Classical Dance
Sai is learning Classical Dance - Kuchipudi since 2010 at Vedantham Kalakshethram. She performed Kalyana Srinivasam (2015), Ramakatha saram and numerous times in different venues.
Sri Rama Katha Saram(2017)
Sri Rama Katha Saram, a Kuchipudi dance ballet presented by Vedantam Kalakshetram attempts to capture the "Saram" or essence of Lord Rama's journey on earth as the model human. The Ramayana ( the story of Rama) on which this story is based on is written by Sage Valmiki, and is widely believed to be the first poem ever written.
American Progressive Telugu Association, Telugu New year Celebrations 2016
Sai - Performed in APTA Ugadi celebrations @ India house. She never missed a chance to perform, if an opportunity given. Sai performing Koluvaithiva Ranga Sai (2016)
Silicon Andhra Manabadi Annual day @ San Antonio(2015)
Sai Performed Jathi Swaram in Silicon Andhra Manabadi Annual day @ San Antonio.
Srinivasa Kalyanam(2015)
Sai took Part in a big Dance ballot Srinivasa Kalyanam presented by Vedantam Kalasketram and Sri Asthtalakshmi Temple on July 18, 2015 at Stafford Civitc Centre.
Here are few paper cuttings regarding the same event.
Her performance pics
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10204149464648359&set=pcb.10204149514929616
Kuchipudi (/kuːtʃiˈpuːdi/) is one of the ten major Indian classical dances. It originated in a village of Krishna district in modern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
Kuchipudi is a dance-drama performance art, with its roots in the ancient Hindu Sanskrit text of Natya Shastra. It developed as a religious art linked to traveling bards, temples and spiritual beliefs, like all major classical dances of India. Evidence of Kuchipudi's existence in an older version are found in copper inscriptions of the 10th century, and by the 15th century in texts such as the Machupalli Kaifat. Kuchipudi tradition believes that Tirtha Narayana Yati – asanyassin of Advaita Vedanta persuasion, and his disciple an orphan named Siddhendra Yogi founded and systematized the modern version of Kuchipudi in the 17th century.Kuchipudi largely developed as a Hindu god Krishna oriented Vaishnavism tradition, and it is most closely related to Bhagavata Mela performance art found in Tamil Nadu.
The Kuchipudi performance usually begins with an invocation. Then, each costumed actor is introduced, their role stated, and who then performs a short dance prelim to music (dharavu). Next, the performance presents pure dance (nritta). This is followed with expressive part of the performance (nritya), where rhythmic gestures as a sign language mime the play.Vocalists and musicians accompany the artist, with the song recited in Telugu language, and the tala and raga set to (Carnatic music). The typical musical instruments in Kuchipudi are mridangam, cymbals, veena, flute and the tambura.
The popularity of Kuchipudi has grown within India, and its performances held worldwide
Sai is learning Classical Dance - Kuchipudi since 2010 at Vedantham Kalakshethram. She performed Kalyana Srinivasam
History
Kuchipudi, like other classical dance forms in India, traces its roots to the Natya Shastra, a foundational treatise on the performing arts attributed to the ancient scholar Bharata Muni. Its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE. The most studied version of the Natya Shastra text consists of about 6000 verses structured into 36 chapters. The text, states Natalia Lidova, describes the theory of Tāṇḍava dance (Shiva), the theory of rasa, of bhāva, expression, gestures, acting techniques, basic steps, standing postures – all of which are part of Indian classical dances. Dance and performance arts, states this ancient text, are a form of expression of spiritual ideas, virtues and the essence of scriptures.
The dance-drama tradition in Andhra Pradesh is of ancient origins, and the region is mentioned in the Natya Shastra. Bharata Muni credits a graceful movement to Andhra region and discusses it as Kaishiki vritti. The pre-2nd century CE text calls one raga as Andhri, that is from Andhra. The Andhri, is related to Gandhari and Arsabhi, and is discussed in many other 1st millennium Sanskrit texts.[Some, state Bruno Nettle and others, place the origins of Kuchipudi to 3rd century BCE.
Dance-drama performance arts related to Shaivism, in Telugu-speaking parts of South India, are evidenced in 10th-century copper inscriptions, and these were called Brahmana Melas or Brahma Melas. The medieval era dance-drama performance artists were Brahmins.This art was likely adopted by the musical and dancing Bhakti traditions of Vaishnavism which grew in the 2nd millennium, whose devotees were called Bhagvatulus in Andhra region and Bhagvatars in Tamil region of south India. In Andhra, this performance art evolved into Kuchipudi, while in Tamil Nadu it became known as Bhagavata Mela Nataka. According to Saskia Kersenboom, both the Telugu Kuchipudi and Tamil Bhagavata Mela are strongly related to the classical Hindu dance tradition of Yakshagana found in Karnataka, all three involve Carnatic music, but these dance-drama traditions have differences such as in costumes, structure, interpretation and creative innovations.
Kuchipudi dancer Sai Gudapati performing in Houston, Texas
According to Manohar Varadpande, the Kuchipudi dance emerged in the late 13th century, when Ganga rulers from Kalinga were patrons of performance arts based on the 12th-century Sanskrit scholar Jayadeva, particularly the Gita Govinda. This royal sponsorship, states Varadpande, encouraged many poets and dance-drama troupes to adopt Radha-Krishna themes into the then prevailing versions of classical Kuchipudi. These were regionally called Vaishnava Bhagavatulus.
The modern version of Kuchipudi is attributed to Tirtha Narayanayati, a 17th-century Telugu sanyasin of Advaita Vedanta persuasion and particularly his disciple, a Telugu Brahmin orphan named Sidhyendra Yogi.Tirtha Narayanayati authored Sri Krishna Leela Tarangini and introduced sequences of rhythmic dance syllables at the end of the cantos, he wrote this work as a libretto for a dance-drama.Narayanayati lived for a while in theTanjore district and presented the dance-drama in the Tanjore temple.
Narayanayati's disciple, Sidhyendra Yogi, followed up with another play, the Parijatapaharana,more commonly known as the Bhama Kalapam. When Sidhyendra Yogi finished the play, he had trouble finding suitable performers. So he went to Kuchelapuram, the village of his wife’s family and present-day Kuchipudi, where he enlisted a group of young Brahmin boys to perform the play. According to the tradition, Sidhyendra requested and the villagers agreed to perform the play once a year, and this came to be known as Kuchipudi.
Late medieval period
Kuchipudi enjoyed support from medieval era rulers. Copper inscriptions suggest that the dance-drama was seen by the royalty and was influential by 1502 and through the late 16th century.The court records of theVijayanagara Empire – known for its patronage of the Indian religions and arts – indicate that drama-dance troupes of Bhagavatas from Kuchipudi village performed at the royal court.
The region saw wars and political turmoil with Islamic invasions and the formation of Deccan Sultanates in the 16th century. With the fall of Vijayanagara Empire and the destruction of temples and Deccan cities by the Muslim army around 1565, musicians and dance-drama artists migrated south, and Tanjore kingdom records suggest some 500 such Kuchipudi artist families arrived from Andhra, were welcomed and granted land by the Hindu king Achyutappa Nayak, a settlement that grew to become modern Melattur near Tanjore (also called Thanjavur). Not everyone left the old Andhra village of Kuchipudi, and those remaining became the sole custodians of its tradition in Andhra.
Kuchipudi declined and was a dying art in 17th-century Andhra, but in 1678, the last Shia Muslim Nawab of Golkonda, Abul Hasan Qutb Shah, saw a Kuchipudi performance and was so pleased that he granted the dancers lands around the Kuchipudi village, with the stipulation that they continue the dance-drama.The Shia Sultanate was overthrown in 1687 by the Sunni Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. In order to regulate public and private morals, as well as end un-Islamic practices, Aurangzeb banned public performances of all music and dance arts, along with ordering the confiscation and destruction of musical instruments in Indian subcontinent under control of his Mughal Empire.
Colonial rule period
After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, the Mughal Empire collapsed, Hindu rebellion sprouted in many parts of India, including the Deccan region. In the second half of the 18th century, during this period of political turmoil, the colonial Europeans arrived, the Madras Presidency was formed by the East Indian Company officials and became part of the British Empire.Andhra was part of the Madras Presidency. During the colonial era, Hindu arts and traditions such as dance-drama were ridiculed. Christian missionaries and British officials stereotyped and dehumanized artists, calling Indian classical dances as evidence of "harlots, debased erotic culture, slavery to idols and priests" tradition. Christian missionaries launched the "anti-dance movement" in 1892, to ban all such dance forms. The anti-dance camp accused the various classical Indian dance forms as a front for prostitution, while revivalists questioned the constructed histories by the colonial writers.
ManaBadi Telugu Samskrithikostavam (2014)
Sai first program in 'ManaBadi Telugu Samskrithikostavam. Felt proud to see her on stage. Thanks to Raghava Vedantham garu, her dedicated guru. Thanks to my husband Gopala Gudapati who is spending 3-4 hours every week and driving 20 miles for her class. Thanks to Almighty who gave her patience and strength. This is just a beginning. Long Way to go. Thanks to all who came to see programme and blessed her. May GOD bless you
Comments
Post a Comment