Moscow Kuchipudi Dance Studio ANANDA THANDAVA. Training DVD

In ancient times over 3000 years ago a unique dance tradition Kuchipudi appeared in the south of India. For many centuries this sacral art remained hidden from strangers' eyes and was passed down the Parampara chain (from teacher to student) exclusively by male Brahmins of the village Kuchelapuram.

But now we would like to lift the veil of secrecy.

What is Kuchipudi? This is a unique charm that you get from subtle blending of unsurpassed technique with The Art of Drama that gets its inspiration in scriptures and mythology. Energetic jumps and turns brave and sense full play of eyes, the vortex of uncommonly quick and skilled motions followed by a cascade of statuesque poses.

A Kuchipudi dancer is required to possess not only perfect calisthenics but also perfect plasticity and developed sense of rhythm and a thorough mastery of abhinaya (the art of pantomime).

Performing dances on the edges of a brass plate, executing complicated rhythmic patterns with dexterity, while sometimes also balancing a pot of water on the head is considered to be the highest level of mastery.

In the first film we will demonstrate a special Indian warming up exercises, will teach you to sing hastas (hand-gestures used to lead the narration in dance) and will examine several series of steps of different rhythmic patterns in details. In the end you will see a fragment of Puja (worship dance) that will be studied in details in the second film.

In the documentary about the peculiarities of Kuchipudi style you will see unique scenes from the Madrass Academy of Art of the great Master Vempati Chinna Satyam.

In the second film we will continue to analyze steps, study several jatis (or simple rhythmic patterns which consist of steps studied earlier) and will examine the fragment of Puja in details.

The second part of the documentary "The great dance gurus" contains information about the history of Kuchipudi and great teachers who took this dance style out into a new level.