Kerala has a spectacular heritage of performing, ritual, folk and classical arts. The time-honoured values lie dormant in the living traditions of these performing arts. The feudal chieftains and provincial landlords who patronized these visual and devotional arts for centuries were not only encouraging them as a source of entertainment but were also upholding their moral and ethical messages.

Towards the close of the nineteenth century the traditional arts of Kerala were on the verge of extinction. The social, political and cultural factors which contributed to the downfall of the art forms are many and varied. This was but an ephemeral phenomenon.
The dawn of the twentieth century witnessed a cultural renaissance all over India. In Kerala among those who spearheaded the cultural renaissance, poet Vallathol Narayana Menon is an immortal name. Besides being an outstanding poet and scholar, Vallathol was a passionate lover of Kathakali and other similar classical dance-theatre traditions of Kerala.

Some of the popular dance / dance-theatre forms of Kerala are detailed below, for your information.

Kathakali
	Kathakali is emotive as well as narrative and its recitals are very long. Performed in the temples, the dancers encompass dance with dialogue and try to bring myth and legend to life. This dance form is accompanied by drums and vocalists. The dancers have such strong convictions about the characters they play, that they even swap identities with the legends.