A classical dance-drama style, occasionally performed
as a solo female dance, that originates from Kuchipudi
village in Andra Pradesh and is often regarded as an off-shoot
of Bharatanatyam. Developed over various parts of south
India during the 16th century under the Vaishnavaite bhakti
cults, popular religious movements involving devotion
to the god Vishnu, this artform spread later to the north
and east of the Indian subcontinent and emerged as a classical
dance style under Siddendra Yogi, a Telugu brahmin playwright,
who initially trained brahmin boys from the village of
Kuchipudi in Andhra Pradesh.
Kuchipudi dance-dramas are highly decorative and involve
much abhinaya (mime). It is performed either as a dance-drama
with a retinue of dancers or in solo. Dance items are
executed with a characteristic stamping of the feet
and dipping and bobbing of the body, following curved
lines and require flexing of the hips. The themes of
Kuchipudi dance dramas are derived from the Sanskrit
epics of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
As in other South Indian dance styles, Kuchipudi is
performed to Carnatic music, with the mridangam, cymbals,
violin and clarinet as principal instruments. In Kuchipudi,
the artistes themselves provide the vocal accompaniment
both in Telugu and Sanskrit. These songs are pure poetry,
and as they are recited the dancer gives full scope
to their physical expression. In the pure dance aspect,
where the Kuchipudi artiste engages in highly technical
pieces, a clear similarity with the North Indian classical
style of Kathak exists in the footwork. Indeed, Kuchipudi
is characterised by a clapping rhythm that accompanies
the instruments and follows the dance items.
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