HYDERABAD: During the lockdown, Kuchipudi dancer Kolichelimi Niharika has been choreographing of songs and looks forward to enrolling at Potti Sriramulu Telugu University for masters in dance after which she looks ahead to a future of teaching and ensuring the recognition of Kuchipudi in the current society.
The choreography is based both on traditional songs and film songs for her students. She teaches two batches of students categorised as junior and senior batches consisting of 25 and 15 members respectively. She plans to upload these videos on YouTube once she completes it, to reach out to people who would love to learn Kuchipudi. Niharika is a degree second-year student at Bhavan’s Vivekananda College in the city pursuing B.com computers. For her like any other kid, Kuchipudi was a hobby first but now it’s her passion to spread the culture in the society. She balances her academics and dance with the aim to make more people embrace Kuchipudi. She added, “Kuchipudi is good for the health. It is the best form of fitness and meditation. It helps in reducing stress and depression.”
Niharika mentioned, “I have completed the certificate course for Kuchipudi. Eventually will pursue a masters in dance as well as a Ph.D.” She was a participant in the group that won Guinness World Record at Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium for promoting the culture of Kuchipudi on December 25 2016 in Vijayawada. She added, “About 6,170 people had participated in the event to create the record. I participated as an individual dancer in the event.”
Niharika was invited to participate at the 4th International Kuchipudi dance convention ‘Navataram Natyatarangam’ 2014 at Gachibowli Stadium, Hyderabad, and also at the 5th International Dance and Music Festival program 2018 in Kathmandu, Nepal.
“The selection for the international convention is based on our performance which is judged on the basis of the dance videos the participants mail to the committee. I was selected based on the same criterion,” added the 19-year-old. Niharika who has been learning Kuchipudi for the past nine years has won the Natya Keerthi and Independence Excellence awards. She started with the Natyalaya Dance academy and trained there for 6 years. She said, “My current Guru is Shirisha Vandana.” Niharika attributes her success and the drive for the passion to her parents Kumar and Shoba. Mission Kuchipudi is what she lives for, she adds.