KUCHIPUDI HISTORY
Kuchipudi dance is one of the eight classical dance styles of India. It originated in a village in Andhra Pradesh in India, in 3rd century B.C. This art form was originally presented as a dance-drama bearing rich tradition of story telling called Yakshagana. Predominantly set to male tradition, Kuchipudi later evolved as a solo repertoire involving more female dancers in the forefront. Based on ancient Hindu scriptures, the dancer depicts characters and enacts stories or verses from mythology. However, many dancers now extend their traditional Kuchipudi vocabulary to contemporary subjects and social issues as well. The Kuchipudi trio- Chinta Venkataramayya, Vempati Venkata Narayana & Vendantam Lakshminarayana Sastri have incorporated different elements into Kuchipudi, each with their own expertise.
Kuchipudi applies the principles coded in the ancient Sanskrit text called Natya Shashtra written by sage Bharatha. It is like a rule book defining the technicality and aesthetics of movement, expression, music and drama, that a dancer must possess.
Some of the unique segments of Kuchipudi are Shabdams and Tarangams. While the former is known for emoting gestures and expressions to a fast paced song rendition, the latter is popular for the dancer performing on edges of a brass plate, balancing a pot filled with water on the top.
Another popular segment of Kuchipudi which attracted a wide audience around the globe is Bhama Kalapam. Designed by saint Siddendra, the play depicts surrender of the main character, Satya Bhama, an egoistic and self obsessed princess to Lord Krishna accepting his omnipotence. Set to beautiful music, rich in literature, with avid figurative speech, the monologue immerses the viewer in different emotional transformations through the main character.
A typical Kuchipudi performance consists of a dancer accompanied by a live orchestra of a singer, a percussionist (Mridanga vidwan), a Nattuvanar who sets the tempo and renders rhythm patterns with his instrument (Talam), a violinist and a flutist.