About Kuchipudi Dance

Kuchipudi is one of the most popular classical dance traditions of India. It is perhaps the only tradition that takes its name from the village of its origin, Kuchipudi, located in Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh. Originating as a natyamela tradition this form was initially practiced exclusively by a group of vaidiki Brahmin men, having 15 different surnames.

The repertoire of Kuchipudi originally included both kalapas and yakshaganas. The kalapas had few characters with theme revolving around a single incident or character. Yakshaganas, in contrast had a complete story line involving several characters. The yakshaganas used popular literary genres of Telugu in their text. The most popular kalapa of Kuchipudi is Bhamakalapam

When compared with other Indian classical dances, Kuchipudi stands apart in several aspects. It is basically a dance drama evolved into solo. Thus has a rich repertoire of Kalapas, Yakshaganas, dance dramas and solos. In its technique, the movement patterns are flowy and rounded. There is an ingredient sway of the torso and ribcage. Angularity in any movement is absent. The ease with which movements are executed brings a natural grace to the Nritta aspect of Kuchipudi.

The abhinaya aspect of Kuchipudi is unique for it combines both the stylistic (Natya) and the realistic (loka) ways of expression. With a wide variety of character and theme portrayals, the solos stand apart. The sancharis are exploited to the maximum, and narration and elaboration of a story is brought in whenever there is an opportunity. One of the well -known solo numbers of Kuchipudi is Tarangam.

This number has a very interesting execution of the Nritta, wherein the dancer stands on the rim of a brass plate and interweaves several rhythmic variations. This is to show the prowess of the dancer over rhythm.

Dating back almost to the 14th century, an art form of dance drama was born. The themes of the dramas were mostly religious in nature and performed by groups of dancers leading a nomadic lifestyle. Often male dancers portrayed the roles of both genders in the ballets. These dancers were often patronised by royalty and sometimes subject to abuse. This spurned a revolution by a spiritual scholar named Siddhendra Yogi. His contribution was the introduction of more stylised footwork combined with classical music, under a more refined code of discipline. For many generations, the families of Kuchipudi were involved in teaching and performing and the art was passed on from father to son.

 It was not until the early 1930’s that a new era of Kuchipudi arose under the direction of the maestro Vedantam Lakshminarayana Sastry. It was his persistence, despite ridicule, that eventually led to the introduction of women to Kuchipudi. At this juncture, formal training was initiated for women and the repertoire itself had evolved with the introduction of solo items, as well as compositions of eminent poets of that period. Dancing on the rims of a brass plate was also introduced to inspire more attraction for the art. A few decades later, Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam, a disciple of Vedantam Lakshminarayana Sastry, created tremendous innovation in Kuchipudi beyond its previous boundaries of geography. Vempati’s ingenious contributions to Kuchipudi were based on his detailed study of the Natya Sastra.

 Traditional dramatic tunes were replaced with classical and HIndustani music, and he discarded most of the prose and dialogues on stage setting them to tune. His technique in choreography was more subtle and intricate. Understanding the limitations of his native surroundings, he left his native village at the age of 18. Due to financial constraints he walked all the way to Madras, now Chennai where he ultimately proved himself to be a kuchipudi maestro in the cultural capital of India and trained many famous kuchipudi dancers were nurtured under his tutelage. Over the next several decades, Vempati quickly created international recognition and awareness for Kuchipudi and his performances have received wide acclaim.

The great Guru "Padma Bhushan" Dr Vempati Chinna Satyam