Technology should not dominate basic rules of dance, says Koka Vijayalakshmi

Vijayawada: "It was a great moment in my life to present my dance ballet 'Telugu Prastuthi' in Malaysia. The Telugu people residing in Malaysia invited us to give performance. I was very much thrilled after seeing the crowds in the auditorium. About one lakh public witnessed our ballet including the Ministers of Malaysia. I will never forget the appreciation received on that day," said Koka Vijayalakshmi, a classical dance master and choreographer running dance institutions in Hyderabad (Telangana) and also in Chirala (Andhra Pradesh). 'The Hans India' interacted with Koka Vijayalakshmi, born in Vijayawada and started learning dance at the age of five. She had her dance training from Kaza Venkata Subrahmanyam, disciple of Dr Vempati Chinna Satyam. Vijayalakshmi did her Masters in Kuchipudi dance and M Phil in Tourism Management. Now she is pursuing her PhD (Dance).

"Another happiest moment in my life is receiving Ugadi Puraskar from Andhra Pradesh State Government in 2001. In fact, I was in Oman on the day on which I was supposed to receive the Ugadi Puraskar. But I sent my mother to receive the same from the then Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh N Kiran Kumar Reddy. I was very happy because it was taken by my mother who was a guide for my life," said Vijayalakshmi with a happy tone.

Koka Vijayalakshmi had given more than 1000 performances during her dance career and travelled extensively to give programmes. She had visited the USA, UK, Europe, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Dubai, Oman, Kuwait and Thailand. For the outstanding performance, Vijayalakshmi received awards and also titles like 'Natya Bharathi', 'Natya Mayuri'.She received 'Guruprasad Excellency award', 'Navaratna Pratibha Puraskar' from different organisations. Vijayalakshim also graded artiste in Doordarshan.

Vijayalakshmi said that the dance ballets composed were not only myth based but also subjects about social awareness. The dance ballets like "Telugu Prastuthi", "Raithu Rayala swara chitram", "Mahakavi Sri Sri", "Annamayya Pada Manjeeranaadam","Buddham Saranam Gachami", "Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum", "Andhram", "Amaravati Prasthati", "Sarvaragna Singabhupala" and "Telangana Bharathi", composed by Vijayalakshmi were well received by the common audience and also critics. "I started the dance institute 'Sri KKRM Memorial Academy' in memory of my father. Initially it was started in Hyderabad and after bifurcation of state I opened another branch in Chirala to give training to students with minimum fees. I will be grateful to my Guru Kaza Venkata Subrahmanyam and ABK Prasad," she humbly said.

While discussing the present hard days, she felt using technology for training fine arts like dance and drama is not correct.However, it has become inevitable to conduct online classes in these pandemic situations. She also felt that the Government should also take care of the artistes by organising festivals and also arranging programmes in temples to safeguard this traditional art.

"I request the authorities and also the organisers to arrange qualitative programmes with qualified and experienced artistes instead of arranging programmes with just learners to keep the prestige of dance. I will never say not to encourage the upcoming artistes but my only request is to train the students properly before giving a full-fledged programme. She said that technology can be used to the needs of the programme but it should not dominate the dance and basic rules of dance," Koka Vijayalakshmi expressed her opinion frankly as concluding notes.