Jayachandran Palazhy, Founder and Artistic Director of Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, Bengaluru; was recently in Hyderabad for a dance workshop and performance.
Says Jayachandran “I was very good in studies but always had a fascination for the dance forms that I saw in temples and other places. I used to come home and try and imitate the movements in front of the mirror. Maybe it was in my genes, as my mother Karthiayani Amma would always participate in Thiruvathira (dance festival of Fertility) on the birthday of Lord Shiva. I was a very good athlete and all this led to my interest in dance movements. I spent lot of time at many places including Kalakshetra, Dhananjayan’s and Chandralekha before moving to London in search of those infinite forms of movement and trained at the London Contemporary Dance School”.
“In 1992, Attakkalari was set up in India to give the young and old a unique opportunity to develop physical and mental faculties through movement art. Those who undertake short-term courses at our institute have an opportunity to join a dance company, set up a teaching academy or maybe even become a personal trainer to bring in vitality and energy into the life of the client. Attakkalari can regenerate neural circuits and is extremely useful to those afflicted with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. For the corporate, the benefits are in terms of a production which could also result in a team building effort. The development of creative pursuits could also result in transposition of the same in the work space of technology and software. For the school students, it’s all about building confidence levels to perform on stage and become expressive. We had more than 75 participants in our workshop at Hyderabad and I am glad that this movement is reaching out to the youth,” Jayachandran signs off.
— The writer is a musician, creator of the ‘Jaywant Guitar’ and a freelance photographer
