A Moving Canvas: A Movement-based Journey Through Kuchipudi’s History

The Moving Canvas is a 15-minute mixed media performance that explores the evolution Kuchipudi (a South Indian classical dance form) from its religious roots to its contemporary diasporic form. Grounded in archival research and autoethnographic practice, the piece explores how abhinaya (expression), character, and rhythm have shifted over time.

Created as a senior thesis in Computing and the Arts, the performance integrates real-time visual projections developed in Fall 2024. These projections respond to the dancer’s footwork, using contact microphones to capture the dancer’s steps, triggering visuals that respond to rhythmic patterns. 

The Moving Canvas asks what we gain, and what changes, when traditional forms meet digital tools, and how both classical and modern elements can inform each other in performance.