"A dancer must have tremendous personality. A God like Christ and even a godman like Rajneesh had some personality. Combination of talent, dedication, creativity and being emotive is imperative. A coupling of these four qualities with technique is essential. Monotony is deterrent as it regards your style and I notice today, that new dancers perform in a startlingly similar fashion." - Yamini Krishnamurthy. She is an exponent of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi and has dedicated her life to Indian classical dance for decades.
This eminent dancer of Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi , Yamini Krishnamurthy was born into a Telugu family on a full moon night in 1940 at Madanapalli, Andhra Pradesh. Yamini`s father, M. Krishnamurthy, was a Sanskrit scholar and grandfather was an expert in Urdu poetry. Her grandfather named her `Yamini Poornatilaka`, that means "a beautiful mark on the brow of light".
At a tender age of five she was enrolled as a student of Bharatnatyam in Kalashetra School of Dance, Chennai under Rukmini Devi Arundale. Yamini Krishnamurthy went to enroll herself to higher studies under renowned masters such as Kanchipuram Ellappa Pillai, Thanjavur Kittapa Pillai, Dhandayudhapani Pillai and Mylapore Gouri Amma after acquiring the foundation from Kalashetra. She has trained under Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Shastri, Chinta Krishnamurthi and Pasumarthy Venugopal Krishna Sharma in Kuchipudi. In addition to she learnt Odissi from Pankaj Charan Das and Kelucharan Mohapatra. By M.D. Ramanathan she was trained in Carnatic vocal music and learnt the Veena from Kalpakam Swaminathan.
Her charisma and stage presence were recognized when she gave her debut in 1957 in Chennai. She became one of the most admired dancers in the country by 1960. Her performances brought about national and international recognition to the classical styles of Bharat Natyam and Kuchipudi. Yamini`s played significant role in popularizing Kuchipudi that was then emerging as a solo dance form of Andhra Pradesh in southern India.
Yamini Krishnamurthy has the honor of being `Asthana Nartaki` (resident dancer) of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, most sacrosanct temples of India and `Sangeet Natak Academy Award` in 1977. Her dancing career brought her many awards, including the Padma Shree in1968 and the Padma Bhushan in 2001, which are among the highest civilian awards of India. This multi faced creative artist made a 13 part serial for Doordarshan on dance. She is the writer of her autobiography "A Passion For Dance", a well received book by the readers.
Yamini is working on a ballet, titled `The Gandhian Order of Life` and another on Tagore and Subramania Bharati and their depiction of the Goddess Kali.
She had been performing for more than four decades, and led an eventful life. Her life remained dedicated to Dance. Her life revolves around her dance school, her students and her compositions. As she asserts "Marriage did not happen because it was not meant to be. As for children, all my disciples are my children."
