JOIN USA sense of grandeur prevailed at the silver jubilee celebrations of Kalakshithi School of Fine Arts which was held at JSS Auditorium over the weekend. The small auditorium was packed but that didn’t stop dance enthusiasts from flowing in. It was a rare sight as the disciples of bharathanatyam exponent Rukmini Devi Arundale shared the stage and memories of their younger days, when they were under the tutelage of ‘atte’.
The dance and music school, which was founded by M R Krishnamurthy, a student of Rukmini Devi, has seen many years of progress as students from different parts of the state have passed out from there. Krishnamurthy, who is fondly called ‘Kittu sir’ by his students, underwent rigorous and disciplined training under ‘atte’, at Kalakshetra, for more than 10 years. This helped him found the school in the city.
The event started off with a lighting of the lamp ceremony by the guests and moved on to a felicitation event where some of the senior most dancers from Kalakshetra were honoured. These artistes included bharathanatyam, kathakali and theatre experts like Kala Ramesh, Ambika Buch, Savithri Jaganatha Rao, Hamsa Gorpade, B Bhanumathi, Rukma Naryana, R V Raghavendra, B Jayashree, Nandhini Ramani, A Janardhanan and Uma Rao.
In her tribute speech, dancer Savithri Jaganatha Rao thanked her teachers at Kalakshetra, including Rukmini Devi and Sarada Hoffman. And A Janardhanan acknowledged his seniors at the school — ‘Kittu swamy’, Kala Ramesh, Ambika Buch and others — who have helped him get to where he is now.
Although the passing of time showed itself on their faces, the senior dancers exuded as much enthusiasm as they ever did. Their love for the performing arts hasn’t reduced over time and even now, when they talk about dance, their face lights up with a smile. The 2-day function saw these dancers showcasing the best of their work. It started with 2 of Krishnamurthy’s dance compositions — ‘Vachana Vallari’ and ‘Gokula Nirgamana’. The former one transforms the vachana sahityas into dance form; the 12th century works of Allama Prabhu, Basavanna, Akkamahadevi, Siddharama and Satyakka are brought to life with engaging footwork. The latter, ‘Gokula Nirgamana’, is a work by Kannada poet Purohitha Thirunarayana Narsimhachar. A blend of music and drama, it sees conversations between Krishna, Balarama, Radha and the Gopis come alive.
The second day saw more dance performances and almost all of them paid tribute to bharathanatyam, which was popularised by Rukmini Devi and her students.