Acharya, Chilakamari Rama was Kuchipudi choreographer and scholar. This famous personality was born in a traditional family of gurus and temple dancers in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh. Chilakamari Ramaw was trained under the legendary Vedantam Lakshminarayana Sastri. He innovated a unique technique of designing a form while dancing on flour spread on the ground, which he traced to classical prenkhani nrityam or `swing dance`. He founded the Nataraja Natya Samiti troupe in Eluru and served as principal of Kalakshetram, Eluru. After joining the Darpana Academy in 1951, he popularized Kuchipudi in Gujarat. His research into temple dances and revivals of dance-drama received recognition and admiration. He choreographed Simhanandini, Ganesha kavutvam or `Eulogy to Ganesha`, and Mahalakshmi vaibhavam or `In Praise of Mahalakshmi`, and added several new numbers to the repertoire, such as Mayura kavutvam or `Eulogy to the Peacock`, Ardhanarisvara, Parvati tandava or `Parvati`s Tandava Dance`, and Mandodari sabdan or `Mandodari`s Rhythmic Measure`. Besides books in Telugu, his English publication Understanding Kuchipudi of 1992 is noteworthy.