Eye Dancing and India’s Ancient Art of Kathakali

Kathakali is a traditional Indian dance native to the southern state of Kerala. To perform it, artists deck out in elaborate costumes and colorful makeup to tell stories from Hindu epics. It takes students nearly 12 years of training to learn the choreography and gestures necessary to Kathakali. But the real trick? Mastering the eyes. Dancers must learn to constrict and move their eyes to express a whole range of emotions.

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[sionnachmacbradaigh]

Absolutely wonderful piece. I am an Irishman who has lived in India for 4 years and I am continually amazed by this unique nation and her incredible people.

[auntjemima]

When the hate comments get drowned out by the positive comments by the time you find this video

[strawberrykun]

Who else tried to do it with their eyes after this?? damn mine are watering right now.

[Anoogh]

I'm so amazed at how much effort and practice goes into this dance. I hope I can see it with my own eyes one day

[matchatae]

My mom and dad are from Kerala Thrissur and I remember whenever I saw this I would be soooo scared. Still am today😂

[fisebilillah]

Where are those hate comments everyone talks about?

[subhomazumder]

When i was a child those eyes, faces and their facial expressions scared the hell out of me

[TheRishabhkumar]

I've seen it once and it is extremely expressive dance form and really intense. The way they tell story through dance, music and especially their facial expressions is amazing!!

[ananthukrishnakumar]

I liked that he spoke in Malayalam. Indians do not usually speak their mother tongue in such interviews.

[shanhussain]

I'm from Bangladesh and I've never seen this art form in person. The first time I saw it on Nat Geo on TV I was amazed by the intensity of performing they do with their eyes. Hollywood actors would go crazy for that skill. Remember Bane from Dark Knight Rises? His whole performance was through his eyes, but this is on a whole new level.

[lekshmi]

To all those people, let me tell you one thing that kathakali is not rolling your eyes alone, this is the dance form which is being found from the 17 century, the classical dance form of kerala, India. Kathakali involves the theme of mahabharath and ramayana, the puranas. You have to learn a lot of mudras or signs using hands and specially that eye movements show emotions. So you need to convey a particular story from the puranas to the people, you should be that much experienced to show that specific eye movements or the mudra at the time of story telling. Not everyone can perform this art form.

[satyajitacharya]

Many people might have not noticed that these dancers always keep their thumb toe uplifted. That's a minute detail, which even some dancers often forget.

[kiky.mp]

This culture is also acultured in Bali, Indonesia. It's amazing.

[mikewazowski]

The whole eye dancing thing seemed strange to me as first, as a foreigner, but after watching I started researching more and honestly its suprising how much work goes into practice for this, and the costumes my god, I love them. The vibrant paint, the gold, the amount of work put into the costumes is amazing. It really is beautiful, it is crazy how much work is put into getting a dancer ready, 4 hours average! Wow! I love this, it's a like classical Japanese theater, something I also enjoy. Thank you for sharing this piece of culture, it's beautiful seeing and learning about other cultures because compared to my own country, this is much more vibrant.

[jemts]

It's so refreshing to hear someone express their devotion to the arts, and cultural preservation. Love from a Jamaican-Canadian. ♥️♥️❤️

[Satorusan]

In Bali, Indonesia there's a dance that has similarities with this Kathak named Pendet dance. Indian influence does exist in Indonesia. Meanwhile as a largest muslim nation, Indonesia really proud with their hindu past culture like in Bali.

[thefurrymilo]

I live in Kerala, and I speak this language, and I have seen these dances before and I am a Hindu 🕉. Very Colorful! ❤️

[EliteXtasy]

There are other lesser-known Indian dance forms similar to this, such as Kutiyattam, Mudiyettu, Yakshagana, Theyyam, Koothu, and Chhau.

[foerdie]

Why all the hate? Couldn't people just appreciate the unique of every culture?

[bumpom]

I love that people still live up to tradition!