FRANCE: AN ANCIENT INDIAN MYTH IS REVIVED IN A BEAUTIFUL DANCE KUCHIPUDI PERFORMANCE

Record ID: 391773

  • Title: FRANCE: AN ANCIENT INDIAN MYTH IS REVIVED IN A BEAUTIFUL DANCE KUCHIPUDI PERFORMANCE
  • Date: 8th August 2001
  • Summary: SOUNDBITE (English) ALLAKAMAL RAJUPET, INDIAN DANCER SAYING: "This dance ballet is called Ardha nareeshura. It is the story of how Shiva took the form of a half man, half woman. It basically underscores the union of male and female energies in God. So I play the initial role of Ganga, which is the river Ganges."
  • Embargoed: 23rd August 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: PARIS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Entertainment,General
  • Reuters ID: LVA21GMP6GL842IOLRCTPIYDBYX8
  • Story Text: An ancient Indian myth has been revived in an astoundingly beautiful Kuchipudi performance in Paris.
    A troupe of 16 Indian dancers, led by the 72-year-old guru Dr Vempati Chinna Satyam, presented an exquisite Kuchipudi performance at the Palais Royal in Paris. Kuchipudi, which dates back to the 3rd century B.C., is a classical Indian dance form which tells stories and enacts mythology through the combination of fast rhythm, fluid movements, and stylized emotional expressions.
    Kuchipudi was initially danced only in temples, as a form of honouring the gods. Later it was restricted to male dancers alone, for fear that women would take the sensual and erotic character of the dance to far. It then suffered neglect during the 300 years of British colonial rule, and it was revived only about 50 years ago after independence when it also became fashionable for Indian women to learn dance and music with the intention of attracting a wealthy husband.
    The performance brought to Paris by guru Dr Vempati Chinna Satyam stems from a myth about Ganga --the Ganges river--, who must fulfill a mission to help souls come alive again in Paradise.
    !It starts with Sage Bhaghiratha , who is a sage", dancer AllaKamala Rajupet explained to Reuters Television: "He approaches Lord Brahma and requests him to help him out. He wants to revive all his ancestors who are dead and the only way he can do it is that if they can sprinkle the divine water of the river Ganges, and the ancestors will come alive again.
    But the river Ganges was apparently so forceful that noone could do it. So they approached Shiva to help them and so it was then that Shiva with his power actually captures the Ganges in his locks, in his hair. And so from his hair it sprouts and it divides into seven tributaries and then flows onto earth and this is when the Sage's wishes come true." But this intimacy between Shiva and Ganga causes the sorrow of Shiva's wife Gowri. To pacify Gowri, Shiva offers her half of his body, and thus both become fused in one single incarnation of the divine couple.
    The piece is a celebration of the concept of non-duality, or "Advaita". The celestial dancers recognize the glory and the power of the divine couple, and they all dance together, receiving the graces and the benediction from their God.
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