Lasya College excels
Lasya College at Pilathara has made a name for itself through its unique training methods that combi
SYNCHRONISED STEPS: Students get the best of practical and theoretical training in the college.
There are several institutions in north Kerala that offer training in classical dance and music, though real opportunities for specialised training in these arts at higher levels are rare. Lasya College of Music and Dance at Pilathara, near Payyannur, is an exception as it is allows young artistes to whet their skills by undergoing systematic and scientific training under reputed and experienced `gurus.'
Over the last decade, the college has earned a reputation as a centre that has ensured a combination of traditional and modern techniques of teaching to help students. It is the only institution in the State affiliated to Indira Kala Sangeet Viswavidyalaya in Khairagarh in Chattisgarh. It has now come a long way from being a modest institution started by the Lasya Kalakshethra into an institution of higher education that offers specialised training in various disciplines of classical dance and music.
National workshop
The college has become well known in the region following a national workshop on classical dance conducted at Pilathara last year. The college management had planned to conduct a three-day national workshop on Mohiniyattam in May. Noted classical dancer Kanak Rele was to have attended the workshop. It was postponed following the demise of Neyyattinkara Mohanachandran, the veteran Carnatic singer who was the head of the Music Department of Lasya College. There are plans to conduct the workshop this month.
"The college has worked out a curriculum designed to produce a cadre of provisional artistes with strong academic background. It aims at imparting to the students a deep knowledge in dance and music theory and practice," says the college chairman, P. Appukkuttan.
The college now has more than 300 students undergoing degree and diploma courses in Bharatanatyam, and Carnatic music (vocal and mridangam).
Bharatanatyam exponent Vasundhara Doraswamy is the Head of the Department of Bharathanatyam. The college has also been presenting dance programmes across the country, including Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and Mohiniyattam recitals and a mixed presentation of classical dance.
The Lasya College began as Lasya Kalakshetra in 1993.
The college now has a unique advantage of combining the Gurukul style of instruction and the pedagogical methods of modern university departments, says Appukkuttan, who is the former secretary of the Kerala Sangeeth Nataka Akademi and is the present State secretary of the Purogamana Kalasahithya Sanghom. The faculty of the college, he points out, includes both practising professional artistes and qualified teachers.
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