Hyderabad, 25th March 2023: Swaranartana Academy – an abode of ancient dance traditions of Andhranatyam & Perini Sivatandavam founded by Smt Padma Mohan Denduluri to revive the rich art forms, celebrated the birth centenary of the legendary Late Dr Nataraja Ramakrishna, the doyen of Andhranatyam and recreator Perini Sivatandavam, by hosting an evening of Andhranatyam dance performances by Smt Padma Mohan Denduluri garu, today, at Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, Nampally. A group of young Andhranatyam dancers, the prize winners at the recently held Andhranatyam dance competitions conducted by Swaranartana under the guidance and choreography of Abhinava Satyabhama, Shri Kala Krishna, enthralled the audience on the occasion.
Guests of Honor Sri Dr Santosh Kraleti, Member, National Medical Commission; Sri Kalabramha Shiromani Vamsee Ramaraju, Former Member Central Film Censor Board; Sri Meer, Noted Film Personality; graced the occasion. Sri Nalini Mohan Denduluri, IFS, Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests; presided over the function. Eminent exponent of Andhra Natyam Smt Rama Jagannath, Karnataka Kalasree Awardee, was presented the Lifetime achievement Award and Special felicitations were done of Smt V Annapurna, Andhranatyam Guru and Sri Perini Ramesh, Perini Sivatandavam Guru; as a part of the birth centenary celebrations. The young winners of Andhranatyam dance competitions were presented the prizes.
Dr Nataraja Ramakrishna garu, with his diligent scholarly efforts revived Andhranatyam. This ancient classical dance form in vogue for the past 2000 years from the Telugu regions of Telangana, Rayalaseema, and Andhra; belongs to the Nattuva Mela tradition.
The evening saw a series of choreographies performed by Smt Padma Mohan Denduluri garu and team. The program started with the traditional invocation of Andhranatyam using kumbha haarathi followed by choreographies from Agama, Asthana and Prabandha nartana traditions of Andhranatyam repertoire. The first part of the performances included Vinayaka Kautham, Adhyatma Ramayanam, Siva Kaivaram, Potana Padyam followed by Tarangam and Thillana performed by Smt Padma garu. She also presented a few key episodes from the Prabandha repertoire, Navajanardhana Parijatham. Navajanãrdhana Pãrijãtham (Shringara Drishya Divya Prabandham) is a shringara rasa predominant solo dance ballet depicting an episode of love story between Lord Shri Krishna and his 8th wife, the beautiful Satyabhama, which is as ancient as Gita Govindam.
The accompanying young artists included Kum. Gunda Sai Manaswini, Kum. Kothakapu Harshini Reddy, Kum. Tanmai Danda, Kum Seerla Prapoorna and Kum. Adduri Sri Vallika disciples of Shri Perini Srinivas Rao and Smt Satwika Penna.
The performances were supported by an eminent orchestra with Guru Sri Kala Krishna on nattuvangam, Smt Rama Jagannath on vocals, Sri. Janardhan on mridangam, Sri. Dattatreya on flute, Smt. Subbalaxmi on violin, Sri. Veera Swamy with percussion and Sri Pavan with make-up.
About Swaranartana
With an interest in propagating AndhraNatyam Smt Padma Mohan Denduluri and Smt. Karnati Navatha co-founded “Swaranartana,” a Classical Dance, Music, and Yoga school in Hyderabad, India, in 2015. In 2009, along with her husband, Sri Denduluri Nalini Mohan, Smt. Padma co-founded the Denduluri Foundation to provide training in cultural and educational activities and enable access to arts for the younger generations. The main objective of Swaranatana is to provide rigorous and structured training in Andhra Natyam to interested individuals and train future teachers. To make Andhranatyam more widely accessible, Swaranartana offers programs at subsidized costs and waived fees. As such, Smt. Padma has been collating theoretical aspects, lost songs, traditional harmonies, and Andhra Natyam’s unique footwork to compile a comprehensive record of the dance form. To revive, promote and create awareness on the temple dance form that is Andhra Natyam, the Denduluri Foundation and Swaranartana co-produced a series of documentaries.
About Andhra Natyam
Andhra Natyam is a traditional dance form dating back to 2000 years. It was performed by ‘Devadasis’ in temples as a form of worship. In olden days wherever there was a temple some or the other form of dance was associated with it. Andhra Natyam comprises of the Lasya tradition of female dance and the male warrior dance called Perini with vigorous dance form is characterized by rapid footsteps and the essence is to invoke Lord Shiva.
About Guru Padmasri Dr. Nataraja Ramakrishna
Dr. Nataraja Ramakrishna is the most respected Acharya who revived Andhra Natyam. He recreated the ‘Perini Sivathandavam”. The militant male dance tradition of the 10th century AD and ‘Navajanardanam’, a great Prabandha dance tradition. He has written over 40 books on dance traditions of Andhra Pradesh and ancient dance forms and served as a Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Sangeeta Natak Academy.
