Shakti Vijayam - Kuchipudi Ballet By Shankari Natyasthal

On the auspicious occasion of the Devi Navratris, the Sringeri Shankar Math at Motinagar is presenting Shakti Vijayam, a Kuchipudi dance ballet by the students of Shankari Natyasthal, on 19th October. A Srividhya, Ch Harika, B Manisha, Deeksha and Lalitha will start the recital with a Narayana Teertha Vinayaka Tarangam, followed by the dance ballet Shakti Vijayam and finally the Mahishasura Mardhani Shabdam.

Shakti Vijayam is about the eight faces (ashtha roopas) of the Devi, such as Mahalakshmi, Mahasaraswati, Gouri, Kanchi Kamakshi, Madhura Meenakshi, Annapurna, Mahadurga and Mahishasura Mardhini.

The orchestra for the recital is by Guru Yeleswarapu Vijayavalli with the vocal and nattuvangam, Madhavi Latha for the vocal support, P Bharadwaj on the violin and Sarma on the mridangam.

All the dancers are disciples of Yeleswarapu Vijayavalli, a famous Harikatha Bhagavatarini, Kuchipudi dance guru and Carnatic musician, who's excelled in Harikatha, an art form that is generally supposed to be a male bastion. She imbibed the art of narration, histrionics, music, dance and philosophical doctrines from her late father and Guru Harikatha Bhagavatar Yeleswarapu Subrahmanya Sastry.

She was honored with titles Harikatha Natya Mayuri in 1992 by the Bhadrachalam temple authorities, Kadha Kadhana Kovida in 1994 by the Ramalingeswara Peetham (Ongole), and Sangeeta Nritya Vidya Praveena in 2006 by the Sree Rama Gana Sabha, New Nallakunta.

She has choreographed many dance ballets, and some like Nauka Charitam, Rukmini Kalyanam, Nava Durga Vilaasam and Thyagaraja Keertanaamrutham were staged to a good response and applause.

Vijayavalli is the founder-director of Shankari Natyasthal, started more than a decade ago. She's been teaching dance and music with all dedication, and offers a revived tradition of Kuchipudi and Carnatic music, in a unique style designed by yesteryear maestros, and now blended with novel creativity.

The students of Shankari Natyasthal staged many dance performances across the nation, such as at Bhadrachala Devasthanam, Sri Saraswati Temple (Basar), Sri Rajarajeshwara Swamy Temple (Vemulavada), Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple (Yadagirigutta), Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy Devasthanam (Srisailam) and Kanaka Durga Temple (Vijayawada), to mention a few.

Please contact the venue at 2383-3837 or Ramaswamy at 4020-9146 for further details.