When 16-year-old Sabri completed her first few steps as a Kathakali dancer on a public stage on Vijaya Dashami, she achieved not only a personal ambition but a cultural milestone in her home state.

The first Muslim girl to be enrolled in the Kerala Kalamandalam, a deemed university of art and culture in Thrissur, had just become the first Muslim girl ever to publicly perform Kathakali at the famed institution.

Sabri played Krishna during the introductory Purappadu segment of the performance.

Hers is an unlikely accomplishment on many counts. In Kerala, Kathakali is performed mostly in temples — which are barred to Muslims.

Yet it was at a temple festival — where the large crowds make it impossible to ascertain everyone’s religious identity — that the then 11-year-old Sabri fell in love with the classical dance form five years ago. She had gone there with her father Nizam Ammas, a professional photographer.

Two years later, she got lucky. The famed Kalamandalam, founded in 1930, broke a nearly century-long tradition to open its doors to girl students in 2022, thanks to the efforts of Kathakali maestro Kalamandalam Gopi and the then Kalamandalam vice-chancellor, T.K. Narayanan.

“The last three years seemed to pass in a jiffy. It was a dream for me when I made my 20-minute debut Kathakali performance in front of a packed audience at the koothambalam (playhouse) of the Kalamandalam,” Sabri told The Telegraph.

“I performed the Purappadu (going forth), an introductory pure dance segment in a Kathakali performance, along with my seven classmates, who included three boys.”

Sabri thanked her parents, Nizam and P. Aneesha, for their support.

“I saw the spark in Sabri’s eyes when she first watched a Kathakali performance at a temple festival. I decided she should get the best training in Kathakali,” Nizam, who has been running the Ammas Art Gallery for the last two decades at Edamulackal in Anchal, Kollam, said.

“But until recently, we had not realised that Sabri had created history by becoming the first Muslim girl to pursue Kathakali from the Kalamandalam.”

What had charmed Sabri most at her first encounter with Kathakali was the makeup, in particular the chutti, the white ridge-like element around a dancer’s jawline, along with the other colours applied to the face: pacha (green), kathi (red) and kari (black).

When she said she wanted to learn Kathakali, Nizam made enquiries and realised that a former Kalamanadalam student, Aromal, was giving lessons at a place 20km from their home in Anchal. Sabri became Aromal’s student.

Two years later, as the Kalamandalam was opened to girls, Nizam prepared Sabri for the entrance exam, which was followed by an interview. She cleared all the tests.

Life was tough at the Kalamandalam, more than 250km from her home. Sabri had to get up as early as 4.30am for the sadhakam — music practice and exercises to develop a flexible body.

Apart from learning Kathakali, she had to attend school from 1.30pm to 5pm on weekdays. The rest of the time, she was immersed in rigorous Kathakali practice that continued late into the night.

Sabri, who has her Class X board exams next March, plans to do her Plus II, graduation and master’s in Kathakali from the Kalamandalam.

“Sabri” means patience in Arabic. She doesn’t mind the long haul.