GUNTUR: Aradhyula Tejaswi Prakhya, a 24-year-old Kuchipudi dancer, has vowed to give a new lease of life to Nritya Roopakam—a drama dance form.A native of Tenali in the Guntur district, Tejaswi has been mesmerizing her audience with her dance moves and expressions since she was 4. So far, Tejaswi has 920 performances to her credit and several state and national-level awards.
However, one performance that has remains close to her heart is when she danced continuously for 16 hours in 2007. The then President of India, Pratibha Patil was in awe with Tejaswi, 10 years old at the time, and invited her to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Reminiscing, Tejaswi said, “It was the most memorable and inspirational moment of my life. I still remember my dad’s reaction when we were informed about the invitation. It cemented my resolve to stick to my passion.”
The post-graduate artiste has a keen interest in highlighting women characters of Hindu mythology through Nritya Roopakam.She, along with her gurus G Vishnu Prasad, Suryanarayana Kumar and Surendranath Sharma, penned a dance drama —Panchagnulu—revolving around five mythological characters: Ahalya, Tara, Mandodari, Kunti, and Draupadi.As many as 20 artistes performed the ballet at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Naadaneerajanam programme and received a huge applause.
Elaborating on the efforts that go into directing a Nritya Roopakam, Tejaswi said, “This form of story-telling involves several characters, enacting various scenes in numerous costumes. Artistes prefer not to opt for this form because telling a story through dance moves in a way that the audience understand the plot is a complicated task.”
Speaking of her fascination for the dance form, Tejaswi said she learnt about it while studying post-graduation in Kuchipudi.“That was when I decided to give it a shot. When I discussed about Nritya Roopakam with my gurus, they were elated and agreed to help me.”
However, my gurus cautioned me about the effort and hardwork it would require to direct a ballet, Tejaswi recalled and added that when she could not find dancers for various characters, her friends came forward to help her. Asked why she chose Ahalya, Tara, Mandodari, Kunti, and Draupadi, Tejaswi opined, “The stories of Sita and Savitri are usually narrated on several occasions, but these five women are equally strong and intriguing characters. Women can learn a lot from them.” Speaking of her future, Tejaswi said she is planning to do PhD in Kuchipudi and become a dance teacher to promote the dance form.