Yamini Krishnamurthy was born in the year 1940 in Madanapalli, Andhra Pradesh, brought up in Chidambaram, Tamilnadu in a Telugu family. Yamini Krishnamurthy was born on a full moon night, and her grandfather named her Yamini Poornatilaka, which means a beautiful mark on the brow of light. She went to Chennai in order to learn dance at Kalashetra School of Dance under the direction of Rukmini Devi Arundale.yamini is an eminent Indian dancer of Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi.
Beginning her dancing debut in 1957 in Chennai, earlier called as Madras, Yamini had led an eventful dancing career. She has the honor of being Asthana Nartaki resident dancer of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam. Her dancing career brought her many awards, including the Padma Shree 1968 and the Padma Bhushan 2001, which are among the highest civilian awards of the Republic of India
Yamini Krishnamurthy had been performing for more than four decades, and led an eventful life. Presently in her mid-60s, Yamini continues to be active. She imparts dance lessons to younger dancers at her institute, Yamini School of Dance, Hauz Khas, New Delhi.She released her autobiography, A Passion for Dance, a book well received by the readers. Her life remained dedicated to dance. Once she recalled. Marriage did not happen because it was not meant to be. As for children, all my disciples are my children.
Yamini went for advanced studies of dance. She took training from the marvels of dance field like Kanchipuram Ellapa Pillai, Thanjavur Kittapa Pillai, Dhandayudhpani Pillai and Mylapore Gouri Amma . Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Shastri, Chinta Krishnamurthi and Pasumarthy Venugopal Krishna Sharma were the trainers of Yamini for Kuchipudi.
The dancing art of Odissi was to Yamini by Pankaj Charan Das and Kelucharan Mohapatra In 1957. Yamini acknowledged herself on the International panorama by the year 1960. Yamini appeared as one of the leading classical dancers of India.
Through her alluring dance performances, Yamini popularized Kuchipudi all over the world. She received national and international appreciation for her dance. Yamini received the credit of being Asthana Nartaki Resident Dancer of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam context regarding India. Her dance talent brought many awards to her fame. In 1968, Yamini got the title of ‘Padma Shree’ by the Government of India. She received `Sangeet Natak Academy Award’ in 1977 and ‘Padma Bhushan’ in the year 2001.
Above and beyond her stage performances, Yamini produced a serial based on dance for Doordarshan. She also wrote a book, `A Passion for Dance’ that was appreciated by the readers. In 1990, Yamini established ‘Yamini School of Dance’ at Hauz Khas, New Delhi. She teaches dance skills to the young dancers at her institute. After continuing more than 40 years of dance journey, Yamini is still active with her dancing skills.