ABSTRACT

This chapter documents the teaching of two Australian performers, Helen Smith and Peter Fraser, working at the one-on-one site of Kathakali actor training. It describes the journey to the transfer of rasa, arguing “it” as the central offering in an intercultural exercise like the teaching of an eastern art Kathakali in Australia. Using the convention of a “diary documentary” technique of on-site reportage, the chapter shares the practice-led work, as well as theorise around the question of the performer’s pleasure or rasa. At the heart of Kathakali learning and performance is an integration of hand gestures and facial expressions. This unity is at the core of the Kathakali performer’s ability. Eugenio Barba describes the value to the craft of Kathakali storytelling, of this hand and face relationship. The body of the Kathakali teacher holds within itself many stages of joy and aesthetic pleasure. A communion with that body starts from letting the teacher lead even for a little full stop.