Kuchipudi is a classical Indian dance that originated in the village of Kuchipudi in Andhra Pradesh. It was developed and codified in the 13th century by Siddhendra Yogi, who established it as an art form performed primarily by male Brahmin dancers. Traditional Kuchipudi involved dance dramas with multiple characters portrayed through hand gestures, facial expressions, and occasionally dialog. While it is now often performed as a solo piece, the themes are still drawn from Hindu scriptures and mythology. Key elements of Kuchipudi include intricate footwork, sculpted body movements, and expression of the nine emotions or rasas through performance.

1. KUCHIPUDI
INDIAN CLASSICAL
DANCE

3. Kuchipudi is a Classical Indian dance from Andhra Pradesh, India. It is also popular all
over SouthIndia. Kuchipudi is the name of a village in the Divi Taluka of Krishna
district that borders the Bay of Bengal and also the surname of the resident
Brahmins practicing this traditional dance form, it acquired the present name.

4. Bharata Muni who wrote the Natya Shastra about 3000 years ago had explained
various aspects of this dance form. Later sometime in the 13th century, the impetus
to kuchipudi was given by Sidhendra Yogi. Siddhendra Yogi redefined the dance form.
Siddhendra Yogi’s former name was Siddhappa who was an orphan Brahmin
Siddhendra Yogi
Siddhendra abstained from training women fearing that they might exaggerate the
sentiments expressed and dispel it of its spiritual tone. Kuchipudi became an all male
domain. The female roles were also impersonated by men.

5. The technique of Kuchipudi makes use of fast rhythmic footwork and
sculpturesque body movements. Stylized mime, using hand gestures and
subtle facial expression, is combined with more realistic acting, occasionally
including dialogues spoken by the dancers.
• Kuchipudi today is performed either as a solo or a group presentation, but
historically it was performed as a dance drama, with several dancers
taking different roles.
The themes are mostly derived form the scriptures and mythology,
and the portrayal of certain characters is a central motif of this dance
form.

6. Kuchipudi dance-dramas, each present a particular episode or a series of
episodes. A solo recital, on the other hand, typically consists of such items as
the 'Sabdam', 'Bhama kalapam' which is the main item, 'Padams' and
'Tarangams'. In 'Bhama kalapam', the dancer has enormous scope for the
dramatisation of characters.
Bhama Kalapam
Sabdam

7. The main character is Satyabhama, a beautiful but arrogant queen who goes
through the process of discovering the path of true love and devotion. In the
'Tarangam', the dancer frequently perform a balancing feat, her feet poised
on the edge of a brass plate as she moves around.
Satyabhama
Tarangam

8. The whole dance follow the navrasas theory to show
the
expressions and convey their moods.
These are:
Shringara (love and beauty)
Hasya (joy or mirth)
Bhibatsya (disgust)
Rowdra (anger and its forms)
Shanta (serenity and peace)
Veera (heroism)
Bhaya (fear)
Karuna (grief and compassion)
Adbhuta (wonder and curiosity)

9. Some of dance which is practice today in
kuchipudi are:
Purvaranga,
Tandava Nritya kari Gajana a or Vinayaka Kautham
Bhamakalapam
Satya Bhama
Bhakta Phrahalda
Usha Parinayam
Sasirekha Parinayam
Rama Natakam
Gollakalapam
Gollabhama
Tarangam

10. MUDRAS
• A symbolic hand gesture used in Hindu
ceremonies and statuary, and in Indian dance.
Head Gestures
Eyes
Neck
Hands

11. Head Gestures
Sama - level
Udvaahita - raised up
Adhomukha - down-cast face
Aalolita - rolling
Dhuta - shaken sideway
Kampita - nodded
Paraavrtta - turned round
Utksipta - thrown up
parivaahita - widely move

12. Eyes
Sama - Ievel
Aalokita -keen glance
Saaci -side long
Pralokita- wide glance
Nimilita -closed
Ullokita looking up
Anuvrtta-quickly up & down
Avalokita- looking down

13. Neck
Sundari - to & fro horizonally
Tirascinaa - upward movemenet on both sides
Parivartitaa - right to left like half moon
Prakampitaa – backward and forward movement

14. Hands

15. Kuchipudi Makeup
The kuchipudi dance makeup should have a graceful
look and must be suitable for stage light.
Makeup must suit dancers with fair and dark skin colours.
The important characters have their makeup different
from the others. The makeup used in is not so heavy. The
list of items required for the makeup of this dance form
are: Altha ,sindur , kumkum, bindi, black eye line eye
shadow, facial power and foundation whose color should
be lighter than the character's skin color.

16. Kuchipudi
Makeup

17. Kuchipudi Costume
Types of sarees
The kanchipuram silk saree –is handmade of dyed silk with zari works.
kanchipuram silk saree are expensive than other types of silk
available in south India. Kanchipuram sarees are stronger
than Dharmavaram or Arani silk generally.

18. Dharamavaram silk saree- in many other places also, silk
sarees are produced , they are Dharamavaram, Arni, Salem and
Tribhvanam.Even though these sarees are good in quality , kanchipuram is
best.

19. Semi silk saree — costumes are also made of semi silk
sarees which is cheaper than the other two types. This saree is mainly used
for group performance where cost factor matters. Many costumes are
stitched at a time in group performance.

20. DRESS USED
Blouse (upper part)
Pyjama (lower part)
Small fan (waist)
Pallu (drape over bosom)

21. Examples for kuchipudi costume

23. Kuchipudi Jewellery
The dancers adorn themselves with temple jewellery, which is
the style of ornaments worn by the deities in south Indian
temples.
Some ornaments are made from silver with a plating of gold
and some worn by the artists are made up of alight weight
wood, called Boorugu.
Jewelleries adorn the head, ear, neck, hands, fingers, and the
waist of the female dancers. It includes
RAKUDI (head ornament),
CHAN DRA VAN KI (arm ornament) and
ADDA BHASA and KASINA SARA (neck ornaments).
Even the long plait of dancer's hair is decorated with
ornaments and beautiful white flowers.
The male dancers are lightly ornamented
Thus we can say that the kuchipudi dance form is known for its
grace and beauty which would be incomplete without its dressing
style,costumes,makeup and its jewellery

24. JEWELLRY USED:
Jumka (earring with upward extension)
Oddiyanam (waist band)
Nathni (nose ring)
Long Mala (long necklace)
Short Mala (choker)
zvaanki (armbands)
Chudiya (colored bangles to match your dress)
Ghungroo (musical anklet with metallic bells)
Mattal (forehead)
Chandra (moon shaped hair ornament)
Surya (sun shaped hair ornament)
1 Red stick—on Bindi ( a decorative mark worn in the middle of the
forehead)

26. Examples Kuchipudi jewellery

28. MUSIC IN KUCHIPUDI
A raga (musical mode) with its unique and individual pattern is the soul
of Indian music. Each raga has a special structure of fixed notes. It is
the way in which a musician
It is the way in which a musician utilises this structural form that makes
for the full expression of the different melodic types. Ancient authors
gave the essential characteristics of ragas as the utilisation of special
notes while avoiding some notes and rendering others with
embellishments or graces
Interestingly ragas were meant, according to their emotional appeal,
to be sung only at certain times a day. They were also associated
with visual images.

29. The play began with the orchestral music which included Mridangam , Kanjira
, Tanpura and a pair of Manjira, followed by an invocation to a deity and
appearance of Ganesha.
Mridangam Manjira
Kanjira
Tanpura

30. Rituals Before Kuchipudi
Before the dance drama of Kuchipudi, there are certain rituals that are
performed in front of the audience. After the rituals, the Soothradhara or the
conductor, with the supporting musicians, comes on stage, gives a play of
rhythm on the drums and cymbals and announces the title of the dance
drama.
After this, two people enter, holding a curtain, behind which is a dancer in
the mask of Ganpati (the elephant headed god). The dancer dances for
some time, to worship Ganpati, so that the dance drama goes on without
hitches.

31. Introduction of Characters
Daru: it is a small composition of dance and song specially for each
character to help the artist reveal his or her identity and also to show the
performer's skill in the art.
There are nearly 80 darus or dance sequences in a traditional Kuchipudi
dance drama.
Kalaps: it has a few characters with theme revolving around a single
incident or a character
Daru

32. The Performance
After the initial rituals as well the introduction of the characters is complete, it
is the time to finally begin the performance of Kuchipudi. Through the show, the
dance is accompanied by song, typically Carnatic music.

33. Conclusion
Today Kuchipudi is considerably a different style of dance form than it originally used to be.
In most of the cases it is now a solo performance done by female dancers. The Sutradhara
has become a phenomenon of the past and the Vachika abhinaya, that is, expressional
numbers are sung by the danseuses herself instead by the vocalists in the background on
the stage as was the traditional practice.
The element of devotion to gods has also been done away with and it has become
purely a secular affair with predominance of 'sringar' or erotic flavour. Besides the
drama component has also been totally reduced.
Elements not indigenous to the dance drama such as sculpture like stances and freezes
based on perfect iconographic forms motifs and shapes have also been incorporated into
Kuchipudi dance recitals to make it more competitive with other dance forms.

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