Shri Kalakshethram dance and music School operates from the third floor of a cramped building on the busy East Veli Street. As you approach the obscure building, the jingle of salangais and the sound of cymbals emerge distinct from the chaos and clamour of traffic noise just on the road outside.
Inside the heady fragrance of incense and kitschy posters of Gods and Goddesses greet you. In rectangular halls parted with glass panes, groups of girls, boys, men and women practise dance, music, veena and vocal singing. Among them is a group of 30 foreign tourists from Israel who are intently watching acultural programme of Bharatnatyam.
Run by city couple S. Shashi Kumar and S. Vidya for the past 10 years, the school conducts evening classes in Bharatnatyam, vocal and musical instruments for nearly 150 students aged six to 30 years. “For the past three years, foreign tourists from Israel and UK have been visiting the school. After their visit to the Meenakshi Temple, it’s a ritual for them to drop in to watch our students perform classical dance and music. They get a taste and feel of our culture,” says Shashi Kumar.
“The tourists appreciate the colour of the show and the talents of children. It’s a boost for us and the students to take it further. Since, Madurai is hailed as the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu, we feel happy in doing our bit in propagating our rich tradition of dance and music,” says Vidya.
