She has studied acting at the New York Film Academy, Los Angeles while also learning under director Prakash Belawadi during her stay in India. Rukmini holds a BFA degree from the Boston Conservatory in Ballet and Modern Dance. She practiced the Karanas for several years under Guru Sundari Santhanam, a senior disciple of Guru Padma Subramanyam. She studied Bharatanatyam under Guru Narmada, Guru Padmini Rao and Guru Sundari Santhanam. Recently she played ‘the goddess of love’ in ‘Sukanya’, produced by The Royal Opera house in London. She has presented her work as a soloist all over the world, including venues such as the Jacobs Pillow festival, Drive East NYC, and the Korzo Theater. Rukmini's approach to Bharatanatyam is dedicated, rigorous and layered. She is the founder of The Raadha Kalpa Method, a pedagogical system of training classical Indian and particularly Bharatanatyam dancer. But the Kuchipudi dresses have a single fan that is lengthier than the lengthiest fan in the former.Rukmini Vijayakumar is the artistic director of Raadha Kalpa dance company, and the director of LshVa, an art space. On the other hand, Kuchipudi replicates man’s undying desire to unite with God.Ĥ)The Bharatnatyam costumes have three fans of dissimilar lengths. Nonetheless, the Kuchipudi dress characteristically has just a single fan present that is longer than the lengthiest fan in a Bharatnatyam dress.ġ)Bharatnatyam is a form of Classical dance from Tamil Nadu whereas Kuchipudi is a classical dance form from Andhra Pradesh.Ģ)Bharatnatyam has more sculptured poses whereas Kuchipudi has more rounded poses.ģ)Bharatnatyam is termed the fire dance replicating the inner fire within the human body. These three fans together form the impression of the scattering portions of a pleated sari. Bharatnatyam dresses in general comprises of three fans of different heights. Other than the stylistic differences of Kuchipudi and Bharatnatyam, there are delicate distinctions in the attires of both these dance forms as well. Kuchipudi is symbolical of the unification of human soul with that eternal cosmic soul. On the other hand the Kuchipudi exposition includes ’tillana’ and ‘jatiswaram’ both of which reflect the longing of the disciple to become one with the ultimate and the omnipotent God.
Hence the poses of a typical Bharatnatyam dancer reflects the movements of a dancing flame. On the other hand most of the poses in Kuchipudi are brisk, flat-footed, dazzling and overall curved having more rounded poses.īharatnatyam, by its inception is taken to be a fire dance, one that manifests the mystic metaphysical rudiments of fire within the human body. On the other hand Kuchipudi or ‘Koochipoodi’ which is the traditional pronunciation is an initiated dance form that primarily originated from the creations and contributions of the original Brahmin dancers.īharatnatyam is precisely known for its elegance, grace, softness, clarity and sculptured poses. The very name Bharatnatyam denotes BHA or Bhava meaning Expression, RA or Raga meaning Music and TA or Tala meaning Rhythm. The King was so mesmerized with this novel dance form that he gave 600 acres of territory as a bequest from Tanesha to the Kuchipudi Brahmins for the grand presenting of this dance.Ĭathir and Bharatnatyam are dance forms primarily inspired by the sculptures of the antique Chidambaram Temple. Kuchipudi as a classical dance form achieved excellence during the rule of Abdul Hassan Tanesha of the Golconda Dynasty. This particular dance form was traditionally practiced by the Brahmin inhabitants of this village and hence the name. The etymology of this dance form comes from the name of a little village within the place called Divi Taluq in the Krishna district, bordering the Bay of Bengal.
Cathir was the traditional art of the extraordinary temple dancers portraying some of the most distinctive ancient dance forms. Bharatnatyam is a unique dance form that stands for the diverse reconstructions of the ancient art of Cathir which were revived in the 19th and 20th century. On the other hand Kuchipudi is a traditional Indian classical dance form originating in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Bharatnatyam is a distinctive traditional form of Indian classical dance originating from the culturally rich state of Tamil Nadu.