Spanish troupe performs Kalaripayattu for Barodians

VADODARA: Globe-trotting Spanish urban dance specialist Dani Pannullo along with his disciples put up his latest performance in the city on Saturday night.
Three Spanish students of Pannullo performed Kalaripayattu, the traditional martial art form of Kerala, with a hip-hop twist along with three other Indian dancers.
The troupe had recently performed at the Red Fort in New Delhi for Vietnamese Prime Minister's official tour.
Panullo Dance Theatre was then invited to the city by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Parul Group of Institutes to perform in front of Barodians for their only other performance in the country.
"The blended dance form that we presented is a merger between an age-old tradition and a modern-age street form. We believe we are filling in the gaps that these forms might have by blending them to find a new form of expression," said Pannullo.
The hour-long performance comprising Hindustani classical music, carnatic music and hip-hop beats was a result of Pannullo's chance encounter of a Kalaripayattu performance by Ajith Kumar in Poland in 2012.
Kumar runs an academy in Trivandrum where Pannullo and his students received training last month.
"I was amazed how a dance with no characteristic make-up or costume could tell a story with only movements. After learning the form I can say that it is amazing how a martial art form has evolved into a dance form," Pannullo said.