Kuchipudi: Indian Classical Dance Art

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One of the seven major classical dance forms of India, Kuchipudi in its solo avatara has acquired a status of a classical dance form of Andhra Pradesh. The story of Kuchipudi from its origin as a dance-drama and its emergence as a solo dance form is one of the most fascinating phenomena engaging attention of the gurus, the performing dancers and the research scholars. Essentially a preserve of the male dancers, who also excelled in the female roles, today Kuchipudi is being mainly performed by the female dancers. However, the tradition continues to survive in Kuchipudi village, some 30 kilometres away from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. The traditional dance-dramas continue to exist along with more popular solo dance form. Kuchipudi has innumerable votaries not only in India but also abroad and their number is ever increasing. Padma Shri Dr. Sunil Kothari, dance historian, scholar and critic, traces in this volume the origins of the dance-drama tradition, correlating the prayoga, the practice and the shastra, the theory and how from the natya, the drama, its integral elements nritya, expressional dance and nritta, the pure dance in the hands of creative, traditional gurus have shaped its present solo format, giving it its own identity. Based on his extensive field work Dr. Kothari has studied the allied forms like Vithi Bhagavatam, Turpubani Vidhi Natakam, Pagati Vesham, Navajanardana Parijatam, Bhagavata Mela Nataka, Kuravanji dance-drama and offered an overview of the dance form as it exists today and continues to develop in its many ramifications. He has also dwelt upon the all-pervading influence of Vempati Chinna Satyam and his contribution in shaping Kuchipudi into a solo form along with the dance-dramas that he has choreographed. The brief biographies of the traditional gurus and some of the celebrated exponents add to the value of this volume, presenting the current state of Kuchipudi on the contemporary dance scene. Profusely illustrated with 166 colour and 221 black and white photographs by the ace photographer Avinash Pasricha and designed by the eminent artist and designer Dashrath Patel, Kuchipudi is a major significant study of the classical dance form of Andhra Pradesh.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Avinash Pasricha

Avinash Pasricha comes from a family of photographers. He, literally, grew up in a studio and became photo editor of SPAN magazine in New Delhi from 1960 to 1997. His photographs have been published in Life and National Geographic as well as in several books on India. He has specialized in Photography of the performing arts since 1960 and has co-authored books on Indian dance: on Odissi, Kathak, and Kuchipudi with dr. Sunil Kothari; one entitled Rhythm in Joy with dancer/writer Leela Samson; on Pandit Kumar Gandharva with critic Raghava Menon; and picture books on Pandit Birju Maharaj, Kumar Gandharva and Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra with Roli Books. Over the last forty-five years, he has covered a wide range of subjects, even making audio-visuals on Indian dance forms and on eminent musicians Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Begum Akhtar and Kumar Gandharva.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sunil Kothari

Sunil Kothari, is a dance historian, scholar, and critic. He has authored several scholarly books on Bharata Natyam, Odissi, Kathak, Kuchipudi, and Chhau dances of India and edited volumes on Rasa and Damaru. He is a regular contributor to Marg. A keen observer of the dance scene for the past forty years, he has received for his overall contribution to dance, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Padma Shri from the President of India. A former Professor and Head, Department of Dance, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, he is currently Visiting Professor (Dance), School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and is writing a book on Sattriya dances of Assam.