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In the late 1800s to early 1900s, Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Shastri reformed Kuchipudi, a once all-male dance form, to include women and also introduced solo dance items to Kuchipudi. His student, Padmabhushan Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam founded the modern-day, world-acclaimed classical Kuchipudi style. His strong determination to promote Kuchipudi fueled a humanly impossible journey of 300 miles by foot from the town of Kuchipudi to Chennai, one of India’s most culturally active cities. In Chennai, Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam revolutionized Kuchipudi from a village drama-style form to a rigorous, intricate and graceful classical form. He founded this internationally renowned style of Kuchipudi by choreographing each movement to abide by the Natya Shastra, while still preserving the dramatic aspects.  The Natya Shastra is a comprehensive ancient text that conveys the grammar and vocabulary of Indian classical dance and drama. Composed of 36 chapters and 6000 verses, it was developed by Sage Bharata between 500 BC – 500 AD.  

 

In 1963, Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam established the Kuchipudi Art Academy, in which he provided a wholesome education of music, theory and dance free of charge for the sole purpose of encouraging students of all backgrounds and spreading the Kuchipudi art form. Even today, the academy fully runs on donation. He has trained over 8000 students including legends such as Hema Malini and Vyjayanthi Mala and has given about 3000 performances all over the world.  Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam expanded Kuchipudi globally by showcasing dazzling and grand dance ballets abroad to France and England, and later, South America, The Caribbean, The USA, Russia, Canada, Germany, Italy, and The Netherlands. Today, with the blessings of Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam, several of his students have continued to spread Kuchipudi by establishing dance academies all over the world.