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.