Not many dancers — be it students or teachers — are aware of the intricacies of Indian classical dances as explained in Bharata’s Natya Sastra. Even if they are, its application is wanting. Therefore noted Kuchipudi exponent P. Rama Devi conceived, designed and presented the sastra in a nutshell in a DVD fomat. The topics are comprehensive in nature. The author covered 11 topics of ‘Natya Veda’ from its origin to descending to ‘Natya’, ‘Poorva Ranga’ along with supplementary topics essential for any dancer. Videos of ‘Chari, Sthanaka Nrutta hastas’ are also included. The presentation creates interest as it is designed by using contrast colour combinations and animation which runs with a click according to readers’ choice. The language used is lucid and authentic in expression, facilitating the reader easy to read, understand and know about the treatise Natya Sastra.
The credentials of Rama Devi too suit to give us authentic information with practical approach. She is a practicing dancer with an experience spreading over quarter of a century. A Science graduate and a B.ED, Rama Devi is also a diploma holder in software engineering. She wrote plenty of works on Kuchipudi dance, useful for students who go for certificate, Diploma, graduation and post-graduation courses. She has given plenty of lecture demonstrations on the Natya Sastra. All this experience went into the making of this DVD. Topics like the relation between bhava and rasa, Nayika and the many Avasthas, Samanya abhinaya, history of dances and their development and salient features of Kuchipudi dance in particular are dealt with in the DVD.
This DVD was recently released at a function held at Ravindra Bharati by the director of state Department of Culture, Rallabandi Kavita Prasad in the presence of Telugu University’s Vice-chancellor, Prof. Elluri Shiva Reddy.
Natya Sastra In Nutshell
Author: P. Ramadevi
Price: Rs. 499/-
Available at Sri Sai Nataraja Academy of Kuchipudi Dance
Phone: 9849373553, 040-27730087
