Down memory lane
RANEE KUMAR
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Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam looks back at his contributions to Kuchipudi as he celebrates his 76th birthday.
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LEGENDARY GURU Vempati Chinna Satyam.
He is a pioneer who has `feminised' the male dance form of Kuchipudi, bestowed it with a finesse without distorting its established structure, and stylised the dance drama convention.
In a nutshell, Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam is to Kuchipudi exactly what late Rukmini Devi Arundale was to Bharatanatyam. Both propelled two traditional yet native dance forms on to world map of performing arts with missionary zeal.
Looking back at his contribution to Kuchipudi on his 76th birthday recently, Dr Vempati turns nostalgic.
"I went to Madras from my village (Kuchipudi) in the hope of assisting my cousin Pedda Satyam who had by then established himself in the southern filmdom as a choreographer and also make a living. What eventually happened was something else. I was seized with a burning desire to place my ancestral dance form on a par with the ruling Bharatanatyam of south. Kuchipudi till then was an oral tradition of performing art handed over through the generations. My forefathers had not learnt the natyasastra though they adhered by it in practice. There was no standardisation, no documentation. My learning process began by exposure to different schools of dance handled by prestigious nattuvanars. I internalised the natyasastra and with my inborn Kuchipudi natyam I was able to establish a small teaching centre at Madras then in the mid-fifties."
Brickbats came in first, bouquets followed; sceptics who came to scoff remained to praise. "I was invited to present my mode of ballets at Kalakshetra by Rukmini Devi. She appreciated my discerning sense of ahaarya, characterisation and natya. In turn, she would come to my school celebrations whenever invited," says the veteran savouring the past. He endowed the vigorous Kuchipudi gatis with jati patterns set to intricate talams. "My style is not separate from that of my great forefathers at Kuchipudi. My approach is different. Before I compose a new ballet I would like to visualise each frame in minute detail. " he explains. Today he has 200 solos and an equal number of ballets to his credit.
Alluring `adavus'
Rigorous relay of footwork patterns is the hallmark of Kuchipudi. "There are 60 to 70 fundamental adavus in this dance. The abhinaya is based on rigorous rendition of footwork patterns. The ahaarya has its own individual style though of late, it has been criticised for following the Bharatanatyam dress pattern. It took me a decade to make connoisseurs acknowledge the dance as a pure classical form. I had to undergo severe trials and tribulations but thanks to good governance of the then chief minister of Tamil Nadu, I was given the land in Adayar where the Kuchipudi Art Academy stands proud." The veteran guru hails from a generation, which had no thought of materialism and stashing away for a rainy day. Till date his cherished ideals are dedication, single-minded pursuit of dance and charity to the under privileged. Now in the twilight of his life, master has no thought of going back to his birth place though he had done everything he could to nurture it, nourish it as and when it required his attention.
Vempati's house at Madras plays perpetual host to any number of boys coming from hometown Kuchipudi to fine-tune their art under his able guidance.
His academy in Raja Annamalaipuram, Adayaar is not just another dance school — it is a learning temple of music, Sanskrit and theory of dance which reverberate in the constant tinkle of anklet bells, the beat of the mridangam and the sound of vocal syllabic rhythm as one passes by the place.
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