Vilasini Natyam

Southern India. This temple-dance, rooted in worship-rituals, was also adapted to concert- format in the royal courts and public theatres. Temple-dancing remained in continuous practice until it was banned the late 1940's. With guidance from the late scholar-historian Dr. Arudra and by direct learning from the last living temple-dancers, noted classical dancer Swapnasundari reclaimed and rejuvenated this hither-to dormant dance tradition. She realigned it with rituals of worship in 1996. Swapnasundari is the first and only present-day performer to dance annually in the rituals of worship inside a live temple.
The dance tradition which was originally practiced by hereditary female dancers is given contemporary expression in the extensive repertoire of Vilasini Natyam.

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Abhinaya     

Swapnasundari's mesmerizing Abhinaya keeps the audience transfixed for hours when she interprets Padams, Javalis and other compositions with effortless ease and abandon.
The high-point of the Devadasis' art is Abhinaya. Behind the deceptive simplicity of their presentations lies a complex process the study of which demands complete absorption. Swapnasundari is perhaps the only present-day Indian dancer who has imbibed all the nuances of this song-dance art from some last- living Devadasi artists. Swapnasundari's musical prowess, facility in Indian regional languages and knowledge of Sanskrit & classical Indian literature, impart further depth to this training. The expressional art of the erstwhile temple-dancers now receives apt representation in Swapnasundari's intense & luminous Abhinaya.

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Kuchipudi

Internationally acclaimed singer-dancer Swapnasundari is called the “The Queen of Kuchipudi Dance”. Her energetic dance-renditions combine perfect technique, rhythmic precision, extremely communicative facial expressions and enormous feminine charm. Swapnasundari's incisive intellect is seen in the effective incorporation of hither-to-unused textual material into her solo dance compositions and group-choreography.

Swapnasundari's dance holds immense appeal both to the connoisseur as well as general viewer. Since her sensational debut, she has dominated the field of Kuchipudi and is widely acknowledged today as its foremost female soloist. She has raised Kuchipudi style to great heights of excellence as reflected in her authoritative performances in National and International fora. Swapnasundari teaches at her institution - Kuchipudi Dance Centre.

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Bharata Natyam

Many lament the fact that Swapnasundari's extremely successful tryst with Bharata Natyam which flourished for twenty years, ended by her own volition.

In early childhood, she was taught by (Late) Gurus Neela Balasubrahmanyam and B.R.Mohana Rao. She received further intensive training from the (Late) Gurus B.Kalyanasundaram, K.J.Govindarajan & K.N.Dakshinamurthy Pillai and also from Gurus Adyar K.Lakshman & Kalanidhi Narayanan. As a top-graded Bharatha Natyam dancer, Swapnasundari performed extensively in India and abroad, winning critical acclaim.

Her study of dance directly from the original temple-dancers (Devadasis) of Southern and South-Eastern India inspired her to re-examine Bharatham and its manifestation in present-day dance systems. Preferring to develop and project a wider, more holistic view of Southern India's Bharatham rather than narrower regional definitions of it, she voluntarily gave up her public performances of Bharata Natyam from the 'nineties.

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