Kuchipudi is in her blood and she was bound to turn to this dance form sooner or later. Lalitha Sindhuri, a B.Tech in Computer Science, hails from a family which has carved a niche for itself in Kuchipudi. After engineering, she chose to pursue a research course in the dance form rather than settling as an IT professional.
Ms. Sindhuri, granddaughter of renowned Kuchipudi exponents late Vempati Venkata Narayana and Vempati China Satyam, enrolled at the Central University of Hyderabad for a Junior Research Fellowship. She has to her credit over 600 stage performances.
“Initially, dancing was my hobby. After a good response to my stage performances, I decided to pursue Kuchipudi full time,” says Ms. Sindhuri, a disciple of the legendary Vedantam Satya Narasimha Sastry and Vedantam Venkatachalapathi.
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After completing M.A. in dance from the Central University of Hyderabad, she has opted for research on
“The research relates to facial expressions and body movements of the dancer,” she says, while explaining that her role model was noted danseuse Shobha Naidu.
“Without the support of my parents Y. Venugopal Krishna Prasad and Y. Varalakshmi, my dream project would not be possible,” she says.
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Ms. Sindhuri, who has a fascination for the abhinaya of yesteryear actors Savitri and L. Vijaya Lakshmi, is the recipient of ‘Bala Ratna’ award from the State government and ‘Bala Sri' from the then President A..P..J. Abdul Kalam among several other awards.