The dance traditions of Andhra are traced to two
different styles, the Nattuva Mela and the Natya Mela. Nattuva mela
is basically solo dance performed by women and the nattuvangam is
generally done by men. The repertoire of this style of dance consists
of both erotic and devotional items, Sringara and Bhakti. This is
the form of dance that both the temple dancers and the court dancers
used to perform, with God or king as the hero, as the case may be.
The second style of dance is Natya mela which is generally performed
by both men and women. Their repertoire consists of dance dramas
with themes, not necessarily religious, to entertain the audience.
This later form of dance is believed to be the forerunner of the
present day Kuchipudi dance.
Kuchipudi is a male oriented dance drama tradition.It acquired its name from the name of the village it originated from. Both the styles, nattuva mela and natya mela suffered due to exploitation and feudalistic abuse. It is at this time that the ascetic Siddhendra Yogi appeared on the scene and gave the Kuchipudi dance a new definition and direction. He confined it to only male brahmins, thereby giving dance the sanctity of the fifth Veda. Siddhendra Yogi refined and redefined this form of art known as Kuchipudi today. He made it a dance drama tradition, where only male brahmins can play the roles. As such even female roles are played by men. The male Kuchipudi artists are known as Bhagavatulu. About 15 Brahmin families belonging to the village Kuchipudi have been following this tradition for over 5 hundred years. At least two historical evidences speak for the antiquity of this dance form. The Machupalli Kaifiayat of 1502, and the historical records showing the grant of Kuchipudi village to the artists by Abul Hasan Kutub Shah in 1675. Great Gurus like Vedantam Lakshminarayana, Chinta Krishna Murthy, Tadepalli Perayya enriched the repertoire, brought women into this form of dance. Dr.Vempati Chinna Satyam added many more dance dramas and choreographed several solo items, widening the scope and nature of Kuchipudi. The transformation in this form of dance has completed a full circle, from the days when men played the female roles to women playing even male roles. |
