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Padmasri -
Bharatakalaprapoorna Dr Nataraja Ramakrishna is a most
respected Natyacharya of Andhra Pradesh. A former chairman
of Andhra Pradesh Sangeeta Nataka Academy, he is a dance
artist, guru, scholar, and musicologist who has been
propagating classical dance in Andhra Pradesh for the past
60 years.
He is the architect of the Andhra Natyam dance form, a
devotional temple dance tradition performed in Andhra
Pradesh for over 400 years until virtually extinct.
Conceived as a fusion of the spiritual and intellectual,
incorporating lucid expressions, sculpturesque postures and
brisk foot-work, Andhra Natyam highlights the lasya aspect
of classical dance.
He single-handedly reconstructed the Perini Sivatandavam, a
powerful and vigorous masculine pure dance style that was
performed to inspire and invigorate warriors (Prerana)
before going to the battle field. Evidence of its existence
reaches back to the 10th century AD. It is due to the
diligent scholarly efforts of Dr Nataraja Ramakrishna that
this dance has been revived. Dr. Nataraja Ramakrishna is an
absolute authority on Satwikaabhinaya, which is a speciality
of Andhra temple dance artists.
Over his long career he has trained many dancers and has
written and choreographed highly acclaimed dance dramas. As
a research scholar sponsored by the Government of India, he
worked in the then USSR (Russia) and France to propagate
Indian dance art, making a comparative study of Indian and
western Classical and folk dances.
He has written more than 40 books, many of them highly
awarded, and his contribution to the art of dance is widely
recognized. With his innumerable performances, lecture
demonstrations and through his extensive travels he has
created an awareness not only of Kuchipudi dance, but also
revived the lost and forgotten dance forms of Andhra
Pradesh.
Were it not for Dr Nataraja Ramakrishna’s dedication and
devotion, Andhra Natyam and Perini Sivatandavam, the
spiritual dance art of Andhra Pradesh would have been a dead
art buried deep in the pages of history.
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