training under giants of the fields like Pattikkamthodi Ravunni Menon
, Guru Kunchu Kurup
and Guru Kavalappara Narayanan Nair
. He studied Rasa Abhinaya under Natyaacharya Padma Shri
Mani Madhava Chakkiyar. Famous Kathakali artiste Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair
and dancer Ananda Shivaram were then students in the first batch of Kalamandalam.
He was dance partner to Ragini Devi- formerly Esther Luella Sherman - an American
born dancer from Michigan
. Guru Gopinath and Ragini Devi made their first stage performance in Mumbai
in December 1932.
The success of this performance encouraged them for more stage shows and an all India tour, making performances and lecture- demonstrations on Indian classical dance. Kathakali and dancing were thus made popular, which was comprehensive to the layman and connoisseur alike.
When Rabindranath Tagore
saw young Gopinath's performance in early thirties he wrote an appreciation on the dancer:
"Mr Gopinath is a real artist and I am sure there are not many who could rightfully take their stand by his side either in India or abroad. He brought to my mind glimpses of the great past when dancing was one of the most treasured arts in India and not as today, a mere device of whetting up the jaded appetite of the idle rich. His presence in our midst was a great lesson and now that dancing is again coming into vogue amongst us, his style should give us a correct lead, for in want of it, we are yet groping in the dark."
He was awarded the Veera Srumkhala from, Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma
the King of Travancore
. The Guru
Status was awarded later by Indian People's Theatre Association
(IPTA). The Rabindra Bharathi University honoured him with a doctorate. His statue was erected in Viswa Bharathi University. His illustrious demonsrarion of Nava Rasa(the nine emotions) is featured in major museums in U.S.
, France
, Germany
and Switzerland
.
Kathakali style of dancing and training was a male monopoly. It was Guru Gopinath who experimented and proved that girls can perform Kathakali. He was appointed as the palace dancer and principal of the dance institution run by the royal family. The Natananiketan in Chennai
and the Viswa Kala Kendra in Trivandrum the International Kathakali Centre in Delhi
were institutions founded by him.
Malayalam film history has noted Guru Gopinath as one among the actors of the beginning years. He has acted in the movie Prahlada
as Hiranyakasipu. This was the sixth Malayalam movie and the third movie having sound tracks.
He has made guest appearances as Jesus Christ in Jeevithanauka and Poothana in Bhakathakuchela.
Guru Gopinath was one such artist who could show the nuances of the nine emotions in Kathakali and he could show different emotions on each half of his face at the same time.
He died on stage, as he wished, with makeup, attire and anklets while enacting the role of King Dasaratha in his famous ballet
Ramayana
on 9 October 1987 at Fine Arts Hall Eranakulam.
A dance museum is coming up as his memorial at Trivandrum. The Kerala government has already established a dance village named 'Guru Gopinath Natanagramam'.
Guru Gopinath has traveled and performed in many parts of the world. He made performances in USA, erstwhile USSR and Sri Lanka
. He was a member of the first cultural delegation of independent India to the USSR in 1954. Among them was the great Indian Dancer Tara Chaudhri, the only North Indian born dancer performing dances from the south. He was invited as a judge of Classical Dances in the Eighth World Youth Festival held at Helsinki
, Finland
in 1961.
He was born on 24 June 1908, as the second son of Madhavi Amma and Kaippilli Sankara Pillai, in Champakkulam, Kuttanad
now in Alappuzha
district of Kerala. There were many exponents of Kaplingadan style of 'Kathakali' in this family like Champakkulam Paramu Pillai and Champakkulam Shanku Pillai. Great Kathakali master Guru Kunchu Kurup
is related to this family.
His initiation to Kathakali arangu (stage) was accidental. When he was a child once he had gone with his paternal uncle for a Kathakali show performed by his troupe. The show was on and at midnight suddenly uncle came to the sleeping boy and did some minimum make up to him to look like a maharshi - a hermit - and asked him to sit on a chair on the stage. He instructed him to hand over the bows and arrows when a man with glittering headgear comes and bestow him. He did exactly as told by uncle. That was Guru Gopinath's first appearance in a Kathakali show.
Great masters of Kathakali like Champakkulam Paramu Pillai, Mathoor Kunjupilla Panicker, and Thakazhi Kesava Panicker at Champakkulam were his teachers for the initial years, where he had undergone training in southern style of acting in kathakali, which gives importance to abhinaya.
Kavalappara Narayanan Nair was his main teacher at 'Kerala Kalamandalam' where he was asked to join as a special student for higher studies in northern style, which gives importance to gestures movements and footsteps. Guru Kunchu Kurup taught him lessons in Abhinaya
(acting). Later he went and stayed with Chenganoor Raman Pillai
an expert in southern style, to learn more about Kathakali.
in early 30s, when Poet Vallathol Narayana Menon
and Manakkulam Mukunda Raja started a course to revive this dying art form. After marriage she became co-dancer and partner of Gopinath. Her relentless support of her husband was significant to his achievement.
They have four children. Their eldest daughter is Vasanthi Jayaswal, a dancer and social worker. She is an exponent of Kerala Natanam & Bharatanatyam
and is a teacher of shastras in USA. Their second daughter is Vilasini Ramachandran, a Senior I.A.S. officer in Gujarat. The youngest daughter Vinodini Sasimohan was a child artist in Malayalam movies in the 60s and she is now the Chief Administrative Officer of Viswa Kala Kendra, Trivandrum. G. Venugopal (not to be confused with the playback singer of the same name) is his only son.
' (Keralanatanam), without sacrificing its essence and classicism.
Kerala Natanam can be called a stylised form of Kathakali. Guru Gopinath developed his own style that was appealing to the masses who were then devoid of art and dance, without compromising on the classical background. He never tried to reform Kathakali and to tamper with the originality and purity it possessed.
He was instrumental to bring Kathakali out from the courtyards of upper class Brahmin
s and rajas and dance chambers of temples to the masses. His performances created a dance wave in Kerala, which had reprecations all over India in thirties and forties
Ordinary people in India, who had no training knowledge in understanding classical dance started enjoying it and appreciating it, only after they had the opportunity of watching Gopinath perform.
and duration of training for Kathakali. The 12 years long and rigorous Kathakali course was simplified and reduced to 6 years, without compromising its essence or deviating from its classical tradition.
Guru Gopinath showed the outer world the strength, potential and adaptability of classical Indian dance style to perform themes and stories other than the Indian mythological, devotional or historical ones. He choreographed dances using dances involving biblical and social themes in the forties and fifties. His ballets like 'Sree Yeesunaadha Vijayam', (story of Christ) 'Divya Naadam' (both biblical), 'Sister Niveditha', 'Chandaala Bhikshuki', 'and Kerala Piravi' (on the formation of Kerala State) are a few examples.
Other books are:
Kathakali
Kathakali is a highly stylized classical Indian dance-drama noted for the attractive make-up of characters, elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the anchor playback music and complementary percussion...
master and mentor of a relatively new creative modern dancing style called Kerala Natanam
Kerala Natanam
Kerala Natanam is a new style of dance that is now recognised as a distinct art form evolved from Kathakali a form of Indian dance-drama...
.
Significance
Guru Gopinath was well tempered by traditional discipline, but he expanded the framework of tradition. He was instrumental in introducing and popularising Kathakali, the illustrious dance drama of KeralaKerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, lying in obscurity, to the outer world.
He is considered one of the epic personalities of Indian dancing in the twentieth century like Uday Shankar
Uday Shankar
Uday Shankar , the pioneer of modern dance in India, and a world renowned Indian dancer and choreographer, was most known for adapting Western theatrical techniques to traditional Indian classical dance, imbued with elements of Indian classical, folk, and tribal dance, thus laying the roots of...
. He carved out a contemporary style of dancing, classical in form but popular in appeal, through which the fame of Kathakali spread far and wide in the beginning of the 1930s.
He showed how Indian dancing could handle themes other than those from Hindu mythology
Hindu mythology
Hindu religious literature is the large body of traditional narratives related to Hinduism, notably as contained in Sanskrit literature, such as the Sanskrit epics and the Puranas. As such, it is a subset of Nepali and Indian culture...
. Indian classical dance is the language of humanity
Human Race
Human Race refers to the Human species.Human race may also refer to:*The Human Race, 79th episode of YuYu Hakusho* Human Race Theatre Company of Dayton Ohio* Human Race Machine, a computer graphics device...
, the global language. He popularised it by choreographing
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
dance and ballets having biblical social
Social
The term social refers to a characteristic of living organisms...
current and political themes.
He was trained in both southern (Kaplingadan) and northern (Kalluvazhi) style of Kathakali. He was invited for higher studies when poet Vallathol Narayana Menon
Vallathol Narayana Menon
Vallathol Narayana Menon , popularly known as Mahakavi, was one of the celebrity poets in Malayalam language, spoken in the South Indian state of Kerala. Vallathol was born in Chennara, near Tirur, in Malappuram District of Kerala state, southern India. Up to his 27 years he lived in Chennara and...
started Kerala Kalamandalam
Kerala Kalamandalam
Kerala Kalamandalam , lately renamed as Kalamandalam Deemed University of Art and Culture, is a major centre for learning Indian performing arts, especially those that developed in the southern state of India, with the special emphasis on Kerala. It is situated in the village of Cheruthuruthy in...
at Mulamkunnathukavu in Thrissur
Thrissur
This article is about the city in India. For the district, see Thrissur district. For the urban agglomeration area of Thrissur see Thrissur Metropolitan Area...
. He got rigorous training under giants of the fields like Pattikkamthodi Ravunni Menon
Pattikkamthodi Ravunni Menon
Pattikkamthodi Ravunni Menon was a pivotal figure in the history of Kathakali, having played a crucial role in remoulding and refining its grammar in the famed Kalluvazhi tradition of the classical dance-drama from Kerala in south India...
, Guru Kunchu Kurup
Guru Kunchu Kurup
Guru Kunchu Kurup was one of the most famous Kathakali artistes to have born and celebrated in south Kerala, and gained popularity in central and north Kerala as well....
and Guru Kavalappara Narayanan Nair
Kavalappara Narayanan Nair
Kavalappara Narayanan Nair was a prominent 20th-century Kathakali artiste and tutor who specialised in the Hanuman roles of the classical dance-drama from Kerala in south India....
. He studied Rasa Abhinaya under Natyaacharya Padma Shri
Padma Shri
Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...
Mani Madhava Chakkiyar. Famous Kathakali artiste Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair
Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair
Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair was one of the most renowned Kathakali artists of any time, and arguably the greatest in the history of the four-century-old classical dance-drama from Kerala in southern India...
and dancer Ananda Shivaram were then students in the first batch of Kalamandalam.
He was dance partner to Ragini Devi- formerly Esther Luella Sherman - an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
born dancer from Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. Guru Gopinath and Ragini Devi made their first stage performance in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
in December 1932.
The success of this performance encouraged them for more stage shows and an all India tour, making performances and lecture- demonstrations on Indian classical dance. Kathakali and dancing were thus made popular, which was comprehensive to the layman and connoisseur alike.
When Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
saw young Gopinath's performance in early thirties he wrote an appreciation on the dancer:
"Mr Gopinath is a real artist and I am sure there are not many who could rightfully take their stand by his side either in India or abroad. He brought to my mind glimpses of the great past when dancing was one of the most treasured arts in India and not as today, a mere device of whetting up the jaded appetite of the idle rich. His presence in our midst was a great lesson and now that dancing is again coming into vogue amongst us, his style should give us a correct lead, for in want of it, we are yet groping in the dark."
He was awarded the Veera Srumkhala from, Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma
Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma
Chithira Thirunal Maharaja was the last ruling maharaja of the princely state of Travancore, in southern India...
the King of Travancore
Travancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...
. The Guru
Guru
A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
Status was awarded later by Indian People's Theatre Association
Indian People's Theatre Association
Indian People’s Theatre Association was an association of leftist theatre-artists and others mostly based in Kolkata, West Bengal, Mumbai and Assam, India. Its goal was to bring cultural awakening among the people of India. It was the cultural wing of the Communist Party of India...
(IPTA). The Rabindra Bharathi University honoured him with a doctorate. His statue was erected in Viswa Bharathi University. His illustrious demonsrarion of Nava Rasa(the nine emotions) is featured in major museums in U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
Kathakali style of dancing and training was a male monopoly. It was Guru Gopinath who experimented and proved that girls can perform Kathakali. He was appointed as the palace dancer and principal of the dance institution run by the royal family. The Natananiketan in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
and the Viswa Kala Kendra in Trivandrum the International Kathakali Centre in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
were institutions founded by him.
Malayalam film history has noted Guru Gopinath as one among the actors of the beginning years. He has acted in the movie Prahlada
Prahlada
Prahlada is a character from the Puranic texts of Hinduism, wherein he is famed for his exclusive devotion to Vishnu, despite attempts in the story by his father, Hiranyakashipu, to turn him to the contrary...
as Hiranyakasipu. This was the sixth Malayalam movie and the third movie having sound tracks.
He has made guest appearances as Jesus Christ in Jeevithanauka and Poothana in Bhakathakuchela.
Guru Gopinath was one such artist who could show the nuances of the nine emotions in Kathakali and he could show different emotions on each half of his face at the same time.
He died on stage, as he wished, with makeup, attire and anklets while enacting the role of King Dasaratha in his famous ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
on 9 October 1987 at Fine Arts Hall Eranakulam.
A dance museum is coming up as his memorial at Trivandrum. The Kerala government has already established a dance village named 'Guru Gopinath Natanagramam'.
Guru Gopinath has traveled and performed in many parts of the world. He made performances in USA, erstwhile USSR and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. He was a member of the first cultural delegation of independent India to the USSR in 1954. Among them was the great Indian Dancer Tara Chaudhri, the only North Indian born dancer performing dances from the south. He was invited as a judge of Classical Dances in the Eighth World Youth Festival held at Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
in 1961.
Early years
Guru Gopinath's family - the Perumanoor tharavad - has two hundred years of tradition in Kathakali. The Kathakali artist Champakkulam Paachu Pillai, who was known for his performance in thaadi and kaththi roles in Kathakali, is his elder brother. Bheeman Paramu Pillai alias Unda Paramu Pillai, a court dancer (kathakali) of Travancore was his mother's father.He was born on 24 June 1908, as the second son of Madhavi Amma and Kaippilli Sankara Pillai, in Champakkulam, Kuttanad
Kuttanad
Kuttanadu is a region in the district of Alappuzha, in the state of Kerala, India, well known for its picturesque vast paddy fields and its geographical peculiarities. It's the region with the lowest altitude in India, and one of the few places in the world where farming is carried out below sea...
now in Alappuzha
Alappuzha
Alappuzha , also known as Alleppey, is a town in Alappuzha District of Kerala state of southern India. As per 2001 census Alleppey is the sixth largest city in Kerala with an urban population of 177,029. Alleppey is situated to the south of Kochi and north of Trivandrum...
district of Kerala. There were many exponents of Kaplingadan style of 'Kathakali' in this family like Champakkulam Paramu Pillai and Champakkulam Shanku Pillai. Great Kathakali master Guru Kunchu Kurup
Guru Kunchu Kurup
Guru Kunchu Kurup was one of the most famous Kathakali artistes to have born and celebrated in south Kerala, and gained popularity in central and north Kerala as well....
is related to this family.
His initiation to Kathakali arangu (stage) was accidental. When he was a child once he had gone with his paternal uncle for a Kathakali show performed by his troupe. The show was on and at midnight suddenly uncle came to the sleeping boy and did some minimum make up to him to look like a maharshi - a hermit - and asked him to sit on a chair on the stage. He instructed him to hand over the bows and arrows when a man with glittering headgear comes and bestow him. He did exactly as told by uncle. That was Guru Gopinath's first appearance in a Kathakali show.
Great masters of Kathakali like Champakkulam Paramu Pillai, Mathoor Kunjupilla Panicker, and Thakazhi Kesava Panicker at Champakkulam were his teachers for the initial years, where he had undergone training in southern style of acting in kathakali, which gives importance to abhinaya.
Kavalappara Narayanan Nair was his main teacher at 'Kerala Kalamandalam' where he was asked to join as a special student for higher studies in northern style, which gives importance to gestures movements and footsteps. Guru Kunchu Kurup taught him lessons in Abhinaya
Abhinaya
Abhinaya is a concept in Indian dance and drama derived from Bharata's Natya Shastra. Although now, the word has come to mean 'the art of expression', etymologically it derives from Sanskrit abhi- 'towards' + nii- 'leading/guide', so literally it means a 'leading towards' Aside from its clear...
(acting). Later he went and stayed with Chenganoor Raman Pillai
Chenganoor Raman Pillai
Guru Chenganoor Raman Pillai, also spelt Chengannur Raman Pillai, was a celebrated Kathakali artiste from Kerala in south India...
an expert in southern style, to learn more about Kathakali.
Family
Guru Gopinath was married to Mulakkal Thankamani Amma, a great Mohiniyattam dancer and exponent of Kerala Natanam. She was the first student of Mohiniyattam at Kerala KalamandalamKerala Kalamandalam
Kerala Kalamandalam , lately renamed as Kalamandalam Deemed University of Art and Culture, is a major centre for learning Indian performing arts, especially those that developed in the southern state of India, with the special emphasis on Kerala. It is situated in the village of Cheruthuruthy in...
in early 30s, when Poet Vallathol Narayana Menon
Vallathol Narayana Menon
Vallathol Narayana Menon , popularly known as Mahakavi, was one of the celebrity poets in Malayalam language, spoken in the South Indian state of Kerala. Vallathol was born in Chennara, near Tirur, in Malappuram District of Kerala state, southern India. Up to his 27 years he lived in Chennara and...
and Manakkulam Mukunda Raja started a course to revive this dying art form. After marriage she became co-dancer and partner of Gopinath. Her relentless support of her husband was significant to his achievement.
They have four children. Their eldest daughter is Vasanthi Jayaswal, a dancer and social worker. She is an exponent of Kerala Natanam & Bharatanatyam
Bharatanatyam
Bharata Natyam or Chadhir Attam, is a classical dance form from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, practiced predominantly in modern times by women. The dance is usually accompanied by classical Carnatic music...
and is a teacher of shastras in USA. Their second daughter is Vilasini Ramachandran, a Senior I.A.S. officer in Gujarat. The youngest daughter Vinodini Sasimohan was a child artist in Malayalam movies in the 60s and she is now the Chief Administrative Officer of Viswa Kala Kendra, Trivandrum. G. Venugopal (not to be confused with the playback singer of the same name) is his only son.
Kerala Natanam (Kerala Dance)
He made "Kathakali" more accessible to teachers, students and audience. He brought some innovative changes to make a new style of dancing from this ancient dance form known as 'Oriental dance', 'Kathakali Natanam' and later 'Kerala NatanamKerala Natanam
Kerala Natanam is a new style of dance that is now recognised as a distinct art form evolved from Kathakali a form of Indian dance-drama...
' (Keralanatanam), without sacrificing its essence and classicism.
Kerala Natanam can be called a stylised form of Kathakali. Guru Gopinath developed his own style that was appealing to the masses who were then devoid of art and dance, without compromising on the classical background. He never tried to reform Kathakali and to tamper with the originality and purity it possessed.
He was instrumental to bring Kathakali out from the courtyards of upper class Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
s and rajas and dance chambers of temples to the masses. His performances created a dance wave in Kerala, which had reprecations all over India in thirties and forties
Ordinary people in India, who had no training knowledge in understanding classical dance started enjoying it and appreciating it, only after they had the opportunity of watching Gopinath perform.
Effective training methods
Guru Gopinath was a task master and perfectionist. He developed a shorter syllabusSyllabus
A syllabus , is an outline and summary of topics to be covered in an education or training course. It is descriptive...
and duration of training for Kathakali. The 12 years long and rigorous Kathakali course was simplified and reduced to 6 years, without compromising its essence or deviating from its classical tradition.
Guru Gopinath showed the outer world the strength, potential and adaptability of classical Indian dance style to perform themes and stories other than the Indian mythological, devotional or historical ones. He choreographed dances using dances involving biblical and social themes in the forties and fifties. His ballets like 'Sree Yeesunaadha Vijayam', (story of Christ) 'Divya Naadam' (both biblical), 'Sister Niveditha', 'Chandaala Bhikshuki', 'and Kerala Piravi' (on the formation of Kerala State) are a few examples.
Ramlila and Ramayana ballet
Guru Gopinath was an exponent of various styles of Indian dances. The illustrious 'Raam Leela' of Delhi, choreographed and directed by him was its glorious proof. His last choreography 'Ramaayana' ballet was the most popular one, which was staged more than 1500 times in various parts of Kerala.Books
Guru Gopinath has written books in Malayalam and English, which explain theory and practise of Indian and Kerala dances. Two books are in English- The classical Dance poses of India and Abinaya Prakashika (with sansrit slokas).Other books are:
- Kathakali Natanam (kathakali dancing)
- Natanakairali (Kerala dance)
- Thalavum Natanavum (rhythm and dancing)
- Abhinayamkuram (The beginning of Acting)
- Abhinaya prakashika (The Expressions of Acting)