Ragamalika - Adi
This song describes the beauty of the joyous dance of Lord Nataraja, the
presiding deity of Chidambaram. As his consort Parvati smiles and as
Ganges shower her love, the Lord dances “Aananda thaandavam”. With
the Divine Syllable, Pranava Naadam (Om) as his breathe, the time as his
beat, as the Universe became his dais, The Lord Danced as the celestial
beings accompanied him on the various Instruments.
Pralaya Payodhi : Kamala , Sasikala
Ashtapadi is an excerpt from Gita Govindam of a Sanskrit Poet of 1200
AD Jayadeva.
Ashtapadis have eight verses describing the eternal love of Radha and
Krishna and praise the glory of Lord Krishna.
This ashtapadi depicts Dasavatarams of Lord MahaVishnu. He incarnates
on Earth from time to time to eradicate evil forces and to restore the
Dharma.
Mahishasura Mardini - Pasumarty Venkateswara Sarma and Sunita
Pendekanti and Students
This drama depicts the powerful asura (demon) king Mahisha, who who
troubled all humanity. Mahishasura goes into a severe penance to Lord
Brahma to seek a boon that would make him invincible. Lord Brahma
does no grant him immortality, as every creature that was born had to
die. He then asks that no man should be able to kill him as he was sure
that no woman could ever be strong enough to kill. Lord Brahma then
bestows him the boon. Unable to tolerate Mahisha’s tyranny, the gods
plead with Lord Vishnu to annihilate the demon. The Trinity of Brahma,
Vishnu and Maheswara (Shiva) come together to create a powerful
female form with ten arms - Goddess Durga or 'Mahashakti', the
Mother of the Universe who embodies the primeval source of all power
who then kills the demon Mahisha.
Yuva Bharati
Presents
Nritya Nivaali – A Tribute to Padma Bhusham Dr.
Vempati Chinna Satyam
August 25th, 2013, 3:00 pm
at Mission City Center for Performing Arts
www.yuvabharati.org
Kishore Mosalikanti
Samidha Satyam
Indira Sreeram Dixith
Sailaja Pullela
Hemamalini Chavali
Mythili Kumar
Performing Artists
Kamala Rajupet
Sasikala Penumarthi
Pasumarthy Venkateswara
Sarma
Sunita Pendekanti
The Guru
Guru Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam dedicated his life to preserveing
promoting and propagating Kuchipudi in India and all over the world. A
charismatic performer, a brilliant choreographer and an inspiring
teacher, he has been largely responsible for the revival of Kuchipudi
dance in post-independent India. Hence, the name Vempati Chinna
Satyam has become synonymous with Kuchipudi, as one who put
Kuchipudi dance on the world map.
Vempati Chinna Satyam was born to Vempati Chalamaiah and
Varalakshamma in a traditional family of dancers in Kuchipudi village,
Andhra Pradesh. Following the centuries-old tradition of the families in
the village, Vempati began dancing from a very early age. Vedantam
Lakshmi Narayana Sastry, a great master in the field of Kuchipudi,
initiated young Vempati into this art form. He left his native village at
the age of 18 to go to Chennai, the cultural hub of south India. Later he
underwent training under Tadepally Perrayya Sastry and his cousin
Vempati Pedda Satyam who was a well-established dance director in
the film world. Vempati started the Kuchipudi Art Academy at Madras in
1963. The Academy has over 180 solo items and 15 dance dramas to its
credit that are choreographed by Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam. Each of
these dance dramas by him epitomizes the depth of his knowledge and
mastery over Kuchipudi, and his ability to communicate every nuance of
the theme to wide range audiences.
His legacy is his works and his Sishya Parampara. Yuva Bharati pays
tribute to the Guru by inviting his disciples and other Kuchipudi artists
from across USA to offer a Nritya Nivaali.- a prayer in dance.
Program
Guru Stuti – Samidha and Kishore
This piece is a tribute to the legendary Guru Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam,
who has left this world in july 2012.This piece says “I salute the guru,
who has removed the darkness of Ignorance by introducing the world of
wisdom. With his constant care and affection he taught us the art form
that leads to the almighty. With his great qualities and incomparable
knowledge he remains a great inspiration. With tears filled eyes, we
offer our profound salutations to the legendary guru who has been a
great boon in our lives. And we are ever grateful to him”.
Lyrics: Dr. Pappu venugopal Rao Music: Ramesh Jetty.
Lakshmi Pravesam - Indira
Lakshmi the goddess of wealth and prosperity of the earth, originates in
a beautiful lotus at the time of churning of the milky ocean by devas and
danavas. This piece is taken from the ballet “ Ksheera Sagara
Madhanam”
Shivastakam : Kishore Mosalikanti, Hemamalini Chavali
Mohana - Khandachapu Composer : Adi Sankaracharya
Choreographer: Padmabhushan Dr. Vempati China Satyam
Sivashtakam is a piece in praise of Lord Siva. This piece is a
“Bhujangaprayatam”, a piece in which the lyrical pattern flows like the
movement of a snake. The dance in this piece is also choreographed in
this manner.
Rukmini Pravesam - Sailaja
Patra Pravesa daruvu is a significant feature of Kuchipudi , where the
character introduces themselves with song and dance. This piece is a
daruvu, where Rukmini introduces herself as a beautiful maiden and
expresses her divine love to Lord Krishna. This is an excerpt from the
ballet Rukmini kalyanam.
Mandodari Sabdam - Mythili Kumar
Mohanam - Adi
Choreographer: Mythili Kumar
The demon-king Ravana who covets the goddess Haimavati is directed
to a pond where the gods transform a frog into a beautiful maiden
Mandodari. Ravana woos her and carries her off to Lanka to make her
his queen. The dance begins with a prelude to the King Krishna Deva
Raya who was a patron of the arts.
Vedelera Vayyarulu - Sailaja and Indira
Kedara Gowla - Adi - Lyrics : Devulapalli Krishna Sastry
This piece is taken from the dance drama Vipranarayana Charitham. A
devadasi by name Devadevi, sets forth to entice Saint Vipranarayana.
Adorned with ornaments she proceeds to his house which is in the
middle of the forest. The beautiful maiden’s walk is as swift as the deer
and swan. Her eyes are like lotus petals and her smile is as radiant as
the moon.
Neelamegha sareera - Hemamalini
Ragamalika – Adi - Composer: Narayana teertha
The Tarangam is a characteristic feature of Kuchipudi style of Dance
tradition. This piece depicts Lord Krishna as a cowherd, who was
loveable but notorious. The lyric also describes lord Krishna as the
divine boy with the complexion of a dark cloud, radiating love in the
midst of gopi’s, ever willing to liberate his devotees from the shackles of
mundane existence and there by bestowing eternal bliss upon them.
This item showcases intricate footwork while balancing the feet on the
edges of a brass plate.
Intermission
Kaavalera - Kamala and Sasikala
Lyrics : Bhujangaraya Sarma
Music: Sangeetha Rao
Javalis usually focus on Abhinaya with less emphasis on foot work.
This particular Javali is a unique piece of abhinaya combined with a
heavy foot work. This Javali is a segment from a popular dance drama of
Guru Vempati ‘s “Rukmini Kalyanam” . This is an item in which court
dancers entice the King Sisupala of Chedi with their abhinaya and
dance.
Anandatandavam - Samidha