All of us are dying to see Ashtalakshmi Vaibhavam, but the feeling is not always
mutual. Here's what it might have been like.
Equipped with a Higher Diploma in Software Engineering and a Masters with a gold medal in Kuchipudi from the Potti Sreemulu Telugu University, Rama Devi is a versatile danseuse and guru, who also has B Sc and B Ed degrees to her credit. With enormous experience in Kuchipudi to back her, she established Sri Sai Nataraja Academy of Kuchipudi Dance in 1989, and has been training aspiring students ever since.
She has recently written a book titled "Kuchipudi Dance In Textual Form", which is slated for release today. She states that there no book available currently on Kuchipudi for reference, and that this will be the first - it will help students as a guide, and also help them appear for a certificate and diploma course examination conducted by the Telugu University.
Apart from the book releasing function, this evening there will also be a dance ballet titled "Astalakshmi Vaibhavam", performed by the students of Rama Devi. The ballet is about the amrutha manthan by the gods and the demons for the nectar of immortality, and about the birth of goddess Lakshmi and her leelas in eight different forms. The artists to perform are Nivedita, Pratyusha, Srividya, Keerti, Spoorti, Goutami, Praneeta, Pranati, Sameera, Pallavi and Ramya. Vocal by Srivalli Sharma, mridangam by Sridharachary, violin by Anil Kumar, tabla by Sreekanth and flute by Ravi Kiran will support the artists in the ballet.
Please contact Sri Sai Nataraja Academy of Kuchipudi Dance at 773-0087 for further
details.