A
group of performing artists from Sweden staged a play at the Kerala
Museum recently and held workshops for schoolchildren in Kochi
Photos by A. Sanesh. Petra-Eleonora Näslund (in white) and Susanne Olsson
By
Shevlin Sebastian
Swedish
actor Petra-Eleonora Näslund is wearing a white skirt, over a green
jumper. But what catches the eye are the white gloves, from which her
fingers extend for over a foot. She also wears an exaggerated amount
of rouge on her cheeks.
On
the grassy lawns of the Kerala Museum, Kochi, recently, as guitarists
Lars Svedberg and William Larsen Naslund strum a Swedish folk tune,
Petra, who plays the Princess Tuvstarr, from a Swedish fairytale,
says, “Once upon a time, in a land far far away, where the wind was
blowing so hard, and the snow was dancing all day. Brrr...” Petra
starts shivering.
Then
actor Lindy Larsson, who plays a big elk with antlers jutting out
from the top of his head says, “Hoo Hoo.” Several children who
are watching the play start giggling. Then the duo dance next to each
other, again accompanied by the guitar sounds.
The
actors had adapted a short story called ‘The Tale of the Elk and
the Little Princess Tuvstarr’ by Swedish painter and illustrator
John Bauer and writer Helge Kjellin. It is a simple story of the
Princess Tuvstarr who falls in love with the elk but he walks away
and breaks her heart.
“But
in our story, the elk returns with a red heart,” says Petra.
Petra
and her colleagues had come on a cultural exchange visit to Kochi.
Apart from their performances, they held hour-long workshops on mime
and music. “More than 400 students between the age of 2 and 14 from
private as well as government schools took part,” says Kerala
Museum Director Aditi Zacharias. “The Swedish Arts Council and the
Museum sponsored the event.”
In
their workshops, Petra and her colleague Susanne Olsson focused on
physical movements. So children swung their arms as if they were the
branches of trees or stamped their feet like the way bears walk. And
they also encouraged the children to paint the elk.
It
did not take long for the Swedish duo to get impressed. “The
students started to paint the elk in different colours and it was
fantastic to see their talents,” says Susanne. “They also made
beautiful sculptures, using their bodies and I believe they got the
inspiration from the many statues in India. The youngsters have a
certain advantage because of India’s ancient and deep-rooted
culture.”
And
for Petra and Susanne, on their first visit, there were many
eye-openers. Asked how Indian children are different from their Swede
counterparts, Susanne says, “They are much more polite and
respectful to the teacher. When we asked them to dance they first
looked at the teacher. Only when the teacher nodded, did they start
dancing. In Sweden, children are more relaxed in front of authority.
Indian children are also very curious. So, it is easy to get their
attention. In Sweden, the children are easily distracted.”
Susanne
noted the different ways of raising children. “In India, the
parents have much more control over the children,” she says. “On
the other hand, in Sweden, the parents are more like friends.”
However,
there are many commonalities. “All children are natural,
spontaneous, and joyful, whether in India or Sweden,” says Petra.
“During some segments of the performance, the smaller children
laughed very loudly but the older children did
not.
Then in other sections, the older children found it funny and not the
younger ones.”
They
smile and Susanne says, “We are so keen to come again next year.”
(The
New Indian Express, Kochi and Kozhikode)
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