This week we have a wonderful film on Cinemondo, called Vanaja. Why am I mentioning this on our world music page? It's because Vanaja has some wonderful music and dance in it. It opens up with an almost extinct art form, called Burra Katha, a kind of storytelling entertainment once common in Andhra Pradesh, where the movie was filmed. As the story progresses, the main character, a 14 year old girl takes up Kuchipudi dancing, and I personally think this stuff is utterly mesmerizing. The precision of each movement, as it relates to the complexities of the musical accompaniment is a pleasure to watch. There are many different kinds of Indian dance (as demonstrated by the video by Sona Mohapatra "Ishq Nachaya" and Vanaja gives us an opportunity to gain insight into one of them - and it's a great story, too!





