Kuchipudi Dance – The Classical Dance Of India

Kuchipudi Dance History:

Kuchipudi dance is one of India’s Classical dances, whichginated in Kuchipudi village in Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh. The legend Siddhendra Yogi founded Kuchipudi classical dance, and Dr Vempati China Satyam conducted the Kuchipudi dance classes and made eminent disciples to popularise worldwide. Before the popularisation of this dance, the dancers enacted the dance in the temples on religious and other auspicious festivals. The dance themes are adopted from Indian Mythological stories and accompanied by Karnatic Music. While the dancers danced, the ‘Musicians’ played the musical Instruments, according to the articles. The Dancers perform the piece with gestures and Traditional music played in the background.

Origin

Initially, all the Dancers were from Brahmin families, and such families were known as Bhagavathalu of Kuchipudi.

Sidhendra Yogi Contribution

Sidhendra Yogi was an Orphan in Srikakulam village, now in Andhra Pradesh. The villagers brought him up and arranged marriage at an early age. He studied Vedic Knowledge and went to Udipi to learn profound Knowledge of Vedic Scriptures. Later he returned to his native village; the villagers guided him to take on family responsibilities. He moves to his wife’s village, and on his journey, he comes across the river. Therefore he began praying to God for strength to cross the river and succeeded. He thanked God and decided to become Yogi devoting his life to the service of God. He settled in Kuchalapuram, a small village, and taught Indian Dance Dramas to the Brahmin boys. Later the dramas were presented as offerings to God as Natya Shastra. He lived sometime in the 11th and 17th Centuries.

Pioneers of the Kuchipudi Dance: 

The Pioneer of this Kuchipudi Classical dance is Vempati China Satyam, who brought glory to the classical dance of Kuchipudi. He made some changes to the Kuchipudi dance steps. After Satyam, famous dancers of Kuchipudi worked very hard to bring glory to this classical dance. They are Vedamtam Lakshmi Narayana Sastry, Chinta Krishna Murthy Tadepalli Peraiah and others. Musical Instruments like Mridangam, Manjira, Violin, Surpeti, Tampura, Veena, Kanjira, and Venu have been used during Kuchipudi Dance performances.