Every year we celebrate festivals such as Diwali and Dussehra in prayer of gods where art is a devotional offering, but dance and music festivals are a celebration of the very ‘art’ that is timeless and encompasses in it every day, the spiritual essence of our country. These festivals are intricately woven into the thread of our society and often without our knowledge provide us with entertainment, education and a sense of fulfilment.
Natya Tarangini, Raja Radha Reddy and Centre for Performing Arts has been organising the ‘Parampara Series’ National Festival of Dance and Music in the capital of New Delhi. It is a labour of love of Gurus and Kaushalya Reddy. This year it celebrated its ‘Silver Jubilee’, 25 years of music and dance offerings to society.
Writing about the Parampara Series Silver Jubilee is very nostalgic for me. The entire Parampara series festival is the brainchild of Kaushalya Reddy. I vaguely remember the first festival we had organised in 1996. Which started out as a Kuchipudi dance festival for the first couple of years and eventually evolved to encompass other forms of classical dance and music.
– Yamini Reddy
Featured in New Indian Express, Indulge Magazine Hyderabad on their 6th Anniversary issue. The article explores the adaptation of Kuchipudi in the digital age and my love for the art form.
Read Here
Rangapravesham (debut performance) training for a classical dancer is a transformative process. It fills you with lessons of perseverance , joy , enjoyment , abandon, purpose and above all else complete surrender to the art and gurus.
Here is a glimpse from rehearsals of my student Sonika under the guidance of Kaushalya Reddy Raja & Radha Reddy at Natya Tarangini Hyderabad.
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Legendary Kuchipudi Dancing couple, Raja and Radha Reddy, is responsible for bringing Kuchipudi dance, the pride of Andhra Pradesh, onto the cultural map of the world.
Legendary Kuchipudi Dancing couple, Raja and Radha Reddy, is responsible for bringing Kuchipudi dance, the pride of Andhra Pradesh, onto the cultural map of the world.
For their contribution to the art form they have been decorated with many awards nationally and internationally. They have had the honor of performing for presidents and prime ministers of many countries such as President Ford, Bill Clinton, Fidel Castro etc. They have conducted charity shows for Red Cross Society, Blind Relief Association, and the home for the aged people in Bombay and CRY. They had the honor of being invited as the first Indian dancers to participate in the International Dance festival of Avignon in France and Salzburg in Austria.
The couple’s contribution to the festival of India in the USA and the UK was considered outstanding. They were the star attraction of the All Star Ballet Gala festival in Japan. The Reddys inaugurated the India Festival in Bangladesh. Raja and Radha Reddy have created history by becoming the first couple to receive Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan award individually and simultaneously for the same cause by the President of India, the Sangeet Natak Academy award, International Meridian award etc.