Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam

Through his dedication, talent and sheer hard work, Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam renewed and restored a diluted and cruder form of Kuchipudi, forging a very personal and pure style. Today, thanks to him, Kuchipudi occupies a privileged position among other Indian classical forms.

Guru Vempati was born in the village of Kuchipudi. He belongs to one of the families who carry the responsibility, since many generations, of ensuring the transmission of the Kuchipudi dance style, and so, he was fully trained at a very young age.

He founded the Kuchipudi Art Academy in Madras in 1963, and since then the institution has formed a number of dancers, and been the center of Guru Vempati’s choreographic work. He has choreographed many solo items as well as dance dramas, in his own very specific and exquisite style, which is a combination of crisp technique, pure lines, and flowing grace.

Guru Vempati has toured India and the world extensively with his troupe, and his work is an inspiration at the highest level for all those who witness it. It is a true and vividly beautiful embodiment of the spiritual and sacred nature of Indian Dance.

For further details visit www.kuchipudi.com.

Savitry Nair has been teaching and performing Indian Dance in Europe since the early 1970’s.

She was trained in the Bharata Natyam style by Rukmini Devi at the Kalakshetra Foundation, Madras, and in the Kuchipudi style by Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam.

A powerful and graceful performer, she has been a pioneer in bringing Indian dance to the European audiences, through her captivating stage presence and very special ability to communicate emotion and feeling.

She also has the great merit of having brought many outstanding Indian musicians and dancers to perform and teach in Europe.

Her knowledge of dance, music and theater, as well as her very fine sensitivity and intelligence in teaching, have made her a much sought out teacher, and she continues to conduct classes and workshops for many singers and musicians, as well as dance and theater companies; among them, those of Maurice Bejart , Pina Bausch, Peter brook, and Bartabas.