About Dance

Dance is an art. It is one among the 64 arts, but plays a very vital role. Categorically dance is the last one in the fine arts, but the rest of them are related in one way or the other with dance. Dance gains vocal gestures from poetry and music, sculptural gestures from sculpture and painting. Thus it becomes a pitch of all fine arts as they have no alternative than to mix themselves with dance hence it is called a 'Unified art'.

The basic purpose of dance or any fine art is to afford pleasure. As dance is witnessed through performance it is called as the “Performing Art”. Dance is a process of blossoming, unfolding of meanings, an art of expressing varied emotions and feelings through the movement of hands, feet and the facial expressions. It reflects the human nature in all forms of life. The knowledge, sculpture, study, music, action etc are perfectly balanced in dance. It represents a miniature world. Bharata’s Natya Shastra says that ‘dance’ give solace and peace to the dejected and depressed.

India is a land of dances. Dance has a unique place in the artistic life of people since ages. Indian classical dance system as a whole reflects Indian mythology, philosophy, history, music, literature, sculpture, painting and human psychology. It is developed with the rich cultural heritage in a systematic and scientific way. In every nook and corner, we find some kind of dance pertaining to that place, blending in it all the specialties and uniqueness of the surroundings. The classic forms of dance, specific to each region in India, show how dance blended and intertwined with Indian life style.

Kuchipudi is a fascinating Indian dance form that combines the intricate movements of classical dance with the narrative theatrical elements of drama. The result is a unique dance form that is easy to understand narrative in style, with fast rhythms, vivid expressions, and intricate graceful movements. Kuchipudi originated as a dance drama form from the tiny hamlet of the same name, situated near the Krishna River in Andhra Pradesh and was performed by traveling groups. The themes were religious and the dancers enjoyed the patronage of rulers but were also exposed to feudal exploitation.

This dance form is rich in its artistic expression, immense absorption of character, flexible style, perfect rhythmic sense and a blend of expression and footwork. The Kuchipudi style of dance is strictly based on the principles of Natya Shastra of Bharata Muni. The specialty of this dance form lies both in its repertoire and technique. The repertoire consists of Kalaapas, Yakshaganas, present day dance dramas and solo items. The flexibility of Kuchipudi art form caters to the needs of the society at a specific point of time.

The Kalaapas – Bhamakalaapam and Golla kalaapam – were one of the firsts of Kuchipudi repertoire, which revolves around an incident. These Kalaapams, especially Bhamakalaapam, proved to be raison de ’ tre of Kuchipudi. Gollakalaapam, with a theme, which is social satire on caste hierarchy, gave a different social dimension to the themes of Kuchipudi.

The Yakshaganaas are involved with a variety of characters such as the folk, mythological and historical, giving scope to variety in movement patterns, costumes and décor. The Sangeeta Nataka Academy’s efforts resulted in the emergence of the present day dance dramas in Kuchipudi, which are based on the Yakshaganaas. The dance dramas with effective body movements and abhinaya made the cosmopolitan audiences appreciate and understand Kuchipudi dance as opposed to the dialogue oriented Yakshaganaas. Another significant development in Kuchipudi dance is the emergence of the solo system as a separate steam. The efforts of savants like Chinta Venkataramayya, Vedantam Lakshminarayana, Vempati Ventkatanarayana and Vempati Chinna Satyam need to be remembered in the context of this myriad transformation of Kuchipudi form.

Kuchipudi dance is said to be unified art form with Navarasas (the nine sentiments) and Chaturvidhaabhinaya (four kinds of expressions) being interpreted giving importance to both Lokadharmi and Natyadharmi. Today, the solo repertoire of Kuchipudi is more prevalent than the dance-drama form. The future of Kuchipudi rests on its ability to appeal to large audiences by adapting to the new and fast changing world we live in, without changing the basic essence of the Kuchipudi style.