Tag: Kuchipudi

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Indian Classical Arts Celebrated Across UK

Key performances at the Autumn Cultural Festival 2024 included the highly acclaimed Draupadi Ballet and Kamasutra, both known for their exceptional artistry and storytelling.

From September 14th to October 6th, the Pyramid Yoga and Dance Academy (PYDA), in collaboration with Sampradaayam and PMC UK, hosted a series of Kuchipudi dance workshops and cultural programs throughout the UK. The festival aimed to celebrate Indian classical arts, drawing participants and audiences from across the country.

Key performances included the highly acclaimed Draupadi Ballet and Kamasutra, both known for their exceptional artistry and storytelling. These were among the main attractions of the Autumn Cultural Festival 2024. In addition to the dance performances, breath mindfulness sessions were held, emphasising mental health and general well-being.

The programs showcased a wide range of Indian classical dance forms, including Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, and Odissi. Esteemed dance teachers from around the globe gathered to share their expertise, adding richness to the performances and creating a unique cultural experience for attendees. Events took place in cities such as Manchester, Birmingham, Coventry, Crawley, and London.

A highlight of the festival was the participation of Sampradaayam Kuchipudi Gurukulam, a renowned dance institution from Andhra Pradesh. Kuchipudi dancer and director of the Gurukulam, Swathy Somanath, led her team—K. Balram, Yamini Kasireddy, N. Anjali, and Andhra Natyam exponent Chandu Chandini—in captivating performances.

One of the standout moments came from Padmavathi Pulamarasetty, CEO of PYDA International, who played the role of Dussasana in the Draupadi Ballet. Despite being unable to rehearse in person due to prior commitments, Padmavathi practiced by watching video recordings sent from India.

When a last-minute crisis occurred at the Oldham festival on September 22nd—when the original performer for Dussasana was delayed due to flight issues—Padmavathi stepped in at the eleventh hour and delivered a powerful, impromptu performance. Her ability to handle such pressure while executing the role with finesse earned her great admiration.

The Kuchipudi dance workshops held at various locations were particularly productive. Interactions with NRI students offered insights into the status of Kuchipudi dance in the UK, and many students have since enrolled in online classes through the Sampradaayam Gurukulam, in collaboration with PYDA International.

The performances of Draupadi and Kamasutra were met with standing ovations. Some audience members even came onto the stage to offer sashtanga namaskaram (a traditional Indian prostrated salutation) to the performers, demonstrating the profound impact the shows had on those in attendance.

The Autumn Cultural Festival 2024 successfully highlighted the beauty and significance of Indian classical arts, fostering cultural appreciation and bringing together communities through dance and mindfulness.

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From tradition to innovation: Yamini Reddy’s journey in Kuchipudi

The dancer, who debuted on stage at the age of three, recently presented her ‘An Evening of Storytelling’ at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) in Mumbai…writes Sukant Deepak

Born to Kuchipudi exponents, Dr Raja and Radha Reddy, she admits that even as a young dancer, right from the time she debuted, there was always an expectation to measure up to their (parents’) standards. “But people never realized that my parents are who they are from years of experience, performance, hard work, and dedication. And my sister and I were youngsters, before we could achieve that, we were already being compared with them. So, that was a little tough in the beginning. It has been many years now – I think I have established myself and such things don’t bother me anymore,” Yamini Reddy, a three-time National award-winning Kuchipudi dancer tells.

The dancer, who debuted on stage at the age of three, recently presented her ‘An Evening of Storytelling’ at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) in Mumbai.

Looking forward to presenting Kuchipudi to a younger, discerning audience, she decided to bring forth several unique aspects of the dance form in order to bring out the storytelling aspect. Considering Kuchipudi is a combination of the theatre form and temple dances, it boasts length and breadth to present various ideas, and storytelling comes very naturally to it.

“Considering it has episodes, vachika abhinayam, dialogues, characterization, natyam – all things that lend themselves so easily to storytelling, and I thought of presenting an evening of storytelling where I can use all the unique features of Kuchipudi dance to tell beautiful stories which are old – like ethics and puranas from Bhagavatam, but are very much relevant to our lives today.”

For someone who has collaborated with Leah Curtis (‘Harmony’) and dancers Gopika Varma, Krithika Subramaniam, and actress Suhasini in ‘Antaram’, they (collaborations) are a great learning experience as they open many possibilities to learn.  “It is a lot of fun, learning, and adds to my experience, definitely making me a better artist.”

Talk to her about reactions from purists and she asserts that the same depends on how it is presented. Stressing that she does not like to tamper with the art form and collaborates only when she feels for it, Reddy adds, “I would never do one just for the sake of it! As for purists, I do not think it matters much if you do the presentation well if your collaboration is well-thought-out and all the nuances have been taken into consideration, and if it presents the correct sensitivities.”

Even as several classical artists stress the need for improvisation in the guru-shishya parampara, the dancer feels in contemporary times, the methods of teaching have changed. Also, it is no longer a case when the student would live with the teacher and learn constantly from her/him.

“Already, teachers teach about two-three times a week and students take classes after school or as an extra-curricular activity. So, keeping in view lifestyle changes, we definitely have to adjust accordingly in our teaching methodology. Having said that, it is a beautiful age-old form of teaching… if one does get the opportunity to learn like that, it makes little sense to miss it.”

Natya Tarangini was set up by her parents in 1976 in New Delhi to teach Kuchipudi dance but since then it has grown to encompass all activities related to the promotion of art and music. When the young dancer decided to move to Hyderabad in 2007, she set up her own branch there with the same name and has been teaching youngsters Kuchipudi for the past 16 years.

“It is a new dimension that opened up for me and I got to learn a lot. As a teacher, you not only teach but also learn from your students.”

Though completely focused on taking her art as far as she can, in the future, Reddy would like to participate a lot more in the policy-making side of the arts. “I would like to contribute to having a thriving system in place for art. That is something I would like to do for my community going forward.”

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Arts & Culture India News

Payal Ramchandani’s passion for Kuchipudi pervades the north UK

Payal evolved her own unique vocabulary as evidenced in her innovative choreographies and she leverages her traditional repertoire to handle subjects that she believes afflicts the society, writes Prof. Geetha Upadhyaya

Prof. Geetha Upadhyaya

With her intensive training in Kuchipudi, (south Indian classical dance style of Andhra Pradesh) from the best teachers namely, Gurus Raja Radha Reddy, Gurus Jayarama Rao & Vanashree Rao, Gurus Jaikishore & Padmavani Mosalikanti) and global performances leading to an overall experience of more than 2 decades, Payal Ramchandani’s journey into the world of Kuchipudi began at the tender age of four in Delhi, India.

Payal evolved her own unique vocabulary as evidenced in her innovative choreographies and she leverages her traditional repertoire to handle subjects that she believes afflicts the society.

With several awards under her belt, Payal has worked closely with the UK based GemArts, British Council, Headway Arts, Dance City and Akademi which listed her as one of the 40 noteworthy South Asian artists in the UK.

Her international tours include Germany, Netherlands, Canada and Dubai. Being an empanelled artist of Indian Council for Cultural Relations and a graded artist with Doordarshan (India’s national television), Payal works closely with SPIC-MACAY, India to promote Kuchipudi at grass root level.

Payal

Payal’s feels that we live in a world of 7 billion people with 7 billion parallel mind universes and oneness to deviate from one’s own rigid boundaries of the ‘normal’.

Keen to challenge erroneous beliefs, Payal created her first production ‘Just enough madness’ which attempts to appreciate the uniqueness and complexity of each mind-universe through the prism of Indian mythology juxtaposed in the contemporary context with the intent of communicating the importance of ‘acknowledgment’ and ‘acceptance’, both factors which greatly influencing the perspective towards mental health. The ‘acknowledgement’ that mental health challenges are not a figment of imagination but their existence is very real and ‘acceptance’ of these challenges and of those who are dealing with them is essential in the path to recovery from the illness and the stigma associated with it.

This Arts Council England funded project, a collaboration with Manasamitra and their team of artists who have composed and rendered the music also features a Bharatanatyam dancer and is supported by Dance City, GemArts and Kala Sangam. Currently in its R&D phase, the work was stalled due to the pandemic but thanks to the technology, the rehearsals continued remotely.

Alongside ‘Just enough madness’, Payal has also been commissioned by Dance City, Newcastle to create and present ‘The Forest dream’ which will highlight the impact of deforestation on climate change and awaken audiences from their environmental inertia. Through this work Payal will bring together 3 different dance styles -Kuchipudi, Bharatnatyam and Contemporary dance.

Having moved from India to Newcastle in 2015, Payal is slowly but steadily sowing the seeds of Kuchipudi in the region and her vision to create space for Kuchipudi in the North-east and beyond gets manifested in her style which is a bridge between tradition and modernity. Even though her work remains rooted in the classical framework and theatrical idiom of Kuchipudi, her innovation lies in telling stories suited to the context and the audience.

Asian Lite wishes Payal all success in achieving her vision in promoting Kuchipudi.

For further information on Payal and her work, please contact :

Website: www.payalramchandani.com

Email: mrija.mds@gmail.com

Instagram handle: payal.kuchipudi

Fb: Payal Ramchandani