Vibha Atlanta Team

The Srivaani Kuchipudi Dance Academy, in association with Vibha, will be presenting the Kuchipudi dance drama “Sri Vighneswara Vaibhavam” on January 10, 2009 at the Rialto Center for the Arts of Georgia State University in Atlanta. This dance drama is an original production of the academy, with original script, songs and music written in India by eminent artists exclusively for this production. The ballet, which has been in the works for the past three years, will be performed by the students of the academy. Smt. Revathi Komanduri, the Director of the Academy said “With the blessings of my Guru, Padma Bhushan Vemapti Chinna Satyam garu and Lord Vinayaka, it is with great pride and pleasure that the academy presents this dance drama to the appreciative audience of Atlanta. I am proud today because we are presenting this ballet with an almost all-girls cast, most of whom were born and raised in this country with the best of values, best of academics and most importantly best of parents. Kuchipudi used to be performed only by men even until just fifty years ago and as you can see, it has come a long way – all of the leading male roles in this drama are played by females.

This particular production is especially dear to me because a majority of the production’s work was done by women.

It also gives me immense pleasure because the net proceeds from this program will be given to the child development projects of Vibha, which is striving very hard to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged children”. The Srivaani Kuchipudi Dance Academy, a 501-C(3) non-profit organization, is in the forefront of promoting the ancient classical dance form of Kuchipudi from South India, among the people in Atlanta. The academy is inculcating the knowledge of this dance form among a number of students and several of them have graduated from the school by performing the “Rangapravesham”. The academy also participates regularly in a number of cultural activities in the community and spreads awareness about this art form.

In the past, the Srivaani Kuchipudi Dance Academy has produced and participated in several dance dramas like “Menaka Vishwamitra” and “Sivoham Sivoham”. These productions benefited several non-profit organizations and in the same spirit, the net proceeds from this dance drama will be donated to Vibha. Vibha (www.vibha.org) is a volunteer-driven 501-c(3) non-profit organization that raises awareness and funds for child development projects in India. Vibha is currently supporting about 35 projects in India, primarily in the field of education.

Dr Ravi Sarma, a long terms supporter for the Dance Academy and Vibha said “This dance drama continues the ancient tradition of telling the story of the Divine in a way that is appealing and inspiring to devotees of all ages. It took more than four years of hard work with the teacher and her students spending more than six months rehearsing and putting everything together so that we can witness a great story presented in the classical tradition of Kuchipudi dance, inspired and guided by the great teacher, Padma Bhushan Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam.

The proceeds of this program will benefit Vibha, a wonderful grassroots organization that works relentlessly to help India’s underprivileged children. Their work has touched the lives of thousands of children over the past two decades. The cadre of Vibha volunteers includes many of our children, the Vibha Youth. Vibha has been successful because of its focus on its mission, one of service to the neediest of the needy.” Since its inception, Vibha has raised nearly 8 million dollars and has supported more than 150,000 children through 175 grassroots projects in India and the US. Though the major focus of Vibha is to provide basic needs such as healthcare, education, nutrition, recreation and vocational training to the underprivileged children, Vibha has stepped in to help when natural calamities have befallen such as the Tsunami in 2004 and hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Currently, Vibha is supporting close to 35 projects in India. The complete list is available at http://www.vibha.org/projects Thanking the academy for their support to Vibha through this fund-raiser, Vijay Vemulapalli, Secretary of Vibha said “It is a pleasure to be working with Smt. Revathi and Sri. Raghu Komanduri. Their commitment and dedication in promoting the classical dance form of Kuchipudi and at the same time helping the cause of the underprivileged children is exemplary. The enthusiasm of the children and the support from the parents of the children towards the success of this program is tremendous” The dance drama is expected to be a Full-House show and will carry forward the growing tradition of the Indian classical dance in Atlanta. For more details about this program, please call Raghu Komanduri at 678-779-0526 or visit the web site http://srivaanikuchipudi.org. More information about Vibha is at www.vibha.org.