The Karnataka Bayalata Academy is encouraging universities and colleges to form troupes of young people to perform Bayalata. This is to tide over the problem of shortage of young artists, academy chairman K.R. Durgadas said in Dharwad on Sunday.
“Unlike Yakshagana, the younger generations is not entering the field of Bayalata. There is a serious scarcity of young artists. Yakshagana has received wide recognition and popularity, but Bayalata, a folk theatre art of North Karnataka, has not,” he said.
“To address this shortage, the academy is encouraging universities to form Bayalata troupes. We are also working to document the lives of artists who have dedicated themselves to Bayalata and collect manuscripts related to the art form. The academy is providing an honorarium of ₹25,000 even to amateur Bayalata performances to help preserve this cultural heritage,” Prof. Durgadas said.
Kannada Development Authority chairman Purushottam Bilimale will inaugurate “Bayalata: New Possibilities”, a seminar and a performance, in Dharwad on Monday.
The event is organised by Karnataka Bayalata Academy and Karnataka Vidyavardhak Sangha.
It will start at the Patil Puttappa auditorium in Karnataka Vidyavardhak Sangha at 10.30 a.m. The former director of AIR Basavaraj Sadar will deliver a keynote address.
At 4 p.m., the first seminar session will be held. Rajappa Dalavayi will speak on “Bayalata Scripts: Revisions and Relevance” and R.D. Mallayya will present “Inventing new stories in Bayalata”.
Various Bayalata troupes will perform plays and musical presentations, including Draupadi Vastrapaharana, Veera Abhimanyu Kalaga, Sri Krishna Parijata, Sutrada Gombe Aata, Karna-Arjuna Battle and Sangya-Balya.
On Wednesday, at 11 a.m., the seminar will feature Ramakrishna Marathe on “Sangya Balya: Reinterpretation and Message”.
Writer Vinaya Okkunda will speak on “Women in short folk plays” and Y.M. Yakolli on “Radha Nataka: Thematic Approaches”.
At 12.30 p.m., M.D. Okkunda will speak on “Sri Krishna Parijata: Myth and Reality” and Gurupada Mariguddi will present “Sri Krishna Parijata: Value Transmission”.
At 2.30 p.m., a panel on “Bayalata Stage Techniques: New Possibilities” will feature theatre personalities Prakash Garuda, Mahadev Hadapad and Shrishail Huddar.
The valedictory session will be held at 4 p.m. on Thursday.
Writer Venkatesh Machakanur will speak.
