Kuchipudi Vs Bhartanatyam

Both kuchipudi and bharathanatyam are south Indian classical forms of dance
yet different in a lot of aspects. Being a Kuchipudi dancer in Telangana, I've
always been at the task of explaining the difference to people here.

1. The tempo: Kuchipudi is known for its fast tempo and swift
movements. The 'jathis' are really fast and only a dancer trained in
Kuchipudi can manage the speed. On the other hand Bharathanatyam is
more of a slower and graceful rendition.
2. Lip-movement: A lot of Bharathanatyam dancers that I've seen do
not sing the song while dancing. But it is a must-do aspect of
Kuchipudi. We spend time to learn the lyrics of the song and lip-sync
while dancing.
3. 'Tharangam': The most important and unique aspect of Kuchipudi is
the dance performed on the 'thambalam'. It requires great expertise and
years of practice and is usually reserved for the last when the guru is
confident of his/her student.
4. Costume: There is a great difference in the costume though it is
difficult to notice for newbies. Starting from the flowers kept on the
hair, where we Kuchipudi dancers keep a pointed type of flowers 'veni
poo' to the dress we wear, it is different from what Bharathanatyam
dancers wear.
These are few of the differences I could recall. Moreover there are a lot of
variations in the way we place our legs. The 'aramandi' that is absolutely
required in Bharathanatyam is not as much stressed in Kuchipudi.
S.n Topic Kuchipudi Bharatanatyam
o
1. origin The Kuchipudi was Bharatanatyam is a
originated from the classical dance form that
place originated from the state
named ‘Kuchipudi’ in of Tamil Nadu in South
Krishna district of India (around 2000
Andhra Pradesh around years old).
3rd century BCE.
2. Aramandi This is same as In this posture, the
bharatanatyam but here, dancer’s heels are joined
(Half bend) gap between your feet together, the toes of both
isn’t mandatory! legs pointed to the
opposite direction. A
straight line should form
from one end of the toe
to the other end.Then,
the dancer squats
halfway down, making
sure to maintain the feet
in same position. When
the dancer sits this way,
a diamond shape will
form between the legs
which must be
maintained at all times
for a good Aramandi.
Maintain a gap of 2
fingers between your
feet.

3. Vachikabhinayam kuchipudi dancers None of BharataNatyam

would give lip dancers would give lip
(Vachika = movement as if they are movement for the song
words, Abhinaya singing the song for for which they are
= expression) which they are dancing, dancing
this is because
Kuchipudi has evolved
from drama, as in olden
 days  artists used to sing
to their own tunes and
dance simultaneously

4. Evolution kuchipudi has evolved BharataNatyam evolved

from Dance - Drama as solo repertoire.

5. Present day Today , besides ballets Today, besides solo

like yaksha ganam, items they have started
bhama kalapam, golla ballets like Ramayana,
kalapam kuchipudi has Venkateshwara
got hundreds of solo mahatyam, tales of bill
items like  sabdhams , and lion to name few.
thillanas, annamacharya
keerthanas, narayana
theerthas taragams,
jayadeva's astapadi's ,
rama dasu keerthanas,
tyagaraja keerthanas etc
to name few.

6. Techinqe The Kuchipudi is a Nritta: The basic unit of

dance-drama of movement in
Nritta, Nritya and Bharatanatyam nritta is
Natya. The Nritta called adavu from the
consists of teermanams Tamil Nadu (“to
and jatis, the Nritya of dance”). A typical adavu
Sabdams, and the Natya is divided into several
of acting with mudras “steps,” each indicated
for the songs. Nritta by a different vocalized
encompasses steps and rhythm (sollukattu).
movements in the form
of patterns of dance
which, though
decorated in them, have
no meaning to convey.
While fast becoming a
solo presentation,
Kuchipudi still has
strong ties to the dance-
drama tradition. It
combines the elements
of speech, mime and
 pure dance
7. Costumes kuchipudi dance dress Bharatanaytam dancers
which contains only one have an additional small
long fan pleat. And fan pleat near waist and
there will be back a shorter long pleat.
boarder like GOCHI.
8. Hair style The dancers hairstyle In BharataNatyam only
consists of 2 buns.. one one full bun.
is a complete bun or
round bun.. and a half
bun or semi circle bun.