Kalai Koodam, an Urur Olcott Kuppam Vizha initiative, is a school for people to learn art in a liberal environment, where boundaries blur and conventions are broken
The Urur Olcott Kuppam Vizha (UOKV), Chennai’s popular counter-cultural festival, began with the dream of bringing all types of art and people together, in a single space. The same dream reflects in their next project, the Kalai Koodam — an art school for people of all ages, economic backgrounds and cultural moorings. Vocal music, Bharatanatyam and Paraiattam will be all be taught under one roof.
The Kalai Koodam classes will take place at the Thiruvalluvar Community Hall, near Urur Olcott Kuppam, the fishing hamlet, near Besant Nagar. Anyone above eight can take part in these classes. The fee for each class per art form per month is ₹100. Anybody who wants to contribute above the basic fee is welcome to. The money will go into running the Kalaikoodam. The classes will be held on Sundays.
Vocal music classes will not be confined to a particular genre of music, at least in the initial phase. Monali Bala, a musician, UOKV volunteer and manager and administrator of Kalai Koodam says, “The classes aim to develop a love for all kinds of music in children. Over a period of time, the children will gravitate to a particular genre. Only then, will we channel them towards that respective genre.”
This is also an endeavour to cover different kinds of music across the country, apart from Hindustani and Carnatic music — abhangs from Maharashtra or Rabindra sangeet from West Bengal. “And, in Tamil Nadu alone, you have thiruppugazh, bhajanais and folk music. The students are given an exposure to a variety of music cultures,” adds Bala, who handles the music classes. A panel of teachers will be working under Bala, Sheejith Krishna who manages the dance classes and Deepan, who helms the Pariattam classes. When Monali went to the kuppam as part of the vizha volunteering work, she recalls people requesting her for Hindustani music classes. “The demand came from the big migrant diaspora living in the kuppam. Carnatic music also has a popular taking. An older lady called up and stressed she only wanted to learn light music. However, the foundation of these two classical art forms is also strong. The students will definitely be trained in swaras, taken from Hindustani and Carnatic streams.”
The idea behind Kalai Koodam aligns with the philosophy of UOKV, Bala points out. “In the last four years, we have been seeing an increased interest in people from all sections in these art forms. People who have never been exposed to the so-called classical arts, wanted to learn them. And, similarly those who had no experience of folk forms, were keen on learning Paraiattam. But there is no school where all these arts are given a same platform. Kalai Koodam aims to bridge this divide.”
The classes begin on April 15. Vocal music classes will be held from 10 am to 11 am, Paraiattam from 11 am to 12.30 pm and Bharatanatyam sessions will be held from 12.30 pm to 1.30 pm, at Kalai Koodam at Community Hall, Thiruvalluvar Nagar, near Besant Nagar.
For details, call 9840357799.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Art / by Parshathy J. Nath a/ April 11th, 2018