As you all are well aware our organization, Kalyani Kala Mandir is named after my Guru and mentor of almost 30 years, Guru Srimati Kalyani Shekar. It is my attempt to honour her and express my gratitude to her for teaching me everything possible about Bharatnatyam dance, its nuances and importance. The credit for all my achievements as an artist, a dancer, a choreographer and a Guru go to her tutelage and nurturing, without which none of this would have been possible. As she celebrates her birthday this week, all of us at Kalyani Kala Mandir, wish her a very happy birthday!
Guru Smt. Kalyani Shekar is a renowned Bharatnatyam dancer and has scaled the peaks of success and recognition in her field over the fifty eventful years of her career as a Guru.
Smt. Kalyani Shekar hails from a family of Bharatnatyam artists. She is the niece of the renowned Guru Padmashree Dandayudapanipillai, by whom she was brought up and nurtured in an atmosphere of music and dance. She started learning Bharatnatyam at an early age under the care of her uncle, the nuances and distinctive features of whose celebrated style she soon came to fully imbibe.
Even as she started performing, she began teaching at her mentor’s school NATYAKALALAYAM in Chennai and later independently at Jamshedpur. She started her own dance school Bharatnatya Kalalyam in the capital nearly forty years ago.
Smt. Kalyani Shekar, an authentic exponent of the Dandayudapanipillai School of Bharatnatyam today, has trained numerous students and put on board several performances. She has choreographed and staged famous dance dramas such as “Chitrambala Kuravanji” in 1993 and “Silapaddikaram” in 1994.
Guru Kalyani Shekar has won many accolades and a number of awards including the prestigious CRITIC CIRCLE OF INDIA ANNUAL AWARD in February 1993 for her contribution and dedication towards the growth and popularization of Bharatnatyam.
Her biggest strength as a teacher is the selfless and devoted approach she employs towards the growth and learning of her students and the encouragement she provides for the prosperity of her protégés. Her endeavors to promote her students at all fronts and at all costs, is incomparable in the field of Bharatnatyam.
Here is wishing Guru Smt Kalyani Shekar a very happy birthday once again!!!