‘Performing is an expensive art’

Trained under the iconic guru Vempati Chinna Satyam, Kishore Mosalikanti has done well in solo and group forms of Kuchipudi.

The Chennai-based dancer, shall be performing in the city tomorrow, along with his dance troupe.

Mosalikanti started dancing at the age of six and left his institution when he was 24. “I have come a long way as a teacher but not as a performer,” asserts Mosalikanti, who feels that the former is easier than the latter. “Performing is an expensive art…especially in South India,” he adds.

“I think it always helps to earn a name as a choreographer first,” believes Mosalikanti, who has been a teacher for over 10 years.Kuchipudi was originally a dance drama which did not allow females to be a part of it. And the male dancers had to dance as females too. “Vedanta Satyanarayana Sharma, for instance could dance both as a male and a female, with equal grace.”

It was only in the early 20th century that the solo repertoire of the dance was evolved. “Then there was a pressure to pull up kuchipudi at par with the other dances. “Also, it started getting difficult to arrange a well-trained troupe.” On the present status of the dance form, he says. “Students today lack dedication towards dance. They are more interested in preparing for universities instead.”