Within Christian society in Kerala, India, Latin Catholics have long been ascribed a lower status than Syrian Christians, who trace their ancestry back to conversions made by St. Thomas during the first century A.D. or to slightly later expeditions from Syria (Koilparambil 1982, 259). Latin Catholics are descendants of Indians who converted to Christianity during the Portuguese preponderance in Kerala (early sixteenth century). While the Syrian Christians look back to Brahmin forbears, a proud warrior history, and prosperity culminating in social and political eminence, the Latin Catholics must contend with the taint of possible low-caste origins, collaboration with European powers, and demeaning vocations. Their own warrior history and communal success are often overlooked. One all too easily ignored aspect of Latin Catholic culture is their dance drama, cavittunatakam (stamping drama), so called because the actors stamp hard on an elevated wooden stage. It has long been subject to disparagement and neglect-from the dismissive comments of the English traveler Francis Day in the mid-nineteenth century to recent reports by Sreedhara Menon that the form has died out (1979, 263) and though once popular is "now defunct owing to lack of encouragement" (1979, 104105). Besides the distressing quality of its performance style-which must seem like crude stage-smashing to audiences accustomed to the graces of kathakali and parithanattam-this Latin Catholic dance drama suffers from being "Westernized": "The high-caste Hindus did not look upon this Westernized art form with pleasure" (George 1972, 147). Its "unimagina-