By IANS,
Hyderabad : The second international Kuchipudi dance convention began here Friday, bringing together five generations of dancers and over 4,000 delegates from 16 countries.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy declared open the three-day convention organised jointly by California-based Silicon Andhra and the state government at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC).
Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development D. Purandareswari and state Tourism Minister Vatti Vasanth Kumar were among others who attended the inaugural ceremony.
The convention has brought together five generations of dancers from living legends to students to promote and further perpetuate this centuries old classical dance form, said Silicon Andhra.
According to the organisers, the focus is on inspiring the next generation youth about the dance form.
While the first two days of the convention will see experts presenting their research papers and speaking on various aspects of Kuchipudi, the last day of the event will be held at Gachibowli Stadium.
Founder of Silicon Andhra Kuchibhotla Anand said 2,500 youth would perform the ‘maha brunda natyam’ in the mould of Sidhendra Yogi’s dance form. President Pratibha Patil will be present at the stadium to watch the performance.
Sidhendra Yogi, a 15th century saint, is credited with having codiefied the movements of the Kuchipudi dance form.
Anand said the ‘maha brunda natyam’ was aiming for an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records.
There will speeches, demonstrations, workshops, research paper presentations and performances on the first two days. A discussion on Kuchipudi across time and space in the last six centuries would be held.
About 20 dance troupes and noted artists like Sobha Naidu, Alekhya Punjala, Raja Reddy and Radha Reddy would perform during the convention whose theme is ‘Youth is the future of Kuchipudi’.
Silicon Andhra had organised the first such festival at California in 2008.