Guru Smt. Niveditha Priyadarshini:
A distinguished disciple of Guru Smt. P. Rajeswari, daughter of Late Sri. Dr. Raja Reddy(D.M.H.O, Warangal) a doctor and a philanthropist. Pursued Bharatanatyam for almost 2 yrs. and moved on to learning Kuchipudi at the age 9.
Her contributions towards Kuchipudi evolution are:
- Evolved training techniques to teach Kuchipudi dance form with out losing Quality in shorter time span.
- Interpreting our Vedic literature the Natya shastra in a scientific way.
- Her choreographies are more inclined towards fables tied to moral dilemmas, some devotional lyrics like Hanuman Chalisa, Lakshmi ashtothram, Lingashtakam, Vishnu Sahasra namalu etc.
Guru Smt. P. Rajeswari:
A distinguished disciple of the Kuchipudi legend late Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam,
daughter of well-known Telugu movies comedian artiste Late Sri.Padmanabham garu.
Her contributions towards Kuchipudi evolution are:Continue reading…
1. She choreographed Jayadeva ashtapadulu as an extension of Kuchipudi syllabus
- Haririha Mugdha Vadhu-Jayadeva Ashtapadi #1
- Sritha Kamala Kucha …Jayadeva Ashtapadi #2
- Priye CharuSheele#3
- more..
We students thoroughly enjoyed performing these 8 beautiful compositions all over Southern India in 1990s.
2. She started School of Kuchipudi “Natya Sadan” a registered body in India since 1977.
3. She trained more than 400 Kuchipudi artists who migrated now to America, Australia, New Zealand. Among them some have started academies to continue and retain the tradition.
Finding the right Guru in any field is a key factor to achieve success. I am fortunate to find my right guru Smt. Rajeshwari garu, that I am able to teach my own child the correct style as well as create many more students learn the correct style. Always in debt for her dedicated teaching and inspiring me to understand Kuchipudi the right way.
Vempati Chinna Satyam Biography
Vempati Chinna Satyam is a legendary dancer and guru of Kuchipudi dance form. This exquisite art form was popularized worldwide by him. He was born on 26th October , 1929, in a traditional family of dancers, at a small village of Kuchipudi in Andhra Pradesh. He started learning this dance form at the tender age of nine. Under the guidance of three great Gurus, Vempati Chinna Satyam mastered in Kuchipudi. Initially he learnt from Sri Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Sastry, then refined his art by learning the graceful movements from Sri Tadepally Perrayya Sastry and later was trained by his elder brother Sri Vempati Satyam in the beauty of expressions. Continue Reading….
When Vempati Chinna Satyam mastered in the art of Kuchipudi, he moved to Madras with the objective of making it popular all over the world. His devotion and dedication towards Kuchipudi finally resulted in the establishment of Kuchipudi Art Academy in Madras on 6th February, 1963. Till date he has taught over 1600 plus students the intricate styles and techniques of Kuchipudi dance. He was conferred with many titles and awards such as:
- “Sangeet Peeth of Bombay”
- September 25 announced as Vempati Chinna Satyam day in 1994 by African State of Ghana
- “Asthana Natyacharya of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam”,”T.T.K. Memorial Award” by Music Academy
- “Natya Kalasaagara of Waltair”
- “Raja Lakshmi Award of Madras”
- “Kalaprapoorna” from Andhra University
- “Natya Kala Bhushana of Guntur”
- “Bharatha Kalaprapoorna of Hyderabad”
- D. Litt. from Sri Venkateswara University
- “Asthana Natyacharya of Pittsburg”
- “National Award from Central Sangeet Naatak Akademi, New Delhi”
- Presented Golden Key by the Mayor of Miami in 1984
- Awarded by state governments such as the Kalidas Purasker and the Kalaimamani
- Awarded key to the city by Mayor of Memphis
- Awarded key to the city by Mayor of Atlanta
Chinna Satyam produced nearly fifteen dance ballets including Padmavati Srinivasa Kalyanam, Vipranarayana Charitam, Menaka Viswamitra, Kalyana Sakuntalam, Bhama Kalapam, Chandalika, Padmavathi Sreenivasa Kalyanam, Rukmini Kalyanam, Hara Vilasam, Siva Dhanurbhangam and Ardha Nareeswaram, being the latest. Vempati Chinna Satyam sublimated Kuchipudi within the boundaries of the Natya Sastra and gave it a more classical basis.
Siddhendra Yogi Biography
Siddhendra Yogi was an exceptional scholar and artist of the 14th century AD. During the Bhakti Movement between 11th and the 13th century, the dance form of Kuchipudi saw a revolution.Continue Reading….
He adopted the existing format of the Yakshagna folk dance dramas and gave it a new form. This renowned scholar and artist took the initiative to give this dance form a more distinct form and elegance.
Siddhendra Yogi incorporated the principles of dance of the Natya Shastra. He introduced aesthetic and stylized footwork with the usage of traditional classical music.
He amalgamated folk traditions and the classical forms. He was not in favor of training women in this art form as he was of the opinion that women generally exaggerated the expressions and sentiments, thus lowering the spiritual tone of the dance form.
So during this period Kuchipudi was dominated by male dancers, so much so that even the female roles were played by men. Only those young boys were allowed to perform this art form who led a deeply religious and austere life. It was generally passed from one generation to another, from father to son.
Siddhendra Yogi wrote the famous play “Bhamakalapam”. The play deals with the Hindu God, Lord Krishna and his companions Satyabhama and Rukmini. The most well-known part of the Kuchipudi repertoire – the Satyabhama cycle was introduced by him.
According to a popular legend Siddhendra Yogi, created a dance balled called Parijathapaharanam in Lord Krishna’s praise when he was miraculously saved by the Lord from drowning in the river Krishna. He trained Brahmin youths to perform in this dance drama.
This is said to be the oldest known Kuchipudi dance drama. It is said that the present Kuchipudi dance style originated from the dance drama tradition established by him, which is known as Bhagavata Mela Natakam
