It is generally performed in open air on a stage covered with coarse mats. The only lighting used is a brass lamp. The continuous thundering of Chenda, a drum heralds the performance of Kathakali. This arduous dance to high pitched music is performed at about 9 PM at night. There is also another drum, Maddala which produces a softer and relaxed sound along with the large bronze cymbal. All these three are used in unison to herald this performance.
After the drumming comes the mangalacharan, which is the invocation of the Gods. Then two men with a richly embroidered curtain come and two dancers perform behind this curtain. This type of pure dance is called Thodayam. As the drumming catches tempo the curtain is slowly lowered and with the sounding of the conch the curtain is brought down completely.
This dance is filled with abhinaya and an expansive use of facial vocabulary, and this dance continues all through the night. The dancers dance to the themes from Ramayana, Mahabharata, the Puranas or the Vedas. The dancers enact every nuance and event and portray the subtlest passions to perfection. This concludes with the arrival of dawn where the curtain is reintroduced and the players exit.
Generally young boys perform female roles but now women and girls not only perform female roles but also perform male roles in the big cities. Students are initiated at the age of 10-12 and made to undergo vigorous training and are taught to play all the different roles and are allowed to specialize in a particular one. In Kathakali, every limb, eye, brow, chin, hand, foot, thigh, leg, finger and facial muscle has a particular and fixed exercise which leads to greater flexibility, suppleness and grace of the body.
