Kalakshetra Foundation, formerly simply Kalakshetra, is an arts and cultural academy dedicated to the preservation of traditional values in Indian art and crafts, especially in the field of Bharatanatyam dance and Gandharvaveda music. Based in Chennai, India, the academy was founded in January 1936 by Rukmini Devi Arundale and her husband George Arundale. Under Arundale's guidance, the institution achieved national and international recognition for its unique style and perfectionism. In 1962, Kalakshetra moved to a new 40-hectre campus in Besant Nagar, Chennai.
Rukmini Devi Arundale was an Indian theosophist, dancer and choreographer of the Indian classical dance form of Bharatanatyam, and an activist for animal welfare.
Suhasini Rajaram Naidu, known professionally as Sneha, is an Indian actress who works primarily in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films in lead roles to supporting roles. she is a recipient of one Filmfare Award South and two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.
Adyar K. Lakshman was a noted Indian Bharatnatyam dancer, choreographer and guru.
Final Cut of Director is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language thriller film written and directed by Bharathiraja. The film stars Nana Patekar and Arjun Sarja, with Rukmini Vijayakumar, Kajal Aggarwal, Niyamat Khan, Vatsal Sheth, Ranjitha and Mushtaq Khan in supporting roles. Himesh Reshammiya composed the music and cinematography was done by B. Kannan. The film was released on 21 October 2016.
Ananda Thandavam is a 2009 Tamil-language romantic drama film, an adaptation of Sujatha's serialized novel Pirivom Santhippom. The film was directed by A. R. Gandhi Krishna and produced by V. Ravichandran of Aascar Films. The music was composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar with editing by V. T. Vijayan and cinematography by Jeeva Shankar.
Vannadil Pudiyaveettil Dhananjayan and Shanta Dhananjayan, together known as the Dhananjayans, are an Indian dancing couple who were awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2009.
Chandralekha Prabhudas Patel, commonly known as Chandralekha, was a dancer and choreographer from India. The niece of Vallabhbhai Patel, India's first deputy Prime Minister, she was an exponent of performances fusing Bharatanatyam with Yoga and martial arts like Kalarippayattu.
Leela Samson is a Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer, instructor, writer and actress from India. As a soloist, she is known for her technical virtuosity and has taught Bharatanatyam at Shriram Bhartiya Kala Kendra in Delhi for many years.
Brinda Gopal, known professionally as Brinda Master, is an Indian dance choreographer and director who primarily works in South Indian cinema. She has choreographed dance sequences for various Indian films. She has won one National Film Award for Best Choreography, Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Choreographer, twice and Kerala State Film Award for Best Choreography, four times.
Siddharth Venugopal is a former Indian actor and Assistant director who has appeared in Tamil films. He made his debut in Gandhi Krishna's romantic musical Ananda Thandavam (2009), also playing a supporting role alongside Vijay Antony in Naan (2012).
Savitha Sastry is an Indian dancer and choreographer best known as an exponent of Bharatanatyam. She is known to experiment with the format of traditional Bharatanatyam by using the techniques of Bharatanatyam to showcase theme-based productions based on novel stories, not based on Indian mythology or religion. Her innovations have been described as 'path breaking' by critics. and she is considered to be a 'renaissance architect' who 'holds the distinction of being the dancer to have brought out a revolution in the way Bharatanatyam is presented after Rukmini Devi Arundale'.
Saraswathi Sundaresan Iyer, professionally known as Kumari Sachu is an Indian actress who has acted in more than 500 films in five different languages and a few television serials. She is a character actress/comedienne who nonchalantly blended into the roles she has portrayed over five decades. She made her film début in 1953 in the film Rani at the age of 4, and has since then been a prominent face on the silver screen. She started acting in television serials in 1995.
Madras Kadiravelu Saroja, was an Indian classical dancer, known for her expertise, as an exponent and as a teacher, in the classical dance form of Bharatanatyam. The Government of India honored her, in 2011, with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for her services to the field of art and culture.
Meenakshi Chitharanjan, an Indian classical dancer, teacher and choreographer, is known as an exponent of the Pandanallur style of the classical dance form of Bharatanatyam. She is the founder of Kaladiksha, an institution promoting Bharatanatyam and striving to preserve the Pandanallur tradition. A disciple of the father-son duo of Chokkalingam Pillai and Subbaraya Pillai, she is a recipient of several honours including Kalaimamani Award of the Government of Tamil Nadu and the Natya Kala Sarathi of Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2008, for her contributions to classical dance.
Jeeva Shankar is a cinematographer turned writer, director active in Tamil films. His prominent films include Naan and Amara Kaaviyam.
Karaikal Natesa Dhandayudhapani Pillai was an Indian classical dancer and choreographer, considered by many as one of the leading exponents of the classical dance form of Bharatanatyam. He was also a teacher and trained multiple performers.
Ananda Shankar Jayant is an Indian classical dancer, choreographer, scholar and bureaucrat, known for her proficiency in the classical dance forms of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. She is the first woman officer in the Indian Railway Traffic Service on South Central Railway and her 2009 TED talk is ranked among the top twelve Incredible TED talks on cancer. She is a recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Kalaimamani Award of the Government of Tamil Nadu and Kala Ratna Award of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2007, for her contributions to arts.
Kala Vijayan is an Indian classical dance performer, choreographer, author and actor. She is the daughter of the legendary Kathakali artist Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair and Mohiniyattam exponent Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma. Kala Vijayan is trained in Mohiniyattam, Bharatanatyam and Kathakali, however she is best known for her contributions to Mohiniyattam. She is the recipient of Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award for Mohiniyattam (1998) and the Kerala State Award for Mohiniyattam (2019). She is the Principal Director and senior Guru at Kerala Kalalayam, a fine arts institute established by her parents at Thripunithura in 1952.
Rukmini Vasanth is an Indian actress, who has worked predominantly in the Kannada movie industry. She received widespread critical acclaim for her portrayal of Priya in the 2023 Kannada film Sapta Sagaradache Ello.
