Perini Ravi Teja

Perini Ravi Teja is one of the highly proficient classical dancers who mastered the traditional techniques of Kuchipudi, Bharata Natyam, Andhra Natyam and Perini Shivatandavam. He devoted and dedicated himself to this beautiful art for over 3 decades and is still going strong.

 

He has rendered over 1500 unique recitals across length and breadth of India  and also enthralling audiences in Dubai, Sharjah, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Mauritius, he impresses spectators with deep understanding of Bhava (emotion) and Abhinaya (expression), making the audiences move with his sense of rhythm. 

His inborn talent and interest in classical dance was recognized by his mother, Smt. Subramanya Eswari, when Perini Ravi Teja was at a tender age of 3, encouraged him to pursue dance. There was no looking back since then. He joined eminent Natyacharya Sri Bhagavatula Yagna Narayana Sarma of Vijayawada, and was trained since he was 3 years old. Under his tutelage Perini Ravi Teja honed his skills in ancient and popular dance forms of India namely, Kuchipudi and Bharatanayam for over 20 years, while continuing his academics. 

Perini Ravi Teja gave his first performance at the age of 4 at the most important spiritual retreats for Andhra residents, Kanaka Durga Devi Temple in Vijayawada, which is considered as a great honour for any performer. The opportunity to perform in front of live audience normally comes after years of rigorous training under Guru-Shishya Parampara, but for Perini Ravi Teja, Goddess Kanaka Durga bestowed the opportunity to perform dance live within 1 year of training under Natyacharya Sri Bhagavatula Yagna Narayana Sarma. 

The learning instinct grew by leaps and bounds in Perini Ravi Teja when he heard about Gurudeva Dr. Nataraja Ramakrishna through his well wisher Sri Patrudu, he moved to Hyderabad in 1999 to learn the 11th century’s warrior dance form  Perini Sivatandavam. He was taken under the wings of  Dr. Padmashri Nataraja Ramakrishna who also trained him in the ancient temple dance form of Andhra Pradesh  Andhra Natyam. There was no looking back for Perini Ravi Teja ever since as he carved a niche for himself among the Perini Dancers. In fact the name Ravi Teja (means brightness of the Sun) was bestowed upon him by his Guru Dr. Nataraja Ramakrishna. His original name was Ravi Kumar. Perini is more or less his family name now and 'Perini Ravi Teja' is what he goes by among his innumerable admirers and well wishers. 

Under the tutelage of Dr. Nataraja Ramakrishna, Perini Ravi Teja emerged as a unique performer who could render classical dance recitals with ease be it Andhra Natyam, Perini Sivatandavam, Kuchipudi or Bharatanatyam. He also occasionally experiments with Fusion and Jugalbandis. His learning curve did not stop with his dance performances which number to over 1500+ figure. He honed his skills in choreography and can feel the music flow through the human body and can recreate the dancing rhythm within no time.

 

 

Apart from performing dance and acting, Perini Ravi Teja runs a dance school called Nrutyalay, in Hyderabad and Nataraja Dance Academy, in Suryapet, Nalgonda District, along with his friend Perini Venkat, training youngsters in Kuchipudi, Bharata Natyam, Andhra Natyam and Perini Sivatandavam and carries on the legacy of Indian classical dance.

Perini Ravi Teja has done choreography for movies, television serials and several reality shows for television, Perini Ravi Teja is also honed his skills in acting and has enacted several roles in television serials and dance dramas. These include both mythological and social theatre.Perini Ravi Teja choreographed over 50 songs for movies, television serials like 'Sri Venkateshwara Vibhavam” directed by Bapu, 'Srusti' directed by Raghavendra Rao and many reality shows like 'Aata'- Dance show for 5 seasons, 'Jagadam' for Zee Telugu, Dance A.P Dance, 'Jalsa' for Gemini TV, 'Dhoom Machadhe' for Sitara channel, Challenge for Maa TV and Magadheera for Zee telugu channel. He also worked for a Telugu movie 'Tejam' as a choreographer.

Some of the noteworthy performances in India With over 1500+ dance recitals to his credit, here are some of the most prestigious performances rendered by Perini Ravi Teja. 

*     Perini Sivatandavam performance at Maha Kumbh Mela in 2010.

*     Nadaneerajana, Tirumala Tirupathi Devastahanam, 2010.

*     Sangeeta Natak Academy, New Delhi, 1993.

*     Perini International, Hyderabad.

*     Telugu Association of North America (TANA), Vijayawada, 1999.

*     American Telugu Association ( ATA ), Hyderabad & Nellore.

*     The Bombay Andhra Mahasabha, Mumbai, 2002.

*     National Dance Festival, Balarshah, 1999.

*     Datta Peetam, Mysore, 2000.

*   Kuchipudi Natya Vaibhavam, Delhi Doordarshan. This program was choreographed by Padmasri Dr. Raja & Radha Reddy, 1998.

*     Sankranti Shobha, Hyderabad Doordarshan, 1998.

*     Ramakrishna Mission in Hyderabad, Belur, Kolkata, Jammu, New Delhi, Lucknow, Haridwar 2006 to 2010.

*     International Trade Fair, New Delhi, 2005.

*     Mirja Festival in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, 2005.

*     200 Years of Secunderabad Festivals, Secunderabad.

*     Melu Kalaika Foundation, Bangalore, 2006.

*     All India Dance Festival 2006 at Kurnool.

*     Indian Golden Jubilee National Convention, Hyderabad, 2007.

*   Delhi Telugu Academy’s Ugadi Celebrations, A.P Bhavan New Delhi, 2006.

*     Dandi March at Baroda, Gujarat, 2006.

*     Dasara Celebration at Exhibition Grounds, Mysore, 2006.

*     Indo Russian Cultural Centre, Madras, 2008.

*     National Telugu Mahasabalu, Chennai, 2007.

Some remarkable performances in Various Temples and prestigious locations like  Ravindra Bharathi, Tyagaraya Gana Sabha, Sundaraiyya Vignana Kendra, Shilparamam, Shilpakala Vadeka, on different Occasions all over Andhra Pradesh.

*   Panagallu Festivals, Nalgonda.

*   Bhadradri Festivals, Badrachalam.

*   Youth Festivals in Ramagundam.

*   Krishna Mahostav, Vijayawada.

*   Sthambadri Festivals, Kammam.

*  Performed on the occasion of Godavari Pushkaras at different banks of Godavari.

*   Performed at 'Kalachakra' Festival, Amravathi.

*   Performed at 'Vijay Jawan Mela' Shilparamam, Hyderabad.

*   Participated & Performed on the Occasion of 'Andhra Pradesh Formation Day' Celebrations Conducted by Andhra Pradesh Govt. In association with A.P Cultural Affairs at Ravindra Bharathi, Hyderabad.

Perini Ravi Teja conducts Dance workshops in Perini Sivatandavam, Andhra Natyam and Kuchipudi in Hyderabad. 

Some of the notes worthy performances or primary roles played in Kuchipudi; Social Ballets & Contemporary Dance Ballets are-Ksheera Sagara 

*  Madhanam, Devi Vijayam, Samaikya Bharati, Rayte Raju, Radha Madhavam, Telugu 

*     Vaibhavam, Andhra Kala Viabhavam, Srimath Bhagavath Gita, Lakuma Swamtanam, Droupadhi, Gajendra Moksham, Jagruthi Pancha Kanya, Kala Chakra, War & Peace, Lakshman Rekha and the like.

International Performances: Apart from several performances in India, Perini Ravi Teja took Kuchipudi, Andhra Natyam and Perini Sivatandavam to enthrall international audiences. 

*     Rasamayi Telugu Association of Dubai in 2003.

*     World Telugu Federation (W.T.F) in Dubai 2006.

*   International Telugu Cultural Conference, Golden Jubilee of the Telugu Association of Malaysia in 2006 Malaysia.

*     Women Welfare Association of Sri Lanka 2006.

*  Singapore Telugu Cultural Festivals in Singapore Telugu Samajam, Singapore in 2006.

*     Ugadi 2007 Festivals in Andhra Maha Sabha, Mauritius 2007.

*     MBC Television (Mauritius Broad Casting) Mauritius 2007.

Perini Ravi Teja was felicitated with the title 'Perini Rudra' from 'Perini International', Hyderabad in the year 2000.