Yamini Krishnamurthy

Yamini Krishnamurthy is a dancer born in Andhra Pradesh. She is a well-known and received international fame. She took India's spirit to a higher level in the international horizon. She is an eminent Indian dancer specializing in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi styles of dancing. She knows Odissi styles of dancing too.

Once, as a young girl, she performed a Bharatnatyam performance, and people were enchanted by its grace and elegance. Later on, she mastered a Kuchipudi form of dancing as well. and she wanted to learn other kinds of dance (Odissi) too from the best gurus. She found illustrious teachers to further her art. She had a tremendous personality and remained unmarried. But none can explain the divinity that one comes across in her dance performance. 

She was also known as "torch bearer" of Kuchipudi form of dance. This dancer was born in Andhra Pradesh on 20th December 1940 in Madanapalli, Chittoor District, her mother tongue is Telugu, but she made her debut in dancing in Madras. In her initial days of dancing, she had the privilege and honor of being a resident dancer in Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam.

To bring the spirit of dance art among future citizens, she also has set up a dancing school at New Delhi which is very popular and known as Yamini School of Dance, located in Hauz Khas, New Delhi. It was in the year of 1957 when she was just seventeen years old, Yamini Krishnamurthy performed her debut dance in an event in Chennai. Ever since she had a successful career. Within three years of her performance, Yamini became one of the most admired dancers of the country.

For her role in classical dance, she is the recipient of Padma Shree felicitation in the year 1968 and the Padma Bhushan - the second highest civilian awards of India, in 2001. She received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1977. She is also the recipient of the Padma Bhushan (2001) and The Padma Vibhushan (2016). She also received a title of Asthana Narthaki (“Resident Dancer”) that was bestowed upon her by the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams.

She got started training at the age of just five years. It was then she got enrolled as a student of Bharatnatyam in Kalakshetra School of Dance, Chennai. Her Guru was Rukmini Devi Arundale who had imparted her the initial training. After getting to know the basics of Bharatnatyam, she went on to complete her higher studies under world-renowned masters such as Kanchipuram Ellappa Pillai, Thanjavur Kittapa Pillai, Dhandayudhapani Pillai and Mylapore Gouri Amma.

In addition to her dancing skills in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi, she had learned Odissi from Pankaj Charan Das and Kelucharan Mohapatra. It is not just dancing; she is also an exponent veena player as she learned it from Kalpakam Swaminathan. Later on, she became a vocal trained artist too and learned about music from M.D. Ramanathan.

Dance needs holistic training, she continued to perform Bharatanatya and choreographed items in both forms of dancing Kuchipudi and Odissi. She also has performed much ballet shows like-titled 'The Gandhian Order of Life' and another on Tagore and Subramania Bharati and their depiction of the Goddess Kali. In one word, she is wedded to dance and dance is her life. Even Doordarshan featured some of her ballets live. She travels the world performing and bringing hope to many that Indian culture will unite the international art at all level.