Biography

Girish and Devi have created their own niche in the field of Kuchipudi together, a performing career of more than five years. Girish and Devi are graded artistes of Doordarshan. The duo initiated their performance in the prestigious Uday Shankar Dance Festival in Kolkata in 2009 and the rave reviews brought in many such festivals to their performing career. They are the founder members of Ghana Dance Ensemble. They, along with their group, have travelled and performed widely across, both on national and international platforms. They are currently practicing and learning under the tutelage of Guru Shri Vempati Ravi Shankar in Chennai and Smt Chavali Balatripura Sundari in Hyderabad, who carry forward the legendary lineage of Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam. Girish and Devi did their Masters in Performing Arts from the University of Hyderabad under the astute guidance of Prof Jonnalagadda Anuradha. Girish completed his Certificate course in Kuchipudi and Diploma in Yakshaganam from Sri Pottisreeramulu Telugu University. He was initiated into dance under the guidance of Dr Vedanatam Ramalinga Sastry and furthered under the guidance of Prof Jonnalagadda Anuradha. He is privileged and honoured to perform as Lord Shiva in the dance/drama, Ksheera Sagara Madanam, composed and choreographed by Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam and was performed under the guidance of Guru Vempati Ravi Shankar at Nupura Raavam Dance Festival in Hyderabad. His performances range from the prestigious Purush Festival in Bhubaneswar, Kalachakra Festival in Amaravathi, Flamingo Festival in Nellore and Lumbini Festival in Hyderabad and Vizag. He is a recipient of Senior Scholarship of the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India. Devi furthered her academics with an MPhil in Comparative Literature where her focus was to bring in the interdisciplinary attitude of dance and literature; the topic was Dance as Discourse: Revisiting the performances of Gollakalapam and Theyyam from the University of Hyderabad in 2009. She is pursuing her PhD in Dance under the guidance of Prof Jonnalagadda Anuradha. She has received the title Yuvaratnam in Swathi Tirunal Dance and Music Festival in 2001. She is also a recipient of CCRT National Scholarship in 1998. She has qualified the National Eligibility Test (NET) for lectureship as well. Additionally, she has been granted Junior Research Fellowship in New Areas by the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India. She has also worked as an editor for the I