Kuchipudi

by Sunil Kothari and Avinash Pasricha

One of the seven major classical dance forms of India, Kuchipudi in its solo avatara has acquired a status of a classical dance form of Andhra Pradesh. Padama Shri Dr. Sunil Kothari, dance historian, scholar and critic, traces in this volume the origins of the dance-drama tradition, correlating the prayoga, the practice and the shastra, the theory and how from the natya, the drama, its integral elements nritya, expressional dance and nritta, the pure dance in the hands of creative, traditional gurus have shaped its present solo format, giving it its own identity. The brief biographies of the traditional gurus and some of the celebrated exponents add to the value of this volume, presenting the current state of Kuchipudi on the contemporary dance scene.Profusely illustrated with 166 colour and 221 black and white photographs by the ace photographer Avinash Pasricha and designed by the eminent artist and designer Dashrath Patel, Kuchipudi is a major significant study of the classical dance form of Andhra Pradesh.

About the Author:

Padma Shri DR. SUNIL KOTHARI is a renowned dance historian, scholar and critic. He served as Uday Shankar Professor and Head of the Dance Department of Rabindra Bharati University, Calcutta. For more than thirty-five years he has served as a dance critic for The Times of India group of publications. He is a foreign correspondent of Dance Magazine, New York.For his overall contribution to dance, he has received from the President of India the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Gujarat State Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Gujarat State Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and many other honours.