Founder Rukmini Devi Arundale first learnt ballet.
Before taking up bharatanatyam in 1932, known back then as ‘sadir’, Arundale was entranced by a performance of legendary ballerina Anna Pavlova in 1924 in London. Pavlova spotted Arundale’s interest and encouraged the then 20-year-old. “I think you are fond of the dance,” said Pavlova, adding. “Why don’t you dance? I will teach you.” But Pavlova died before Arundale could start training. Arundale went on to learn ballet from Cleo Nordi, Pavlova’s senior dancer. Eight years later, she would see a performance of sadir by the Pandanallur sisters that would transform her life.

It started with “one tree, one pupil and one teacher”.
That’s what Arundale liked to say about the institute’s origins. The tree was the banyan, the pupil Arundale herself and the teacher Meenakshi-sundaram Pillai. Established on January 6, 1936 in Adyar as the International Academy of Arts, Arundale later chose an Indian name, Kalakshetra (meaning the holy place of arts), and registered it as a trust in 1940. The first staff included experienced artists such as Papanasam Sivan (music), Chellappa Aiyar (mridangam) and Ambu Pannikar and Krishnan Nair (kathakali). Devi introduced painting, sculpture and weaving and started a publishing wing.

A century-old banyan tree dominates the campus.
When Kalakshetra shifted to its current home in the neighbourhood of Thiruvanmiyur in the 1950s, Arundale took a sapling of the banyan tree from the grounds of the Theosophical Society to the new headquarters. Students assemble under this tree daily at 8.30am with a recitation of a bhajan comprising Sanskrit shlokas.

It follows the traditional gurukul system.
Yet Devi was an iconoclast. She was one of the first Brahmin girls to learn bharatanatyam, which was then looked down on as the domain of devadasis who dedicated their lives to a deity in a Hindu temple. But Devi convinced Mylapore Gowri Amma and later Meenakshisundaram Pillai to train her. She introduced women as nattuvanars, who presided over the recital along with the musicians. She also made changes in costumes, polished the basic steps and helped make bharatanatyam respectable.

Theosophy is integral to its identity.
Both Devi and her English husband, George Arundale, were high-ranked members of the Theosophical Society of India. Only vegetarian food is served on the premises, self-discipline is emphasised among students, and they are encouraged to think of the welfare of the institute rather than the individual. “Kalakshetra teaches one to be a good human being first, a good artist next, and then, finally, a good dancer,” said Sheejith Krishna, a member of its repertory and a former student and teacher.

It is famous for its Ramayana dance dramas.
After finishing Kutrala-Kuravanji (1944) and Kumarasambhavam (1947), Rukmini Devi Arundale invited the legendary 89-year-old musician Mysore Vasudevacharya to compose the score for six dance dramas based on the epic. Vasudevacharya worked on Sita Swayamvaram(1955), which was followed by Sri Rama Vanagamanam( 1960) and Paduka Pattabhishekam (1960). After his demise, S Rajaram and Bhagavatalu Sitarama Sharma took over the job for Sabari Mokshan (1965), Choodamani Pradanam(1968) and the concluding Mahapattabhishekam (1969). Today, the institute’s oeuvre includes productions in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and even English.

It’s produced some of the country’s best dancers.
Eminent bharatanatyam dancers CV Chandrashekhar, the Dhananjayans, Yamini Krishnamurthy, Ananda Shankar Jayant, Anita Ratnam, Navtej Singh Johar are some of the many stars who have been groomed in the sylvan environs of Kalakshetra. Students from all over the globe such as Argentina, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mauritius and Norway have studied Indian performing arts here.

Slender lorises have been spotted on its campus.
In July, the Madras Naturalists’s Society completed a six-month study on the rare arboreal creatures that live on the Kalakshetra campus. The verdant 100-acre grounds are situated by the sea, and host a variety of birds and animals. “We hated to go home during vacations,” said Indumati Raman, an alumnus from 1966-70. “It was a silent campus. You could hear the sound of flute or veena from the cottage, or somebody singing.”
You don’t have to study there to experience it.
A visit here lets you see how the traditional gurukul system survives in the modern age. You can join the prayers under the banyan tree and watch the classes from outside the cottages. There is also a Craft and Education Research Centre – you can pick up some lovely handblock printed material and saris there – and a museum showcasing Devi Arundale’s pioneering work. Visit kalakshetra.net for details.

A former student now leads the institute.
Leela Samson returned to the institute to take charge as its director. This fortnight, Samson will bring members of the Kalakshetra repertory to the National Centre for the Performing Arts for a three-day event in which they will present compositions from the institute’s classical repertoire and Samson’s latest choreography, “Spanda”.