Gentle guidance for the formative years

Most students start at a very young age, imbibing dance skills as well as life skills from the master. They consider Kalakshithi as their home, running there for a word with their Guru and a chat or a shared giggle with their friends. The relationships formed here are very strong... and often stay so for life.

"Can you change Tyagaraja Keertanai to a disco form or can the seven swaras undergo a change? The same principle applies to dance too. Everything has to be according to the prescribed template within which one can experiment. But the edifice should be strong and the original art should be treasured" - says Kittu Sir, echoing the vision of his Guru, Athai Rukmini Devi. 

 

On the selfless path of celebrating Bharatanaytam  

Kalakshithi in Bangalore is a 20-year-old gurukul for Bharatanatyam, founded and nurtured by Professor MR Krishnamoorthy, (Kittu Sir) a living legend. 

For the last 20 years, early dawns in Basavangudi, a quaint, bustling Bangalore suburb, have been marked by the fall of dancing feet. It is here in this warm, welcoming old mansion, that Professor MR Krishnamoorthy has been gently guiding the steps – and lives – of generations of young women and men.

Words fail to describe Professor MR Krishnamoorthy… he is an oasis of calm in the harried world, a one-man religion in the firmament of dance. The wisdom of the sages, the knowledge of the masters and the practicality of a world citizen melt gently into his tall form and flowing gait.   

A close disciple of path-breaking danseuse Rukmini Devi Arundale, this humble maestro is the founder of Bangalore’s revered Kalakshiti institute of Fine Arts.

After 14 years of close tutelage with Rukmini Devi in the hallowed portals of Kalashetra and earning his post graduation, Kittu Sir mentored hundreds of young dancers as a professor. 

After Rukmini Devi’s demise in 1986, Prof Krishnamurthy returned home to Bangalore, and founded Kalakshiti in 1991. Thus began a movement that re-wrote the rulebooks of learning and performing, confidence and fulfillment, as it grew in stature as a temple of dance. Numerous awards and accolades came in search of Kittu Sir, resting lightly on him over the decades.