Connoisseurs of kuchipudi

“I was born in Narsapuram, a small village in Andhra Pradesh. When I was a little boy of 10 or 11, I began doing small roles in plays and developed an admiration for the dance and theatre world.

I would often run away from home to play characters in dance-dramas, which were very popular in those days. My father was a strict man and reprimanded me for this! But nothing seemed to stop me! I was crazy about dance,” recalls Guru Raja Reddy, the finest kuchipudi dancer of our country. 

He continues nostalgically, “I know Radha ever since she was a little girl and what brought us together was dance, and it continues to be the binding force till today. Radha had earlier learnt Odissi dance, and after our marriage, I taught her kuchipudi. We were offered a scholarship to learn choreography in Delhi. The late prime minister Indira Gandhi saw our performance and coaxed us to stay on in Delhi. There has been no looking back ever since. Together, this journey so far has been blissfully artistic, spiritual and fulfilling.”

Incomparable pair of stylists, Raja and Radha Reddy have given a new dimension to the age-old art of kuchipudi. Their performances, for over a decade, in both India and abroad, have gained them a reputation for rare excellence and perfection of technique.

If kuchipudi ranks today as a major Indian dance form, the credit goes in no small measure to this husband-wife team for its single-minded, pioneering effort. They have given to kuchipudi the vigour and range of ballet, while retaining its grace and subtlety.

It is a measure of the Reddy couple’s true insight into the dance form that they have not sacrificed any of its traditional poetry or dramatic sensibility while giving it a modern, full-length recital form.

Rare combination

The counterpoint of gazelle-eyed Radha with her sinuous, shringara movements is Raja with his stark and powerful movements. Together, they seem to represent lasya and tandava, the twin pillars on which the edifice of classical Indian dance rests. Radha’s soft, lyrical charms combine with Raja’s vigour and masculine movements to portray a sense of identity with classical characters from Hindu mythology, like Shiva and Parvati, Rama and Sita, Krishna and Radha, a revelation of the twin concepts of prakriti and purusha, the male-female principle which forms the core of Indian philosophy. Trained by eminent kuchipudi teachers like Sri Vedantam Prahlada Sarma and Sri P C G Krishna Sarma, Raja and Radha continue the tradition of the art by teaching kuchipudi in a more systematised manner to young promising pupils at Natya Tarangini, New Delhi.

As a classical form of dance, drama and music, kuchipudi enjoys a unique place among the Indian classical dance idioms. It is racy and sprightly, indicating the quest for the conquering of space and time. With all its vigorous and vibrating leaps and turns, it is not cast in the mould of impressionism. It is ebullient, scintillating, and yet has the capacity to be intensely lyrical. It is bold and sensuous in the movement of the eyes, its ethos not confined to the languorous world of pining lovers. 

Disciplined duo

The disciplined team ship of Raja and Radha is captivating in the abhinaya. The virile stage-presence of Raja is characterised by the gusto of skill and style. Supple foot-work rounds off an immaculate projection of the tandava effervescence. Radha’s comely interpolation in the abhinaya sequences mirror the divine ecstasy of lasya in the repertoire. In their portrayal of this ancient Andhra art form, kuchipudi opens out into a plethora of speed, grace and stylised limb-work.

Traditionally, kuchipudi was propounded as a male-oriented dance form. Today, the duo of Raja and Radha have come to be  acclaimed, even internationally, for their personalised approach to shift from this traditionalism.

“Dance is a poetic expression of life’s variegated moods, and speaks through manifold rhythmic patterns, melodic gestures and subtle facial expressions, creating a new world of ecstasy and ethereal existence. India is known for its wide variety of dance forms, and through the ages, these have developed into mature classical art forms.

They enjoy a very high place in the Indian society. Moreover, we dancers are open to new ideas that technology has brought, like microphones, records, flashing light effects, sound effects, etc. Music has no boundaries, no limitations. While my elder daughter is teaching kuchipudi in Hyderabad, my younger daughter is learning jazz music in Hollywood,” says Raja Reddy.

Raja and Radha Reddy found befitting official recognition through the award of the Padma Shree in 1984, the Sahitya Kala Parishad Award in 1990, the prestigious Sangeet Natak Award in 1992 and the Nritya Choodamani Award in 1993. They have also received the Padma Bhushan in the year 2000.