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 Kuchipudi dance workshop - V Sowmyasree e-mail: devmdura2007@gmail.com February 17, 2013 As part of final year BA dance course study of different classical dance forms at the Dance Department, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathawada University, Aurangabad, recently conducted a two day intensive Kuchipudi dance workshop by Dr. Rajyalakshmi Seth and the response was overwhelming. Though one expected only a handful of dance enthusiasts and students, the number of participants was more than 20 and from different streams of dance and drama styles. It was heartening that some local choreographers of Bollywood and western dance apart from the regular Bharatanatyam students also attended and successfully completed all four sessions which consisted of practical, video and rare photos projection. The basic objective of conducting this workshop was to give an introduction to Kuchipudi like history, origin, repertoire, its transformation from dance drama tradition to solo format, some basic stances and differences between Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi which is very difficult for many of the dance students and also the rasikas (audience). It was successfully concluded with demonstration by participants and everyone spoke at the end of the session. It was interesting to note that each one of them had observed different aspects and unique thing to say about Kuchipudi.
It was for the first time that such a workshop in Kuchipudi was conducted in the city. Heading the Muvva Institute of Kuchipudi Dance in Mumbai, Dr. Rajyalakshmi Seth is a Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam guru, choreographer, nattuvanar and research scholar who belongs to the first generation of Kuchipudi dance exponents and performers from Hyderabad. She is the younger sister of Guru Dr. Uma Rama Rao and Kuchipudi exponent Sumathy Kaushal. She has over forty years of experience in teaching and conducting performances. Dr. Jayant Shevtekar, coordinator of the dance dept, organized the workshop and in the coming month Mohiniattam and Kathak workshops are to be conducted. V Soumyasree is a Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancer, teacher and choreographer based in Aurangabad. |
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