How does a kathakali actor train for performance?

What will be an ideal response?

Kathakali actors traditionally begin their training by the age of seven or eight, and actors do not truly reach their prime until their 40s. Kathakali instruction includes philosophical and text study as well as rigorous physical training. Actors remodel their bodies to conform to the posture that is the basis for all kathakali movement: head straight with chin tucked in, heels together with knees turned out, forming the shape of a flat rhombus with the legs. They learn to execute prescribed facial expressions, with specific positioning for the eyes, eyebrows, and mouth. They do exercises to render their faces flexible and expressive. In one such exercise, actors sit facing a wall as they listen to their teacher tell a story. They must enact everything the character in the story sees and feels, using only their eyes. Actors are expected to know 500 mudras, an intricate language of hand gestures that they use in performance to convey the Sanskrit text.