For two reasons, womenfolk of the Kuchipudi dance fraternity have been indebted to maestro Vedantam Lakshminarayana Sastry, whose death anniversary is scheduled to be observed with a national dance festival in Vijayawada on July 13.
In the glorious history of classical dance, Natyakalanidhi Lakshminarayana Sastry had been credited with teaching the dance form to girls belonging to orthodox Hindu families and rich families, apart from encouraging them to perform it on the stage. His another major contribution to the dance form is that he became the father of the solo format of the Kuchipudi dance by introducing and developing solo performances, creating a platform for girls and women.
In 1948, India’s reputed Bharatanatyam danseuse Bala Saraswathi, after watching his performance in Madras, became his student and learnt Abhinaya of Padams, javalis and Sabdams. “I was groping in darkness and his art opened my eyes to new vistas of amazing beauty and excellence. I have a fountain spring in the oasis of neglected dance,” Ms. Bala Saraswathi said, according to available literature. Akella Santhi Sastry, the first girl from Kuchipudi to take dance as a profession, went down the memory lane about her grandfather: “He lived in a different world – the world of dance – of Siddhendra Yogi, of Kshetrayya, of Narayana Teertha”.
During his stay in Machilipatnam in 1945-46 and in 1951-53, the teacher of Vempati China Satyam and Vedantam Raghavayya taught Kuchipudi dance to girls in Masula. Unable to hide his emotion following a remarkable performance by Mr. Lakshminarayana Sastry in Vijayawada in 1942, reputed dancer and choreographer Uday Shankar had praised him – “I can’t believe he is 62! He moved and danced as though he was 25! And what alacrity!! His hand gestures, so meaningful and swift, took me to a new world of enjoyment.’ Marking the 57th death anniversary of Mr. Lakshminarayana Sastry , Akhila Bharata Kuchipudi Natyakala Mandali, Kuchipudi will organise one-day dance festival at Mummaneni Subbarao Siddhartha Kalapeetham, Vijayawada, on July 13.
