Kuchipudi

• Kuchipudi is the name of a classical Indian dance and a small village in Andhra Pradesh, where this dance originated. 
• Known for its graceful movements and strong narrative, Kuchipudi was historically performed as a dance drama with several dancers taking different roles. 
• Today, it is performed either solo or as a group presentation. Legend has it that a devotee of Lord Vishnu, Siddhendra yogi, once dreamt of Krishna and his consorts, Rukmini and Satyabhama. Later, he searched for dancers to enact the dream and he found them in the village Kuchelapuram, which was later called Kuchipudi. 
• Since then every family of the village ritually offers at least one male member to be trained as an actor-dancer.