“An institution which taught more than dancing. I studied in the period when Shanthini amma took over the institution, following Suppiah master’s passing. With motherly love, she taught us how to be a good performer, an effective teacher, a properly trained choreographer and a nattuvanaar. Since both her gurus, Suppiah master and Adyar Lakshman sir, were males, she knew the positives and negatives of males dancers. The experience she gained from her gurus helped her to train male dancers including me to dance without the feminine touch/characteristics. She also knew Kathakali, an art form which was predominantly performed by males. This helped her to guide us - to define the limit of male dancers in the bhava (expressions and emotions) section, and to avoid too much grace and maintain the dignity in the nrita (footworks and body movements) section. Another notable experience is working with her in dance dramas. Watching her choreograph is itself an experience. Observing the way she applied the adavu (basic movements) and the way she chose the characters all helped us to be who we are today.”

“I knew Suppiah master through YMHA. I have heard about his father, and the artistic family background. Thus, I know four generations in this family. Though Suppiah master was a friend, with was with his daughter, Shanthini, that I worked with on productions. The first such production is a dance drama called Aarkolo sathurar, in 2003, and then another dance drama, Alapparumkarunai, in 2015, which was an adoption of Tagore’s play, “Sanyasi”. When these dance dramas were conceptualized, we first thought of her. The reason is that she sticks to bharatanatyam even while collaborating with professionals from other disciplines. The two dace dramas are very much different for the typical dance drama format. Though working in an atypical theme/format, she stuck with Bharatam. She never compromised. Her flexibility in working with a multi-disciplinary team was evident in Alapparumkarunai. Although the unknown theme, and the subsequent need to know the storyline, drew attention of the audience to the music and the lyrics of the song, the dance still stood out and drew our eyes like a magnet. She was willing to experiment and collaborate, and that is a great thing.”

The most important reason for Kalabhavanam to stand out is that it is run by a family. The current director and principal choreographer of this school, Mrs. Shanthini Sivanesan, is the daughter of Mr Erambu Suppiah, the founder. His granddaughter, Mrs. Theventhy Thirunanthan, is next in line. This family involvement ensure that the techniques and styles are passed on to the students without much deviations.

Teaching and learning activities

Kalabhavanam is the dance h(e)aven for students from all over Jaffna. From preschool going kids, to A/L students who study bharatanatyam as a subject, and the students of Ramanathan Academy of Fine Arts, of the Jaffna university, there is a wide variety in the students of this school.

In addition to teaching the practical portions of dance, these classes also cover the basic theory work for the North Ceylon Oriental Music Society (NCOMS) exams, the Slokas and Viniyokas that students should learn, and choreography lessons and natuvaangam classes for older students.