Chennai
The Urur Olcott Kuppam Vizha, an art festival launched four years ago by Carnatic musician TM Krishna and environmentalist Nityanand Jayaraman, celebrates and promotes art forms in all spaces. After the success of the fourth edition (held in February), the organisers have started a new initiative Kalai Koodam — a space for adults and children to train in the arts.
“Over the last four years, we saw a lot of enthusiasm and genuine interest among young children and adults to understand and learn different art forms. The success of the vizha is testimony to this. We want to provide something exclusive to them. During a discussion with the volunteers of the festival, we suggested the idea to start a performing arts school and everyone agreed to it,” says Monali, the administrator of the school.
They are planning to launch Kalai Koodam in April 15 — the school will be opened at Thiruvalluvar Nagar Community Hall, which is very close to Besant Nagar Beach. “This is not only for the people from Urur Olcott Kuppam, but open to all. So far, we have received enquiries from Thiruvalluvar Nagar, Besant Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur, Anna Nagar and many are keen to enrol in the school. As of now, we are planning to conduct classed on all Sundays starting April 15,” explains Monali.
There will be a panel of trained teachers and to start with they are focussing on music, Paraiattam and Bharathanatyam classes for the public.
“We are starting with these three arts. I am a vocalist and I will be teaching music lessons. Paraiattam will be taught by Deepan and Bharatanatyam by Sheejith Krishna. We will be having teachers in all these three sections taking classed every Sunday,” says Monali.
Unlike other fancy art schools, Kalai Koodam’s fee is nominal — Rs 100 per month for each art form. With an aim to create an environment where people from all age groups can come and learn an art, the organisers are planning to add more classes in the coming months.
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