CONSULATE GENERAL OF INDIA
SHANGHAI

PRESS RELEASE

KUCHIPUDI DANCE WORKSHOP

  Kuchipudi, one of the major dance forms of India originated from Andhra Pradesh, where it grew largely as a product of Bhakti movement beginning in the 7th Century AD. Kuchipudi derives its name from the village Kuchelapuram, where it was nurtured by great scholars and artists who built up the repertoire and refined the dance technique.

The Kuchipudi is a dance-drama of Nritta, Nritya and Natya. The Nritta consists of teermanams and jatis, the Nritya of Sabdams, and the Natya of acting with Mudras for the songs. Nritta encompasses steps and movements in the form of patterns of dance which are ornate in themselves.

Kuchipudi, combines speech, Abhinaya (mime) and pure dance. The Kuchipudi dancer is a multiple person on the stage and this multiplicity is achieved by the swift change of mime which depends more on the combination of the naturalism of the dramatic content and the symbolism of the poetic intensity of feeling of an episode. The consequence of this is the emphasis laid on the dynamics of movement and expressionism of feeling. Kuchipudi dance is accompanied by Carnatic Music.

Kuchipudi today is performed either as a solo, duet or a group presentation, but historically it was performed as a dance drama, with several dancers taking different roles.

As part of the Indian classical dance workshop series, the Consulate General of India in Shanghai organised a Kuchipudi dance workshop with Kuchipudi exponent Ms. Lulu Wang on 30th November, 2024.

At the beginning of the workshop, Ms. Wang Lulu gave an overview of Kuchipudi dance, in which she talked about its history, development, style and characteristics. She also briefed the similarities and differences between Kuchipudi dance and Bharatanatyam dance.

In the second session, Ms. Lulu Wang demonstrated the basic skills of Kuchipudi dance and jatis, which earned a lot of applauses.

Ms. Lulu Wang had also brought Indian costumes which afforded the participants to experience the dance moves in traditional attire.

The workshop received enthusiastic response from the local participants.

19^th December, 2024