About Me

Vijayapal -- The Dancing Marvel

“Expressing the language of soul with subtle yet powerful expressions; graceful yet stern footwork” is Vijayapal Pathloth - The Dancing Marvel.

              An exceptional artiste of today’s generation, Vijayapal is an accomplished, prolific and promising dancer in the Kuchipudi art form, who aspires to reach the higher standards of perfection in the field of Dance.  Though he was born into a family, which had no roots in art, he groomed himself into a highly talented dancer with his passion and dedication. He took to dance at a very later stage in his life, but very soon made a mark for himself in the world of dance with his eloquent expressions and supple body movements. In his performance one finds a fine synthesis of angika and abhinaya along with a unique aharya, which pervades all the aspects of his dance-technique, gives him, an edge over his peers. Today, he is acknowledged as one among those few noteworthy male dancers, who have made a niche in the world of dance carrying forward this vibrant dance tradition.

  Vijayapal is known for his winsome stage presence and enchanting presentation which have earned him admiration from all age groups of dance fraternity. He has essayed several lead roles in different Dance drams and his ability to portray different roles and characters has won him several opportunities to perform individually and with many eminent and noted artistes and gurus of the highest caliber. Vijayapal has a long list of highly enthralling and appreciated performances and lectures in several prestigious platforms. He is a multifaceted talented artiste, who wears multiple hats with ease as a performer, trainer, choreographer, nattuvanar, research scholar and an academician.

  Vijayapal is very fortunate to have learnt the subtle nuances and intricacies of dance from various renowned gurus both professionally and academically. He flagged off his dance journey with Sri Chinta Adinarayana Sharma and Smt. Prasanna Rani and continued to hone his skills under the tutelage of Smt. Manju Bhargavee. He pursued his academic career in dance under the inspiring guidance of internationally acclaimed artists and gurus like Dr. Alekhya Punjala, Sri Bhagavatula Sethuram and Professor Jonnalagadda Anuradha. He has the good fortune of learning Nattuvangam from the highly respected guru Late Sri Mahankali Mohan.

All through his artistic journey, Vijayapal continued to be an avid student learning intricate nuances of dance from many illustrious gurus like Sri Kalkrishna, Padmasri Dr. Shobha Naidu, Sri Vedantam Ramalinga Shastry and many more.

  Besides being a recipient of several awards and titles and a graded artiste of Doordarshan, he stands apart amongst his artistic peers for his excellence in academics. Vijayapal has a strong foundation in both theory and practice of dance too. He holds a Masters degree in Dance and Business Management, and MPhil degrees in Dance and Tourism Management, and is the recipient of a Gold Medal for his significant work in MPhil Dance. He has qualified NET and JRF from UGC, Government of India.

  He is currently pursuing PhD in Dance from Hyderabad Central University, while working as a faculty in the Department of Dance, Potti Sree Ramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad.  He has published papers in National and International Journals and books and has also conducted seminars and workshops on dance at various places furthering his academic pursuit.

  Vijayapal has worked with more than 20 Eminent Dance personalities in more than 50 Dance dramas both traditional and innovative and played more than 30 characters to his credit.

  He has choreographed Dance Ballets like Ramyam Dashavidha Rupam, Milita Natyam, Vigneshwara Vaibhavam, Natya Vaibhavam, Natya Sangamam and Kuchipudi Vaibhavam apart from choreographing several solo and group numbers. He has trained various students, employees of different schools, institutions and corporate companies for their events. Vijayapal has assisted various Gurus in choreography and organizing of Dance Ballets, Group and Solo productions. He has also Judged several Dance competitions.

  His versatility as an artiste helps Vijayapal to bring to life exquisite performances as a solo, duet, group and dance dramas with all the elements of Kuchipudi dance on various prestigious National and International platforms.

Having been blessed with innate artistic talent, he shows promise of being one of the most committed and outstanding artists in the field of dance, way above his peers and contemporaries in times to come, winning rich laurels both from laymen and connoisseurs of dance for his innovative, traditional and experimental themes.

  With over 1000 performances to his credit, he is one of the rising stars of the present generation who has proved his mettle time and again his ability at aesthetic presentation of dance.  Vijayapal is undoubtedly a dancer par excellence.

Academic Profile

Þ Pursuing PhD in Dance (Dance Therapy with specific reference to the therapeutic effect of the hasta mudras) from Department of Dance, Hyderabad Central University, Hyderabad, Telangana.

Þ Completed M Phil in Dance from Department of Folk Arts, Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad, Telangana.

Þ Completed M Phil in Tourism Management from Madhurai Kamaraj University, Madhurai, Tamil Nadu.

Þ Completed MA in Dance (Kuchipudi Dance) from Department of Dance, Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

Þ Completed MBA (Human Resources and Marketing) from Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana.

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.

My Performances

Performed Major Roles like

Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva, Lord Brahma, Saint Naarada, Sutradhaara, Maya Indra, Arjuna, Saptharishi, Vaanarasaena, Pravaraakya, Nigamasharma, Vasuraju, Asthaana Kavi, Ramadas, Chamba Raja, Pramadaganah, Alluri Sitaramaraju and many more.

Performed in various Dance Ballets like

Andhram, Telugu Vaibhavam, Panchakaavya, Panchakanya, Natya Vaibhavam, Natya Sangamam, Milita Vaibhavam, Kaalarchana, Mahanadula Manihaaram, Kalyaana Srinivasam, SriKrishnamrutham, Gajananeeyam, Shashirekha Parinayam, Ramakathasaaram, Sreenivasa Kalyaanam, Shiva Ganga, Kaanipaaka Vinayakam, Cultural Integrity, Chambabaala, Annamayya, Kalika Vijayam, Sripadaarchana, Ardhanareeswaram, Radha Maadhaveeyam. Tarataraala Tirupathi, Siddendra Yogi, Jaagruthi, Vajrabharathi, Annamayya pada nartana shoba, Amuktamalyada, Srikrishna Paarijaatam and many more.

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