Vempati Chinna Satyam (English: Vempati Chinna Satyam, born- 26 October, 1929; died- 29 July, 2012) was an Indian classical dancer and guru, who had expertise in the classical dance Kuchipudi. He was popular throughout the world because of his excellent art. His devotion and dedication towards Kuchipudi ultimately led to the establishment of ‘Kuchipudi Art Academy’ in Madras on 6 February 1963. He was awarded ‘Padma Bhushan’ by the Government of India in 1998.
Vempati Chinna Satyam was born on October 26, 1929 in a family of traditional dancers in Kuchipudi, a small village in Andhra Pradesh. He started learning this dance at the age of 9. Vempati Chinna Satyam had mastered the Kuchipudi dance under the guidance of three great gurus. Initially he learned dance from Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Sastri, then refined his art by learning the best dance moves from Tadapelli Peraiya Sastri and was later trained by his elder brother Vepatti Satyam to bring beauty in gestures.[1]
When Vempati Chinna Satyam mastered the art of Kuchipudi, he moved to Madras (present day Chennai) with the aim of popularizing this art throughout the world. His devotion and dedication towards Kuchipudi ultimately led to the establishment of ‘Kuchipudi Art Academy’ in Madras on 6 February 1963. To date he has taught the difficult style and technique of Kuchipudi dance to thousands of students. She established another dance school named ‘Kuchipudi Kalakshetra’ in Vizag (Visakhapatnam) in the year 1985.
Very soon Vempati Chinna Satyam became famous in the country and abroad like a shining star in the sky. He has received many titles and awards, such as-
Sangeet Peeth of Bombay, Asthana Natyacharya of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, T.T.K. Was honored with.
He has received ‘Memory Awards’ from the Sangeet Academy like – Natya Kalasagar from Visakhapatnam, Raja Lakshmi Puruskar from Madras, Kalaprapurna from Andhra University, Natya Kala Bhushan from Guntur, Bharat Kalaprapurna from Hyderabad, D.Litt from Sri Venkateswara University, Asthana Natyacharya from Pittsburgh and Has been awarded the National Award from Kendriya Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi.
He was honored with various awards from many state governments of India, such as ‘Kalidas Award’ by the Government of Tamil Nadu and ‘Kalaimamani Award’ by the Government of Madhya Pradesh.
Vempati Chinna Satyam is famous not only in India but also abroad. In the year 1984, he was presented with the ‘Golden Key’ by the Mayor of Miami.
Mayor Dighton of Ohio had declared 25 September 1994 to be celebrated as ‘Vemapati Chinna Satyam Day’.
The Mayor of Ohio Gahanna declared 27 April 1984 as Classical Indian Kuchipudi Ballet Dance Drama Day.[1]
On 3 November 1994, the Mayor of Atlanta declared Kuchipudi Dance Drama Day and in September, the Mayor of Memphis declared 24 September 1994 as ‘Ramayanam Day’ and Vempati Chinna Satyam was honored as the chief personality of the city.
Kuchipudi dancer Vempati Chinna Satyam died on July 29, 2012.
