Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “express.” Use it as a noun, verb, adverb, or adjective. Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!
Yakshagana is a traditional folk dance of our place, coastal Karnataka in south India. A few decades ago, it was the main source of entertainment for people in rural areas. The drama started late in the evening and continued till early in the morning the next day. People came prepared to sit through the night. Stories from our epics and puranas are enacted and the artistes express all the emotions dramatically and quietly. The chosen story is called a prasanga. A lot of time is needed for the artistes to dress, and the make-up is applied with great care.
Yakshagana was a part of my husband’s childhood. In recent years the duration of the folk dance has been reduced to three to four hours. It is very heartening that this traditional art form is alive and popular. There is yakshagana school in our town. Children join the classes and I think the dance and songs help to express their interest and pent-up energy 
.
On the 5th morning a man came home and gave a leaflet. It was from a Yakshagana troupe from a small town called Kota not very far from our place. He was a member of Sri Durgaparameshwari Yakshagana troupe in Kota. The artistes decided to go from home to home enacting a scene. Their purpose is to create more awareness of this ancient art form. The leaflet stated that we should offer a coconut, rice and some small donation. We kept these ready.
Five people came at about 6.30. Two were in the traditional costume. Usually, the female part is enacted by a man. One person had a drum, and the other was the singer. They acted a story involving the demon, Tarakasura for 15 minutes. The music and the dance were mesmerising.
History – Yakshagana Kendra, Udupi | School of Yakshagana
Yakshagana | Origin of Yakshagana | Yakshagana Performance (karnataka.com)