Kalanjali: Dances of India

Absolutely 😂

For the past two years, KALANJALI has been holding classes on Zoom. Now students have returned to the studios in Lafayette and Sacramento, California, enthusiastically preparing for the Kalanjali Annual Festival 2022, and Arangetrams by senior students. New beginners are welcome at both locations, mostly starting in September, after the holidays. [email protected].

This is terrible news...

Visa fees for foreign artists touring the US to increase by over 50% Visa fees for foreign artists touring the US will increase by over 50% before the end of 2020, it has been announced.

With the recent loss of so many dear friends from our Kalakshetra family, as well as from my personal life, I thought I need to begin to share the many photos I have from that life.
I begin with Kunhiraman's guru - his father's colleague - TK Chandu Panikkar. Next, he is receiving the President's Award in Delhi from President Radhakrishnan.
From the beginning, Kalakshetra gave the young India some of its finest artists; Sanjukta Panigrahi, Yamini Krishnamurthy. And here is Kunhiraman as Siva, his first major role as a young artist, alongside Rukmini Devi's Parvathi. Last, or most recent loss, Jagganath Rao - Jagu, whom many of us knew and loved. Part of the family.
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KALANJALI begins the 2019-2020 school year in a few weeks. Please share our beginning dates for each location with friends and family - Sacramento, Berkeley, Lafayette - all in Northern California where we have been teaching since 1975.

While everyone is in a nostalgic mood about Kalakshetra, here is a classroom scene with NS Jayalakshmi (center), from L to R, Bharati Rameyad, Katherine (Siebel) Kunhiraman, Kimiko Ohtani, teacher, Rani Samyuta, Uma Rao. Probably 1967 or 1968.

KALANJALI just celebrated the 50th Anniversary of my Arangetram, April 9, 1969, through the re-creation of that program performed by all the KALANJALI students. This celebration followed on the heels of BHARATA KALANJALI's 50th Anniversary last October, and I was their first Arangetram. Here, in honor of that event, I post again my tribute to the Dhananjayans who were so much in my mind during these recent celebrations.
Thanks to all those who have shared my journey, and my love for this art.
Katherine Kunhiraman

CONGRATULATIONS, DEAR ANNA & AKKA,

You have created something lasting, that will continue in your own center, and as your disciples continue in their creative lives, sharing as you have shared.
I wish to impress on those who see the splendid results of your work, the beautiful center, shining with prosperity and good taste, the huge body of choreography you have created, the innovations you have brought to a thousands-of-years old art, that such results do not come by accident. As Rukmini Devi dreamed her dreams, was scoffed and even threatened when she started, but persevered to create the Kalakshetra we knew in our early years, you started humbly, and with great sacrifice on the path that leads to today.
I remember the rehearsals on the roof, with bandaged toes from the rough surface, the opportunities that were scuttled by other jealous people, the very simple life with all efforts from morning to night given to fulfilling a dream.
My arangetram was Bharata Kalanjali’s first, and you took the photos on the rooftop at 6am, before rushing
off to work; some of the best photos of my entire career! How you pulled all our colleagues together for that
event, and how everyone shared that day that lives in full detail in my memory. Much of what we shared came
about because Kunhiraman was by my side, and his life-long friendship made these other relationships
possible. I must salute him as well, at this time of celebration for your 50 years. He is also with you now, in spirit.

Your families were my family; the year spent in your house, with every part of the day a part of the lesson. The
hours in class, with one of you in the morning and the other in the afternoon, the trust you placed in me when
you handed me the stick and ran downstairs to receive visitors, leaving the children in my hands, the hours
upon hours you allowed me to sit beside you, singing, beating the wooden plank, digesting the full roundness
of this art. We sat about in the evenings, no television then, and I was blessed to hear the many stories of your
progress from childhood, from the Kerala village, from Malaysia – how one becomes an artist. Your belief in

me is what gave me the courage to believe in myself.

With sincere reverence and love I place these words at your feet. I place my successes and triumphs, however

humble, at your feet. I salute you, not only today, but every day.

Love,

CONGRATULATIONS, DEAR ANNA & AKKA,

You have created something lasting, that will continue in your own center, and as your disciples continue in their creative lives, sharing as you have shared.
I wish to impress on those who see the splendid results of your work, the beautiful center, shining with prosperity and good taste, the huge body of choreography you have created, the innovations you have brought to a thousands-of-years old art, that such results do not come by accident. As Rukmini Devi dreamed her dreams, was scoffed and even threatened when she started, but persevered to create the Kalakshetra we knew in our early years, you started humbly, and with great sacrifice on the path that leads to today.
I remember the rehearsals on the roof, with bandaged toes from the rough surface, the opportunities that were scuttled by other jealous people, the very simple life with all efforts from morning to night given to fulfilling a dream.
My arangetram was Bharata Kalanjali’s first, and you took the photos on the rooftop at 6am, before rushing
off to work; some of the best photos of my entire career! How you pulled all our colleagues together for that
event, and how everyone shared that day that lives in full detail in my memory. Much of what we shared came
about because Kunhiraman was by my side, and his life-long friendship made these other relationships
possible. I must salute him as well, at this time of celebration for your 50 years. He is also with you now, in spirit.

Your families were my family; the year spent in your house, with every part of the day a part of the lesson. The
hours in class, with one of you in the morning and the other in the afternoon, the trust you placed in me when
you handed me the stick and ran downstairs to receive visitors, leaving the children in my hands, the hours
upon hours you allowed me to sit beside you, singing, beating the wooden plank, digesting the full roundness
of this art. We sat about in the evenings, no television then, and I was blessed to hear the many stories of your
progress from childhood, from the Kerala village, from Malaysia – how one becomes an artist. Your belief in

me is what gave me the courage to believe in myself.

With sincere reverence and love I place these words at your feet. I place my successes and triumphs, however

humble, at your feet. I salute you, not only today, but every day.

Love,

Kalanjali presents our first Arangetram in India, after more than a hundred in California over our 43 years.
Please accept this as a personal invitation.
Katherine Kunhiraman

Images from yesterday's Kalanjali student recital! Lafayette, Ca. Directed by Katherine Kunhiraman, Kali Futnani, and K.P. Yeshoda

Kalanjali: Dances of India

KIMIKO OHTANI, Katherine’s classmate from Kalakshetra days, mid-1960s, is giving a recital in Japan. Our team of musicians with KP Yesodha will be accompanying her, and Rukmini Naoko, whom some friends may know from the many times she has been with us in Chennai. Please pass the word along to anyone you know who might like to attend, or just know about it.

PLEASE ATTEND THIS BEAUTIFUL RECITAL BY DEVAYANI VARMA IN DAVIS ON JULY 1, 2017 4:00 pm
July 1st 2017, Saturday
Richard Brunelle Performance Hall
315 West 14th street, Davis, CA 95616
RSVP by June 25th
[email protected]
530-574-4023

KALANJALI opened its 42nd season with the Bharatanatya Arangetram of Bhargavi Ram, a spirited dancer who has been studying with the Kunhiramans for the past ten years. Her chief guest was Smt. Radha, celebrated for her performances on stage and screen. Katherine told the audience how she had seen Radha and her sister Kamala along with cousin Vasanti, perform in Kolkata when she had first arrived in India as a teenager. She recalled that seeing them dance as well as sharing the nattuwangam and singing with the orchestra inspired her to take this art as a profession. Having a grip on all aspects of the dance was her goal, and Bhargavi helped prove that she had achieved it.
Bhargavi performed the Anandabhairavi Swarajathi which had been taught to Katherine by Uma Devi Dutt of Bombay, who had been a colleague of Kunhiraman’s in Kalakshetra, and remained a family friend ever since. Kunhiraman would have been most pleased and proud of Bhargavi whom he loved as a daughter. She also performed the Dhananjayan’s Ganesha Shabdam, with narrative skill. The extended family was present, and are ready to support her dreams of dancing throughout her life, even if she becomes a famous neurosurgeon. Katherine gave high praise for Bhargavi’s grandmother who encouraged her from the beginning, and inspired her to give to her dance the hard work it requires.
A team of musicians from India accompanied the performance. What a treat!

Tomorrow - Saturday- at Rosemont High School 2:00 pm! Sunday at Del Valle Theater, Walnut Creek 2:00!

Passage to India , 3/24/17

Kali Futnani and Vidya Sundaram will be among the featured dancers this coming Friday at Ashkenaz, along with other dancers of Kalanjali: Dances of India:
Passage to India with Kalanjali Dance Company and School

Friday, March 24, 2017
8:00pm 11:00pm

Doors at 7:30 pm; Children's performance at 8:00 pm, main performance at 8:30pm

Tickets are $15

Tonight we visit Indian dance as Ashkenaz and Women Drummers International celebrate Women’s History Month with our March series of special concerts and workshops, the Maestra Series. This series features women musicians, dancers, and poets from around the world. The nights are filled with inspired culture, singing, dancing, drumming, performers in new groupings, once-only collaborations, and reunions of pioneering women musicians.

“Passage to India” showcases the Kalanjali Dance Company and School in a colorful series of solo and group dance performances featuring nearly 20 dancers and students. The dances are mostly traditional, as well as some created by the group and director Katherine Kunhiraman. At Kalanjali: Dances of India, she explains, “we teach the most authentic classical form of Bharatanatyam as we were taught in India, and also to impress upon our students a love for dance, and an understanding of its antiquity, scientifically evolved details and inherent beauty. Let them dance well, and let them become ambassadors of a cultural wealth reaching back thousands of years.” This tradition survived British colonial rule in the temples where it was preserved, and continues today.

Katherine Kunhiraman has been teaching at Ashkenaz since 1985; her Kalanjali dance company was formed at Ashkenaz. Like many young people of her era, she went to India as a free-spirited teenager, where she fell in love with future husband and dance master K.P. Kunhiraman and the dance discipline he taught. In 1975 they moved from India to Berkeley and opened their dance school, Kalanjali. Over the years, the duo conducted a large number of performances and trained hundreds of students. In 1978 at the first San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival the Kunhiramans gave American audiences a taste of the classical Indian dance form called Kathakali. In 2014, they received the Malonga Casquelourd Lifetime Achievement Award.
Eventbrite - Passage to India with Kalanjali Dance Company and School
THE MAESTRA SERIES, INDIAN, KIDS, FAMILY, INTERNATIONAL DANCE
Friday

Passage to India with Kalanjali Dance Company and School

www.ashkenaz.com Indian The Maestra Series

19 & 20 Dec 2016: Bharatanatyam by Artist K P Yesodha and team at Cheruthututhy and Guruvayur

Katherine Aunty: the shows were a great success, and details w photos will come soon!

welcomekeralaonline.com K P Yesodha presenting this performance to honor the memory of the two great artists, Ambu Panikkar(1881-1947)  and KP Kunhiraman(1931-2014), and to celebrate the legacy she inherited from them. Venues: 19 Dec at Kalamandalam, Cheruthuruthy and 20 Dec at Guruvayur temple (both in Thrissur Dt, K...

Hillside Club

Preparation before the show. Kalamandalam Manoj, actor
Don't miss the next two performances tomorrow and Wednesday. Info: https://sites.google.com/a/hillsideclub.org/hillsideclub/concerts-1

Today, Sacramento, Summer Festival 2016
Tomorrow: Walnut Creek 2:00 Del Valle Theater, 1963 Tice Blvd.
All are welcome!

Today, in Sacramento! The class of 2016.
Kalanjali: Dances of India, Summer Festival 2016. Directed by Katherine Kunhiraman. Accompanied by musicians from Chennai: K.P.Yeshoda, Nattuvangam, Ramesh Babu, Mridangam, Binu Venugopal, Vocal, Rijesh Cheruvila, Violin, Sreekumar Ram, Flute.

Kalanjali Summer Festival 2016

Timeline Photos

Please share with your friends in Paris, France! My niece, K.P. Yeshoda, will be performing at Mandapa Centre : http://www.centre-mandapa.fr

Dear Students, Parents, and Friends,
Last winter, with the death of my friend of more than fifty years, Chitresh Das, the world lost a most innovative and energetic artist. This dance production was already in the works, and now they have completed it with blessings from above, and will present it this coming weekend in Berkeley. This is a “sneak preview” of it, and you will see it is worth setting aside any other plans you may have. Please try to see this wonderful production and encourage their younger artists, enjoy the performances of their finely trained senior artists, and salute the immense cultural wealth of our community.
Katherine