Dr. Uma Rama Rao
Encyclopedia
K. Uma Rama Rao is an Indian Kuchipudi
dancer, choreographer, research scholar, author and dance teacher. She is also the Founder & Director of Lasya Priya Dance Academy, established in 1985 in Hyderabad, India.
In 2003, she was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
for proficiency in Kuchipudi
by India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama. She is a recipient of the National Senior Fellowship bestowed by the Department of Culture, Government Of India through the Sangeet Natak Akademi
.
in Andhra Pradesh
. Encouraged by her family, that has a background of distinguished scholars with a keen interest in literature
, music and dance, she started training in dance from the age of 5 years from gurus like Acharya P.V. Narasimha Rao, Padmasri Dr. Nataraja Rama Krishna, Brahmasri Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Sastri, Guru Pakkiriswami Pillai and Guru C.R .Acharya in Kuchipudi
, Bharata Natyam and Ritual Dance traditions. She became proficient in theoretical and practical aspects of these ancient traditional art forms.
In her early years, along with her sister Sumathy Kaushal, she performed on various occasions in several places under the personal guidance of her guru
s. During this period 1953 and 55, she passed examinations in Classical Music and Dance, conducted by the then Madras Government. Later with the blessings of her guru
mainly, Dr. Nataraja Rama Krishna. she had taken up teaching to pass on this tradition to younger generation.
She is a post graduate in Economics from Osmania University
, Hyderabad.
s, based on the lyrics
of great composers of yester years and contemporary writers of today, with innovative spirit ,which brought her laurels. Her motto is to bring out old traditional literary gems to lime light and give them a new outlook, without deviating from the original traditional structure with their aesthetic, philosophical and spiritual values. To mention a few traditional plays Sri Thyagaraja's Nauka Charitra, Prahlada
Bhakti Vijayam,King Shahaji's Sankara and Vishnu
Pallaki Seva prabandhams, Vighneswara Kalyanam, Narayana
Theertha's Sadhvi Rukmini
,Matrubhutayya's Parijatapaharanam, Kakuturi Padmavati's Mandakini
and Siva
Katyayani dance features like Viswadeepam,Pancha Nadeeyam, Swara raga Nartanam of Padma Bhushan
Dr. C. Narayana reddy, Telugu
Velugulu, Medha, Medha Vikas on computers, which showed her multifaceted choreographic talent and her scholarly knowledge in the subject.
Government college of music and Dance in Hyderabad as a senior Lecturer in Dance from 1969 to 1988 and trained students in certificate, Diploma and Degree courses in Bharata Natyam.Consequently she had taken up the responsibility of heading the department of Dance in the capacity of Associate Professor in Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University
, Hyderabad.
To guide art students for research and other activities in the Dance field ,she had submitted her thesis on 'Yakshagana
Prabandhas of King Shahaji
-11 ' -(a Maharashtrian who ruled Thanjavur from 1684 to 1712 A.D and composed 20 Yakshagana
s -dance dramas in Telugu language
)to Telugu University and obtained Ph.D. degree along with a gold medal in 1994.
Some of her famous disciples are, Dr. Alekhya Punjala (HOD of Dance Department at Telugu University), jyothi Lakkaraju, Madhuri Kishore, Padma Chebrolu, Pallavi Kumar, many more.
, in 1985, which imparts training in Kuchipudi
and Bharata Natyam classical dance traditions in theoretical and practical aspects and prepares them for different levels of State Government and University examinations. Lasya Priya is an affiliated study center of Indira Gandhi National Open University.
Lately Dr. Uma Rama Rao
attended the Historic 2nd International Kuchipudi Dance Convention on December 24, 25, 26th, 2010 at HICC and G. M. C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium
Hyderabad, where around 2,800 Kuchipudi
Dancers, including 200+ Natya Gurus made Guinness Book Of World Records. Her presence made a blessing event, she directly inspired, encouraged and blessed many students to let long live the cultural dance Kuchipudi
.
Kuchipudi
Kuchipudi is a Classical Indian dance form Andhra Pradesh, India. It is also popular all over South India. Kuchipudi is the name of a village in the Divi Taluka of Krishna district that borders the Bay of Bengal and with resident Brahmins practicing this traditional dance form, it acquired the...
dancer, choreographer, research scholar, author and dance teacher. She is also the Founder & Director of Lasya Priya Dance Academy, established in 1985 in Hyderabad, India.
In 2003, she was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists. The award consists since 2003 of Rs. 50,000, a citation, an angavastram , and a tamrapatra...
for proficiency in Kuchipudi
Kuchipudi
Kuchipudi is a Classical Indian dance form Andhra Pradesh, India. It is also popular all over South India. Kuchipudi is the name of a village in the Divi Taluka of Krishna district that borders the Bay of Bengal and with resident Brahmins practicing this traditional dance form, it acquired the...
by India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama. She is a recipient of the National Senior Fellowship bestowed by the Department of Culture, Government Of India through the Sangeet Natak Akademi
Sangeet Natak Akademi
Sangeet Natak Akademi is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India.-History:...
.
Early life and education
She was born on 4 July 1938 as "Uma Maheswari" to Dr. V. V.Krishna Rao and Sowbhagyam in a 'Vaddadi' family from VisakhapatnamVisakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam is a major sea port on the south east coast of India. With a population of approximately 1.7 million, it is the second largest city in the state of Andhra Pradesh and the third largest city on the east coast of India after Kolkata and Chennai. According to the history, the city was...
in Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
. Encouraged by her family, that has a background of distinguished scholars with a keen interest in literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, music and dance, she started training in dance from the age of 5 years from gurus like Acharya P.V. Narasimha Rao, Padmasri Dr. Nataraja Rama Krishna, Brahmasri Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Sastri, Guru Pakkiriswami Pillai and Guru C.R .Acharya in Kuchipudi
Kuchipudi
Kuchipudi is a Classical Indian dance form Andhra Pradesh, India. It is also popular all over South India. Kuchipudi is the name of a village in the Divi Taluka of Krishna district that borders the Bay of Bengal and with resident Brahmins practicing this traditional dance form, it acquired the...
, Bharata Natyam and Ritual Dance traditions. She became proficient in theoretical and practical aspects of these ancient traditional art forms.
In her early years, along with her sister Sumathy Kaushal, she performed on various occasions in several places under the personal guidance of her guru
Guru
A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
s. During this period 1953 and 55, she passed examinations in Classical Music and Dance, conducted by the then Madras Government. Later with the blessings of her guru
Guru
A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
mainly, Dr. Nataraja Rama Krishna. she had taken up teaching to pass on this tradition to younger generation.
She is a post graduate in Economics from Osmania University
Osmania University
Osmania University , , since 1918, is a public university located in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established and named after the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan. It is one of the oldest modern universities in India. It is the first Indian University to have Urdu and...
, Hyderabad.
Performances
Uma choreographed a number of solo items, dance features, dance dramas and traditional YakshaganaYakshagana
Yakshagana is a musical theater popular in the coastal and Malenadu regions of Karnataka, India. Yakshagana is the recent scholastic name for what are known as kēḷike, āṭa, bayalāṭa, bayalāṭa, daśāvatāra . It is believed to have evolved from pre-classical music and theatre during Bhakti movement...
s, based on the lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
of great composers of yester years and contemporary writers of today, with innovative spirit ,which brought her laurels. Her motto is to bring out old traditional literary gems to lime light and give them a new outlook, without deviating from the original traditional structure with their aesthetic, philosophical and spiritual values. To mention a few traditional plays Sri Thyagaraja's Nauka Charitra, Prahlada
Prahlada
Prahlada is a character from the Puranic texts of Hinduism, wherein he is famed for his exclusive devotion to Vishnu, despite attempts in the story by his father, Hiranyakashipu, to turn him to the contrary...
Bhakti Vijayam,King Shahaji's Sankara and Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
Pallaki Seva prabandhams, Vighneswara Kalyanam, Narayana
Narayana
Narayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
Theertha's Sadhvi Rukmini
Rukmini
In Hinduism, Rukmini is the principal wife and queen of Krishna at his city of Dwarka. Krishna heroically kidnaps her from an un-wanted marriage at her request . Of Krishna's 16,108 queens, Rukmini is the first and most prominent...
,Matrubhutayya's Parijatapaharanam, Kakuturi Padmavati's Mandakini
Mandakini
Mandakini is a former Bollywood actress. She had a brief, controversial career in Hindi movies and was rumoured to have a relationship with gangster Dawood Ibrahim.-Early life:Mandakini was born in an Indian family in Meerut...
and Siva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
Katyayani dance features like Viswadeepam,Pancha Nadeeyam, Swara raga Nartanam of Padma Bhushan
Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.-History:...
Dr. C. Narayana reddy, Telugu
Telugu people
The Telugu people or Telugu Prajalu are an ethnic group of India. They are the native speakers of the Telugu language, the most commonly spoken language in India after Hindi and Bengali...
Velugulu, Medha, Medha Vikas on computers, which showed her multifaceted choreographic talent and her scholarly knowledge in the subject.
Teaching career
With this background she served Sri TyagarajaTyagaraja
Kakarla Tyagabrahmam , colloquially known as Tyāgarājar and Tyagayya was one of the greatest composers of Carnatic music or classical South Indian music. He, along with his contemporaries Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shyama Shastry, forms the Trinity of Carnatic music...
Government college of music and Dance in Hyderabad as a senior Lecturer in Dance from 1969 to 1988 and trained students in certificate, Diploma and Degree courses in Bharata Natyam.Consequently she had taken up the responsibility of heading the department of Dance in the capacity of Associate Professor in Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University
Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University
Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University or simply Telugu University , is one of the few language universities in India.-University:...
, Hyderabad.
To guide art students for research and other activities in the Dance field ,she had submitted her thesis on 'Yakshagana
Yakshagana
Yakshagana is a musical theater popular in the coastal and Malenadu regions of Karnataka, India. Yakshagana is the recent scholastic name for what are known as kēḷike, āṭa, bayalāṭa, bayalāṭa, daśāvatāra . It is believed to have evolved from pre-classical music and theatre during Bhakti movement...
Prabandhas of King Shahaji
Shahaji
Shahaji Raje Bhosle was an early exponent of guerilla warfare. He was the eldest son of Maloji Bhosale of Verul . He brought the house of Bhosle into prominence. The princely states of Tanjore, Kolhapur and Satara are Bhosle legacies...
-11 ' -(a Maharashtrian who ruled Thanjavur from 1684 to 1712 A.D and composed 20 Yakshagana
Yakshagana
Yakshagana is a musical theater popular in the coastal and Malenadu regions of Karnataka, India. Yakshagana is the recent scholastic name for what are known as kēḷike, āṭa, bayalāṭa, bayalāṭa, daśāvatāra . It is believed to have evolved from pre-classical music and theatre during Bhakti movement...
s -dance dramas in Telugu language
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
)to Telugu University and obtained Ph.D. degree along with a gold medal in 1994.
Some of her famous disciples are, Dr. Alekhya Punjala (HOD of Dance Department at Telugu University), jyothi Lakkaraju, Madhuri Kishore, Padma Chebrolu, Pallavi Kumar, many more.
Lasya Priya Dance Academy
She established Lasya Priya, a dance institution in Hyderabad, Andhra PradeshAndhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
, in 1985, which imparts training in Kuchipudi
Kuchipudi
Kuchipudi is a Classical Indian dance form Andhra Pradesh, India. It is also popular all over South India. Kuchipudi is the name of a village in the Divi Taluka of Krishna district that borders the Bay of Bengal and with resident Brahmins practicing this traditional dance form, it acquired the...
and Bharata Natyam classical dance traditions in theoretical and practical aspects and prepares them for different levels of State Government and University examinations. Lasya Priya is an affiliated study center of Indira Gandhi National Open University.
Awards and honours
She received many awards and Honours in recognition of her dedication, commitment and service towards art of Dance. Worth mentioning are- Kala Neerajanam from Government of Andhra PradeshAndhra PradeshAndhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
. - Best Teacher award from Government of Andhra PradeshAndhra PradeshAndhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
. - Sri Kala Poorna from Saint Annamacharya project of North America (SAPNA).
- Pratibha Puraskar from Potti Sreeramulu Telugu UniversityPotti Sreeramulu Telugu UniversityPotti Sreeramulu Telugu University or simply Telugu University , is one of the few language universities in India.-University:...
, Hyderabad. - Sangeet Natak AkademiSangeet Natak AkademiSangeet Natak Akademi is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India.-History:...
from the hands of Sri KalamKalamʿIlm al-Kalām is the Islamic philosophical discipline of seeking theological principles through dialectic. Kalām in Islamic practice relates to the discipline of seeking theological knowledge through debate and argument. A scholar of kalām is referred to as a mutakallim...
, the President of India on 26 October 2004 at Vigyan BhavanVigyan BhavanVigyan Bhavan is a premier convention centre of Government of India in New Delhi. Built in 1956, over the years it has been the venue of conferences of national and international stature, seminars and award ceremonies attended by distinguished world leaders and dignitaries, including Commonwealth...
, New Delhi
Works
- Kuchipudi Bharatam Of Kuchipudi Dance: South Indian Classical Dance Tradition. Sri Satguru Publications, 1992. ISBN 81-7030-291-9.
Lately Dr. Uma Rama Rao
Dr. Uma Rama Rao
K. Uma Rama Rao is an Indian Kuchipudi dancer, choreographer, research scholar, author and dance teacher. She is also the Founder & Director of Lasya Priya Dance Academy, established in 1985 in Hyderabad, India....
attended the Historic 2nd International Kuchipudi Dance Convention on December 24, 25, 26th, 2010 at HICC and G. M. C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium
G. M. C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium
G. M. C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium is a sports stadium in Hyderabad. It has a capacity of 30,000 spectators.-The Stadium:It is an ultra modern stadium with 8 line competition synthetic athletic track and 4-lane synthetic practice track...
Hyderabad, where around 2,800 Kuchipudi
Kuchipudi
Kuchipudi is a Classical Indian dance form Andhra Pradesh, India. It is also popular all over South India. Kuchipudi is the name of a village in the Divi Taluka of Krishna district that borders the Bay of Bengal and with resident Brahmins practicing this traditional dance form, it acquired the...
Dancers, including 200+ Natya Gurus made Guinness Book Of World Records. Her presence made a blessing event, she directly inspired, encouraged and blessed many students to let long live the cultural dance Kuchipudi
Kuchipudi
Kuchipudi is a Classical Indian dance form Andhra Pradesh, India. It is also popular all over South India. Kuchipudi is the name of a village in the Divi Taluka of Krishna district that borders the Bay of Bengal and with resident Brahmins practicing this traditional dance form, it acquired the...
.