Shivakumar

SivaKumar, the founder-Director of Shivakalalayam, is an exponent of the Sacred Classical Art Bharatnatyam, which has been cherished & preserved in our country for more than 2000 years. He started his dance career at the age of 10.

He started learning Bharathanatyam from Guru Smt.Chandra Dandayuthapani Pillai At Natyakalalayam where he learnt for 8 years.

He has done 2yrs Diploma course on Nattuvangam & Dance from Guru Shri.Seetha Rama Sharma through Eyal Isai Nataka Mandram Scholarship. Qualified in first class in the Govt Lower examination.

Under gone training from Gurus:- Shri. Delhi DakshinaMurthy(younger brother of Padmashree. K.N.DandayuthapaniPillai) Smt.Malathi Srinivasan & Smt.Usha Srinivasan. As they say, learning is a continuous process, his insatiable passion for dance has made him a learner forever.

Under gone an advance course on Bharathanatyam choreography, nattuvangam & aspects of Tala under the guidance of Gurus:- Shri.M.V.Narasimhachari & Smt.Vasanthalakshmi Narasimhachari. He has several performances to his credit, prominent amongst them are :

Details of Abroad Performances & Workshops.

Toured U.K. for performances & workshops from Dec-04 to Mar-05 for a dance company called 'Srishti'. Dance ballet called ' Women are from Venus ' is performed during the tour.

Toured U.S. from May - July 04 with guru Sri.M.V.Narasimhachari for performances & workshops.

Toured U.S. from Aug - Nov 04 for performing dance ballet called 'Gajamukha', organised by Natya company in U.S. Also conducted workshops during the tour.

Details of Performances in India.

He is a 'B' graded artist in Doordarshan kendra.

Performed solo programmes in Prestigious Sabhas like "Bharat Kalachar" & "Natyarangam" Chennai.

"Mamallapuram Dance festival" organized by Tamilnadu Govt.

"Padmashree K.N.Dandayuthapani Pillai dance festival' at Delhi organized by Natyakalalayam, Delhi Tamil Sangam & Sahitya Kala Parishad in July 2000. Dance & Musical fusion held at Mumbai Iskcon Auditorium.

Performed along with cine fame Meenakshi Seshadri at Mumbai on occasion of "Videocon Screen Awards-2001".

Got selected in the Eyal Isai Nataka Mandram's young talented artists
encouragement scheme & performed at Madurai, Karaikudi & Pollachi Sabhas.

Performed at Naradha Gana Sabha in the " AINTHINAI" dance ballet, produced by Shri.M.V.Narasimhachari thru "ABHAI" (Association of Bharathanatyam Artists of India) during the month of Dec-2000

Performed along with Smt. VyjayanthiMala Bali at NaradhaGana Sabha in a ballet about Mahavir Jain during the month of Dec-2002

Performed along with Guru. Madurai. R.Muralidharan in his dance ballets, "Kamba Ramayana", " Thulukka Nachiar", "Nammalzvaar", "Thirumangai Alwar" & "Kuraloviyam'.

Performed in "shri Ragavendrar" , "Shri Ramanujar" & "Akilam Kakkum Annai" dance drama production by Guru Smt. Hemarajan's Nrithyopasana.

Performed in "ThiruGnana Sambandar" Tele dance drama production
choreographed by Guru Smt.Revathy Ramachandran.

Performed in "Kalinga Narthanam", "Bharatham Jananam Gnanam" & "Ashtaruchi" dance drama produced by Sri.Narendra Kumar's Anusham group.

Done Nattuvangam for many senior dancers like:- Sudha Vijayakumar, Veenu Dakshinamoorthy, Pavithra Prasad & Sindhu Mishra (New Delhi).

Awarded as best dancer in "DandayuthaPani" style of dance for the year 2001, organized by Natyakalalayam-Delhi & Delhi Tamil Sangam.

Awarded as best dancer for the year 2002 by the Governor of Tamilnadu Sri.RamMohan Rao, organized by Nrithyopasana on 07.01.2003.

Choreographies

He is not only a Performing artist, but also a teacher & choreographer of new dance items & Ballets. Some of his choreographies are:-

Shiva Thandavam, Ramakrishna charitham, Vandae Mataram, Hari Hara Sudhan, Panchali Sabatham, Dasa Avatharam, Sange Muzhangu.....

With all the above credits, for the past 10years he is also running a dance school in the name of "Shivakalalayam" at Thiruvanmiyur-Chennai, where he trains a lot of budding artists in Bharathanatyam. Being the Founder-Member, he has a lot of future plans to bring dance especially Bharathanatyam into the International Limelight.

He is also serving the Artist society through ABHAI (Association of
Bharatanatyam Artists of India) where he holds the post of Treasurer. Dancing is his way of praying to God & undoubtedly, he does it with great devotion & dedication.