Kuchipudi,
like Kathakali is also a dance-drama tradition and derives its name from
the vilage of Kuchipudi in the Southern State of Andra Pradesh. In
recent years, it has evolved as a solo dance for the concert platform and
is performed by women, though like Kathakali it was formerly the preserve
of men. The female roles were enacted by men and even today, the
tradition boasts of gifted male dancers enacting female roles with such
consummate artistry that hardly anyone would notice them as male dancers.
The
movements in Kuchipudi are quicksilver and scintillating, rounded and fleet-footed.
Performed to classical Carnatic music, it shares many common elements with
Bharatanatyam. In its solo exxposition Kuchipudi nritta numbers include
jatiswaram and tillana whereas in nritya it has several lyrical compositions
reflecting the desire of a devotee to merge with God - symbolically the
union of the soul with the super soul.
The
songs are mimed with alluring expressions, swift looks and fleeting emotions
evoking the rasa. A special number in the Kuchipudi repertoire is called
tarangam, in which a dancer balances herself on the rim of a brass plate
and executes steps to the beat of a drum. At times she places a pot full
of water on her head and dances on the brass plate. The song accompanying
this number is from the well known Krishna Leela Tarangini, a text which
recounts the life and events of Lord Krishna.
In
expressional numbers a dancer sometimes chooses to enact the role of Satyabhama,
the proud and self-assured queen of Lord Krishna, from the dance-drama
Bhama Kalapam. She goes through various stages of love. When in separation
from Lord Krishna, she recalls the happy days of union and pines for him.
At last they are reunited when she sends him a letter. One more number
from the Kuchipudi repertoire that deserves mention is Krishna Shabdam,
in which a milkmaid invites Krishna for a rendezvous in myriads of ways
giving full scope for the dancer to display the charms of a woman.
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