Kalakshetra celebrates seventy five years - Day 1

 Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai 600041, India

Press Release

22.11.2011

Kalakshetra celebrates seventy five years - Day 1

Today was the first day of the three day festival of Kalakshetra Foundation in Delhi – SAMSARGA – commemorating 75^th years of Kalakshetra.  The first day was keeping in tune with the objective of the festival to understand and appreciate the varied musical and dance traditions that inspired and informed the work of Rukmini Devi and to witness the outcome of those traditions in her works. Said  Ms Leela Samson – the Director of Kalakshetra, “it was wonderful and interested audience who appeared greatly glued to the beautiful lecture on Rukmini Devi by Ms Lakshmi Vishwanathan in her immutable style, to heart touching rendition by Sawmya, and to the performances in the evening session on the first day”.

The first session of the day was marked by a scholarly lecture by Dr SR Jayasitalakshmi on the legendary figure Papanasam Sivam. The lecture was  juxtaposed with the rendition by S.Sowmya  who in turn was accompanied by RK Sriramkumar on violin and K. Arun Prakash on Mridangam.

The second session comprised of a talk by Lakshmi Vishwanathan on Kuravanji & Bhagwathamela traditions and their adaptation in Kalakshetra’s dance dramas. Both these sessions were held in Meghdoot theatre.

 The third session of the day consisted of dance-drama performance by Kannappar Kuravanji & Krishnakumari Kuravanji at Kamani auditorium wherein choreography was done by Rukmini Devi and music was by Papanasam Sivan.

In her lecture  Dr  SR Jayasitalakshmi pointed out how the renaissance of classical art in South India wasengineered by Rukmini Devi by bringing about a synergy involving great minds such as of  Papanasam  Sivan who was a prominent composer of Carnatic music and a singer. With the assistance of onstage rendition by Sawmya, she explained that Papanasam Sivam had composed more than 100 songs for Tamil films drawing from various literary and musical sources and he composed dance-drama for Kalakshetra bringing in the rich diversity of experiences – both popular and classical.

Ms Lakshmi Vishwanathan in the second session brought out her research on how Rukmini Devi, while creating her dance-drama for Kalakshetra drew greatly from the traditional dance-drama traditions available in Bharat Natyam called Bhagwat Mela and Karavanji. She had uncanny wisdom of understanding what went before her and she desired to keep the old flame alive in its original spirit. Rukmini Devi could do this by bringing the synergy of the best minds, sources and traditions.

The evening session was a dance-drama performance by the duo Kannappar Kuravanji and Krishnamari Kravanji, wherein the choreography was of Rukmini Devi andmusic composition was of Papanasam Sivan. The captivating performance clearly brought out the fact how the earlier focus on Shringar was experimentally turned to Bhakti.

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Details of tommorow’s programme are enumerated below:

Date	Session-1: Lec-dem 10.30 am – 11.30 am Meghdoot Theatre, SNA, Rabindra Bhawan, New Delhi	Session-2 : Lec-dem. 11.45 am – 12.45 pm Meghdoot Theatre, SNA, Rabindra Bhawan, New Delhi	Session-3 : Performance 6.30 pm Kamani Auditorium, Copernicus Marg,New Delhi
November 23 Wednesday	Talk on Tiger VaradachariarSpeaker: S.R. JanakiramanSinger: P. Unnikrishnan Violin: R.K. SriramkumarMridangam: K. Arun Prakash	Kalakshetra’s treatment of the Traditional Repertoire Speaker: Leela Samson and Prof.C.V. Chandrashekhar	Kalakshetra Bharatanatyam1936 – 2011

 

ABOUT KALAKSHETRA:

Kalakshetra literally means a holy place of arts (Kala: Arts, Kshetra: field or Holy place). Deriving inspiration from this noble ideal, Kalakshetra was established, in the words of Rukmini Devi, “with the sole purpose of resuscitating in modern India recognition of the priceless artistic traditions of our country and of imparting to the young the true spirit of Art, devoid of vulgarity and commercialism.”

Kalakshetra, later known as the Kalakshetra Foundation was established by Smt. Rukmini Devi Arundale, along with her husband, Dr. George Arundale, a known theosophist, in Adyar, Chennai in 1936. She not only invited the best of students, but also noted teachers, musicians and artists to be a part of this institution. Under Arundale's guidance the institution achieved national and international recognition for its unique style and perfection. In 1962, Kalakshetra moved to a new campus in Besant Nagar, Chennai, India. Kalakshetra Foundation today comprises of Kalakshetra, The Besant Theosophical High School, The Besant Arundale Senior Secondary School, A Craft Education and Research Centre including the Weaving Department, the Kalamkari Natural-Dye Printing & Painting unit, the Visual Arts Center, and The Bharata Kalakshetra Auditorium, the Rukmini Arangam, four libraries, the Rukmini Devi Museum, hostels, staff quarters and guest houses. 

 In January 1994, an Act of the Indian Parliament recognised the Kalakshetra Foundation as an 'Institute of National Importance' 

Some Noted Alumni of Kalakshetra: Some of the notable students of Kalakshetra are Radha Burnier, Pushpa Shankar, Vasantha Vedam, Thangamani Nagaraj, N.S.Jayalakshmi, Sarada Hoffman, Sanjukta Panigrahi, Prof. C.V. Chandrasekhar, the Dhananjayans, Adyar K. Lakshman, Krishnaveni Lakshman, A.Janardhanan, C.K.Balagopal, Yamini Krishnamoorthy, Leela Samson, and Dr Ananda Shankar Jayant.

Kalakshetra’s Focus: Kalakshetra focuses on bharatanatyam, carnatic vocal and instrumental music – flute, violin, veenai, mridangam, the visual arts, traditional crafts and textile design, textual heritage, aesthetics, history and philosophy. The director, Leela Samson, a student of Rukmini Devi, continues to be a performer and teacher of this tradition. She and her staff consider themselves as links in a living chain, and commit themselves to preserving and sharing the purity and beauty of the arts in every possible form. Committed to artistic excellence whether in classrooms, in auditoria or during tours around the world as a performance company, Kalakshetra productions are widely recognized for their in-depth research, impeccable technique and refined aesthetics. The repertory can present a wide variety of dance-dramas, a whole range of authentic folk dances of India, the complete Bharata Natyam repertoire in solo and group forms, in traditional compositions and new works. The music ensemble presents solo vocal and instrumental compositions, as well as group orchestral compositions for voice and instruments.

A vital centre of training and performance, the institution has produced and moulded generations of acclaimed artists in a distinctive style. Since its establishment in the early 20th century, Kalakshetra has had stalwart musicians and dancers on its faculty. It provides a holistic education in arts amidst a serene and inspiring natural environment cultivating a spirit of reverence. The faculty comprises of many experts who have studied here and cherish the ideals of this institution. From its inception, the institution's faculty has included teachers of repute. To name just a few, Tiger Varadacharya, Veena Krishnamacharya, Mysore Vasudevacharya, Karaikudi Sambasiva Ayyar, Budalur Krishnamurti Sastrigal, M.D. Ramanathan and Papanasam Sivan in music, in addition to Rukmini Devi herself, Pandanallur Meenakshisundaram Pillai, Chokkalingam Pillai and Mylapore Gowri Ammal in Bharata Natyam and Ambu Pannikkar and Chandu Pannikar in Kathakali. Some of India's most revered artistes are among its alumni.

Kalakshetra style

Having studied the Pandanallur style for three years, in 1936 Rukmini Devi Arundale started working on developing the style in order to create a pedagogic methodology for teaching. She introduced group performances and staged various Bharatanatyam-based ballets.

Institutions

§  Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts 

§  Besant Theosophical High School

§  Besant Arundale Senior Secondary High School

§  Koothambalam and Rukmini Arangam

§  Craft Education and Research Centre (including the weaving department, the Kalamkari natural dye printing and the painting unit)