गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णु र्गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः |
गुरु साक्षात परब्रह्मा तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ||
Guru is the creator, the preserver, the destroyer and the lord himself. Salutations to that Sri Guru.
RAJA RADHA REDDY world-renowned dancing couples, choreographers and gurus have given new dimension to the age-old art of Kuchipudi Dance. Their illustrious career spanning over five decades has been marked by several prolific public and private performances in both India & abroad and has gained them a reputation for rare excellence. As cultural ambassadors, they have traveled to more than 95 countries, sometimes multiple times, and showcased our rich culture and their talent to numerous Kings, Queens, Princes, Princess, Presidents and other dignitaries all across the world.
They were amongst the first to pave the way introducing Indian Classical Dances to prestigious avenues since the late 60`s and early 70`s. Their assiduous efforts to spread Kuchipudi Dance to the world saw them amongst the first to perform Indian classical dance at Lincoln Centre - New York, in the International Dance Festival of Avignon in France and Salzburg (Austria); after the Apartheid to inaugurate the “Play House Theatre” in Durban (South Africa); act as ambassadors of Indian Dance in Japan’s ‘The All-star Ballet Gala Festival’; perform at the Queen Elizabeth Hall where Raja Reddy was honoured with the name “Black Shiva”; perform for Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro on his special request.
Their name, surely enough, grew synonymous with Kuchipudi and they have been conferred with numerous titles and awards as honours for their tireless dedication and continued excellence. They were the first couple in the history to get PADMA SHREE and PADMA BHUSHAN Awards individually but simultaneously in the years 1984 and 2000 respectively; Sahitya Kala Parishad Award in 1990; Sangeet Natak Academy Award in 1992; Kalidas Sammaan in 2013 to name a few.
In 1973, after seeing Dr. Raja Reddy`s performance at Lincoln Centre New York, Juilliard School offered him to teach at the school Kuchipudi dance which he refused in order to continue his extensive travel, promoting and popularizing Kuchipudi dance around the world. Being the first Indian couple to perform Kuchipudi dance in Avignon International Dance Festival in France, Salzburg and Vienna among greats like Nureyev; Performing for President Ford on Mississippi Ship in 1976, in New Orleans.
KAUSHALYA REDDY, senior most disciple of Dr.s Raja Radha Reddy, a commendable dancer, Guru & Artistic Director. She is the backbone of Natya Tarangini, Performing Arts Centre, for the past four decades, dedicating herself to train shishyas in the glorious art of Kuchipudi.
As a performer Kaushalya has toured USA, Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia and UAE so on and performed at many prestigious venues such as Sadler’s Well, London, Hungarian Arts Festival, New York Consulate, Edinburgh Festival, Saka Tokyo, Play House, South Africa.
Her brainchild, the Annual ‘Parampara Series’National festival of Dance & Music way back in 1998, a festival of three days to connect the present and future generations to the roots of Indian traditions and culture and to preserve this rich Indian Heritage. As a natural progression she took the Parampara International in 2011 by presenting popular dance troupes from across the world.
She is the key representation behind the affairs of Raja-Radha Reddy and the Reddy family.
Belonging to the renowned TIGER VARADACHARYA’S SCHOOL OF MUSIC, Dr. Vageesh grew up in a natural environment rich in music, Sanskrit and traditional values which provided a very strong base for him to get initiated into music at a very early age by his maternal aunt, Sangeethavidushi H.S Mahalakshmi of Mysore, a well known karnatic vocalist who gave a very systematic traning in vocal and groomed him. With his natural flare for music , vageesh continued his academic studies and got his degree in science from Mysore university. And continued post graduate studies in music at the university college of fine arts Mysore and came out as topper in the exam winning the coveted gold medal for his brilliant performance. A prize winner in all the music competitions conducted at the inter school , college and Varsity level, vageesh left a mark as the best youth artiste of the state (Karnatic Vocalist) besides winning prizes in competitions conducted by reputed music organizations like the Bangalore Gayana Samaj, Karnataka Ganakala parishat, and The MUSIC ACADEMY, CHENNAI. As a first prize winner of the ALL INDIA RADIO music competition, Vageesh was directly placed as a graded artiste of A.I.R. Today, Vageesh is a TOP GRADE artiste of ALL INDIA RADIO. Vageesh also got his Doctorate in Music from Delhi University,submitting his thesis on the ''Aspects of Mantra, Tantra, yantra and Agama in the compositions of MuthuswamyDeekshitar '' under the guidance of Prof T.N. Krishnan, the violin maestro. Dr Vageesh also holds a First class post graduate dip in Public Relations and Management from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. After a short stint at a reputed multinational company in their research dvn as a senior chemist, vageesh got into A.I R, selected thru U.P S.C as a Programme Executive [Karnatic Music] in 1980 and joined at A.I R., Delhi. Dr Vageesh has served All India Radio for 34 years and has held the position of Deputy Director General I/c Music and Archives. Post retirement, he has held the position of Consultant( Music) in DG:AIR , New Delhi. Dr Vageesh has also served AIR TRICHY, as Station Director for nearly Six years (2002 to 2007).