Date: September 21, 2024. This performance is free and open to the public. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the performance will begin at 6:00 p.m. sharp. Please note that seating is limited so we encourage you to arrive early.
Sponsors: This performance is organized by Telugu Studies at Emory and Asian Arts at Emory. The performance is co-sponsored by the Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies, Department of Religion, Emory Arts David Goldwasser Series in Religion and the Arts, Emory Dance Program, Emory Initiative for Arts and Humanistic Inquiry, and Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry. Student organization co-sponsors include Hindu Students Association and Swara.
Location: Emory Performing Arts Studio, 1804 North Decatur Road, Atlanta, GA 30322.
Parking: For free parking, please park at the following deck near the Performing Arts Studio:
Gambrell Deck
1705 Lowergate Drive, Atlanta, 30322
Program
Opening Remarks by Harshita Mruthinti Kamath
Prayer Songs to the goddess Saraswati and the god Venkatesha
1 | Sharanu Sharanu (“Salutations, salutations”) in Mohana Ragam and Adi Talam. Choreographed by Sasikala Penumarthi, and performed by Sasikala Penumarthi, Reneeta Basu, and Anoosha Kumar.
2 | Muddugare Yashoda (“He’s the pearl before his loving mother Yashoda”) in Kurinji Ragam and Adi Talam. Choreographed by Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam, and performed by Reneeta Basu.
3 | Paluku Tennela Talli (“Goddess who speaks sweetly is sleeping”) in Abheri Ragam and Kanda Chapu Talam. Choreographed by Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam, and performed by Sasikala Penumarthi.
4 | Kulukaga Nadavaro (“Don’t shake while walking”) in Athana Ragam and Adi Talam. Choreographed by Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam, and performed by Anoosha Kumar.
5 | Radha Madhava (“The story of Radha and Krishna”) in Ragashree Ragam and Adi Talam. Choreographed and performed by Sasikala Penumarthi.
6 | Vande Vasudevam (“I bow to Vasudeva”) in Shri Ragam and Kanda Chapu Talam. Choreographed and performed by Sasikala Penumarthi.
7 | Brahmam Okkate (“All are one before God”) in Bauli Ragam and Adi Talam. Choreographed by Sasikala Penumarthi, and performed by Sasikala Penumarthi, Reneeta Basu, and Anoosha Kumar.
Mangalam: Auspicious Conclusion
Performer Biographies
Sasikala Penumarthi is a senior disciple of Guru Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam, and she is one of the most celebrated practitioners of the Kuchipudi art form. She traveled internationally with her Guru and troupe and performed lead roles in ballets presented by the Kuchipudi Art Academy. She founded the Academy of Kuchipudi Dance in Atlanta, Georgia in 1997. Sasikala currently serves as Associate Faculty and Artist Affiliate at Emory University. She is on the Georgia Arts Council State Touring and Teaching Artists Roster, and she is also a teacher for the Woodruff Arts Center. By engaging in these various roles, Sasikala has introduced Kuchipudi in schools throughout the state of Georgia and thus received the master artist award from the National Foundation for Advancement of the Arts. Sasikala organizes and produces dance ballets with live orchestras as fund raisers for many charitable events. Her notable dance ballets include Swapna Vijayam, Andal Kalyanam, Chinmaya Charitham, Pasidi Poornamma, Sri Seetha Rama Kalyanam, Sri Rama Pattabhishekam, Chenchitha Parinayam, Shiva Padam, and most recently Ashtalakshmi Vaibhavam.
Reneeta Basu is a senior student of Sasikala Penumarthi, having started her Kuchipudi training in 1994. She assists the Academy with training new generations of students in order to help promote the art within the community. Reneeta is a primary care physician at Emory Healthcare.
Anoosha Kumar began her Kuchipudi training in 2002 under Sasikala Penumarthi. She has performed in various dance ballets and productions through the Academy of Kuchipudi Dance and completed her rangapravesam in 2013. She is a graduate of Georgia Tech and works as a business strategy professional within the social impact sector.
Orchestra Biographies
Sastry Bhagavatula (Nattuvangam) is the son of Sri Bhagavatula Lakshmi Narasimham, a Kuchipudi scholar and an expert in both mridangam and ghatam. He received training from Padmabhushan Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam and participated in many of his ballets including Ramayanam, Hara Vilasam, Srinivasa Kalyanam, and Ksheera Sagara Madhanam. He directed and choreographed Kumara Sambhavam, a Kuchipudi dance ballet. Apart from being an exemplary dancer, Sastry also provides orchestra direction (nattuvangam) to other Kuchipudi artists in the US. Sastry is a proficient mridangam player, having received training from his father. He holds a Masters degree in Computer Science and is currently working as a senior program analyst in Rochester, New York.
Subhashini Krishnamurthy (Vocalist) is an exemplary solo artist, composer, and accompanist for dance productions in the Carnatic style of Indian classical music. She received veena and vocal training from her grandmother Smt. P.V Pattammal, a veteran artist of All India Radio. Her vocal skills were later developed under the tutelage of Smt. Meena Subramanian, a disciple of late Dr. M.L. Vasanthakumari. She has composed original music for many Indian classical dance productions. She was featured at the Women Composers Festival held at the Department of Music at the University of Florida. Subhashini is a software engineer by profession.
Santosh Chandru (Mridangam) is one of the foremost disciples of Guru Sri T.S. Nandakumar, and he began playing mridangam at the age 11. He has been accompanying various leading artists in the field of music and dance. He is an All India Radio artist, equally proficient in the instruments of ghatam and thavil. Santosh has been a part of numerous percussion ensembles, including performances at the prestigious Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana festival. He is a regular accompaniment for Padma Vibhushan Dr. K.J. Yesudas during his US concerts. He has accompanied many other prominent artists including A. Kanyakumari, Vittal Ramamurthy, Guitar Prasanna, T.N.S. Krishna, Mahanadhi Shobana, Sankaran Namboothiri, and G.S. Rajan. He has been training students in the metro Atlanta area for several years.
Anjaneya Sastry (Tabla) is a disciple of the eminent tabla maestro Pandit Prithwi Bhattacharjee. He has also had the cherished privilege of being a participant of the tabla workshops offered by the world renowned Ustaad Zakir Hussain. Sri Anjaneya Sastry regularly performs at Hindustani classical concerts and has accompanied several veteran musicians such as Ustaad Shahid Pervez and Pandit Nandkishore Mooley. He has also given many traditional tabla solo performances across the US and India, including being a featured artist at the Taj Mahotsav festival at Agra, where he played a tabla solo in the backdrop of the Taj Mahal. Sri Anjaneya supports many artists of various genres including semi-classical, ghazal, Carnatic, and Hindustani concerts.
Lakshminarayana Pisupati (Violin) started learning vocal Carnatic music at the age of six at the Music Academy in Chennai and then started learning violin from Shri Gottuvadyam Srinivasa Iyengar and Shri C.N.Chandrasekaran at fourteen. He also learned from B.R.C. Iyengar (Hyderabad), L. Subramaniam, T.K. Govinda Rao, and R.K. Shriramkumar, and Padma Narayanaswamy. He also trained under N. Rajam, one of the greatest Indian classical violinist the world has ever seen and learning Hindustani Music from her. Lakshminarayana performed recently at the Festival of Tabla 2024 at Los Angeles along with Chris Votek, a cello artist.
Sai Kishore Ravisankar (Flute) is a classically trained flutist from Trichy, Tamil Nadu. He began his musical education under the tutelage of Sri Trichy J. Venkatraman. Sai has performed on various Indian television channels, including All India Radio, and on numerous stages in both India and in the US. He continues to accompany several eminent Indian musicians, including K.J. Yesudas and K.S. Chitra, and he is a recipient of numerous awards. Sai is a mechanical engineer in Atlanta, Georgia.
Pallavi Dokka (Veena) has been learning veena for the past 9 years. Her guru is Smt. Rajeshwari Pariti, an All India Grade A artist now based in Dallas. She has also been learning Kuchipudi under Sasikala Penumarthi for the past 14 years. Pallavi is a sophomore at the Georgia Institute of Technology and is pursuing a major in Neuroscience.
Performing Arts Studio Crew
Eli Guajardo, Theater Operations Manager
Sarah Stein, Stage Manager
Joshuia Campbell, Audio Tech
Lorin Dent, Audio / Video Tech
Liz Bigler, House Manager
Farida Salami, Usher
Student Ushers from Swara: Ajay Balasubramanim, Srinidhi Prasad, and Vidya Vedula
Additional tech support: Ravi Penumarthi
Additional Support
The Academy of Kuchipudi Dance is supported by the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. Georgia Council for the Arts also receives support from its partner agency – the National Endowment for the Arts.
