Context: Nearly 1,500 Kuchipudi dancers from various parts of the country took part in the finals (Brahmanjali) of the International Traditional Dance Congress at MGM Park in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
About Kuchipudi Dance:
Introduction:
- Originally performed by a group of actors going from village to village, known as Kusselavas, Kuchipudi derives its name from the Andhra village of Kusselavapuri or Kuchelapuram.
- Siddhendra Yogi, in the 17th century, formalized and systematized the tradition. He authored ‘Bhama Kalapam’ and many other plays.
- With the advent of Vaishnavism, the dance form became a monopoly of the male Brahmins and began to be performed at temples.
- Stories of Bhagavat purana became a central theme of the recitals, and the dancers came to be known as Bhagavathalus.
- The dance form gained prominence under the patronage of the Vijayanagar and Golconda rulers.
- Lakshminarayan Shastry, in early 20th century, brought in new practices such as solo recitals and female participation
- It is similar to Bharatnatyam but has its own features.
Important features:
- Includes difficult foot movements, and is generally a team performance.
- Most of the Kuchipudi recitals are based on stories of Bhagwata purana but also have a secular theme.
- There is a predominance of Shringaara rasa.
- Each principal character introduces itself on the stage with a ‘daaru’, which is a small composition of dance and song, specifically choreographed for the revelation of each character.
- The dance involves all three components of classical dances: Nritta, Nritya and Natya.
- The performance has:
- Sollakath or Patakshara: The Nritta part, where movement of the body is made.
- Kavutvams: The Nritya part which involves extensive acrobatics. It may also be performed as Nritta(pure dance).
- In a Kuchipudi recital, the dancer may combine the role of a singer into himself/herself as well. Hence, it becomes a dance-drama performance.
- Both Lasya and Tandava elements are important in the Kuchipudi dance form.
- Apart from group performances, there are popular solo elements as well in Kuchipudi:
- Manduk Shabdam: Tells the story of a frog.
- Balgopala Tarangam: The dancer performs with his/her feet on the edges of a brass plate and balancing a pot of water on the head or a set of diyas.
- Jala Chitra Nrityam: In this item, the dancer draws pictures on the floor with his or her toes while dancing.
- Performance is generally accompanied with Carnatic music.
- Violin and Mridangam are the principal musical instruments and the recital of the performance is in Telugu language.