Acknowledgements
There are a number of artists in India that I wish to thank for their assistance and without whose help the project I plan to discuss in this talk would have been impossible. At the top of this list is my late dear friend, Mr. L.S. Rajagopalan of Trichur, Kerala. LSR, as I called him, was a devoted audience member and loving critic of all the performers, indeed everyone who worked in this field. His love of Kerala arts is demonstrated by his many publications inside and outside India focusing on various aspects of Kutiyattam, Sanskrit literature, and Kerala music. He had a keen mind and big heart. I never knew him to turn away a guest from his house. His whole family greeted guests as though they were their own family. It is impossible to put into words the debt of gratitude all those who came into contact with LSR owe this unusual and great person.
Among the older generation of artists who assisted me in many ways are the following:
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| Mani Madhava Cakyar |
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| Madhava Cakyar |
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| Painkulam Rama Cakyar |
Without the assistance of Sri Kalamandalam Raman Cakyar, seen here in a performance in Paris in May, 2009, I would have not been so consumed with the gesture language in Kutiyattam, nor would I have learned the gesture language throughout my academic studies in Kerala beginning in earnest in 1974. Sri Cakyar also encouraged his student Sangeeth to work with me during my visit to Kerala in 2009 and I recorded some of the gestures he had been taught.
More recently, I owe a debt of gratitude to Sri Margi Madhu and his charming wife Indu G for allowing me to record the entire vocabulary of gestures found in the Hastalakshanadipika in their home over a few days in June 2008. Along with their young son Sri Hari and Madhu’s Kutiyattam students, I was able to make high definition recordings of the gestures.
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| Margi Madhu |
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| Indu G |
Many years ago I began to follow the performances of Kuttan Cakyar, seen here in a performance of the stage manager in 1974. Sri Cakyar provided additional information about gesture language that he was learning from the renowned artist the late Madhavan Cakyar of Irinjalagada, Kerala.
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| Kuttan Cakyar |
