KVS Pratibha Puraskar for Natya Visarada

Eluru: The prestigious KVS Pratibha Puraskar-2016 was announced to eminent Kuchipudi dancer Natya Visarada Anupama Mohan (Kerala). Disclosing this at a media conference here on Wednesday, the Trust Chairman K V Satyanarayana said that he instituted the puraskar with an ambition to promote Kuchipudi.

He said that in the present academic year, the trust selected Anupama Mohan of Cochin (Kerala). He said she is a best Kuchipudi dancer and has been imparting training in Kuchipudi to many persons in Kerala.

On September 26, the award will be given to her at a function. The function will be held at YMHA Hall in Eluru wherein Andhra Pradesh Assembly Deputy Speaker Mandali Budha Prasad and Information Minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy will be participating as chief guests. Andhra Pradesh Cultural Affairs Director R Vijayabhaskar will also participate in the function, he added. Under this award, a cash prize of Rs 10,000, a citation and a memento will be presented to the awardee.

The Kuchipudi maestro and cine-dance director said that for the last 28 years he has been training enthusiasts in Kuchipudi in India and US. He said that so far he visited the US 30 times, performed Kuchipudi and conducted Kuchipudi classes. During this year, he performed Goda Kalyanam Kuchipudi dance play let in Dallas, Milwaukie, Detroit and other places. He said that he performed the Goda Kalyanam in the presence of Ganapathi Sachidananda in Dallas on July 24.

The KVS Trust Chairman said that the Academy of International Global peace of Bangalore presented him the doctorate for his achievements in Kuchipudi on August 10 this year. He further said that on the invitation of London Telugu Association, he will tour London to conduct dance training classes for two weeks from October 19.