Doyen of Bharatanatyam K. P. Kittappa Pillai, belonging to the traditional community of artists. He was a fifth-generation descendant of the illustrious Thanjavur Quartet who are credited with the codification of adavus and the development of the Bharatanatyam format. Thiru K.P.Kittappa distinguished himself not only as a brilliant musician, but also as a choreographer. He choreographed the dance for Sarabendra Bhoopala Kuravanji with Balasaraswati and Alaya Geetavadya Nrityanjali or Navasandhi Stuti. He set up the dance formats and the Varna Mettu’s for Kalidasa’s Ritu Samhara in the original Sanskrit and some of the poetic works of Tanjore ruler Shahaji in Marathi.
His remarkable compositions like the Navasandhi Kavituams remain a jewel in the Bharatanatyam repertoire. For the Tanjore Quartet style characterized by Guru Thiru K.P. Kittappa, music and dance are inseparable. Musical excellence was an obsession with him even in choreography and conduct of dance. His staunch commitment to high standards of tradition, timeless classicism and genius at choreography remain unequalled in the field of Bharatanatyam. Young Kittappa was raised in an atmosphere of bhakti-soaked music. A son of the illustrious vaggeyakara Sangita Kalanidhi K. Ponniah Pillai and Lakshmi Ammal, he was named Sabhapati; Kittappa was his pet name. He was also known as K.P. Krishnamurti Pillai. Trained by Natesa Sastry, grandson of Syama Sastry, in vocal music, he became skilful in playing the mridangam as well. He learnt the art of nattuvangam from his maternal grandfather, the illustrious Pandanainallur Meenakshisundaram Pillai (a disciple of Mahadeva Nattuvanar belonging to the direct lineage of Sivanandam of the Tanjavur Quartet).
Kittappa Pillai initially started out as a vocalist – performing with his maternal cousin Narayanaswami. After the demise of his cousin, Kittappa stopped rendering vocal concerts. For sometime he assisted Meenakshisundaram Pillai who was teaching at Kalakshetra. He concentrated on teaching the varied aspects of nritta and abhinaya in Bharatanatyam, doing nattuvangam, and composing jatis. All this gradually expanded over the years after senior stalwarts of his paramapara passed away, and Kittappa Pillai became the byword for nattuvangam and technical excellence in Bharatanatyam. During his career of fourand-a-half decades as an expert dance master conductor choreographer, he came to be known as a unique teacher of countless Tanjore compositions, many of which he re-created from memory and close observation of his own gurus.
Kittappa Pillai’s nritta technique had an inherent musical quality. Almost every creation was a masterpiece. His rhythmical patterns had a special touch, often based on ‘usi eduppus’ (commencing off the beat). In the fast declining world of Bharatanatyam, Guru Thiru K.P. Kittappa’s ‘Magnum Opus’ represents the last bastion of the pure formula and the richest resource for classical Bharatanatyam performers to this day.
