Shanthala Arts Trust

What is Shanthala Art Trust?

Shantala arts academy, the brainchild of Natya Vidwan K R S PRASANNA, was established in 1985 with the blessings of Vidwan RAGHUSUTHA and Smt. K R PADMAJE parents of Prasanna and Pulikeshi. Since its inception the academy is doing yeoman service to the field by conducting Bharathanatyam, karnatic vocal, instrumental classes in its Yeshwanthpura class and other branches in Vidyaranyapura and other places. Apart from this it is organizing annual dance festivals wherein veterans, talented, young and budding artists are provided a platform for their art. Also tha academy organizes Ramanavami music and dance festival, Dasara cultural mela for 9 days, Tyagaraja Purandhara aradhana utsava, Shantala Nritya Vaibhava – a monthly concert series featuring the young talented artists. Also the performing unit of the academy Shantala Dance Ensemble has performed at various prestigious platforms and presenting various dance forms. Has been felicitating senior dance gurus and dance musicians in its festival and annual show…..

Acheivements

K R Padmaje, the curator of the festival started the traditional Dasara doll festival in 1970 with a small collection of a few hundred dolls. In the year 1990 the academy started inviting artists for performances at their residence/dance school. Today the academy boasts of a 4000+ doll collection and of concerts in the adjacent RajaRajeshwari school auditorium where almost all music and dance artists of Bangalore have performed.
Dasara Festival
With the dream of spreading the classical art forms to little known places of Karnataka, the academy organised first ever national dance and music festival in the year 1987 in Bangalore.
Shantala Dance and Music festival -1986 – Bangalore
Shantala Dance and Music festival – 1987 – Vijayapura
Shantala Dance and Music festival 1988 – Kanakapura
Shantala Dance and Music festival – Nandi Village
Shantala Dance and Music festival – Magadi
Shantala Dance and Music festival – Nelamangala
Greeshma – Shantala Dance and Music festival
Shantala Dance Festival

Shanthala Arts Trust

We organize monthly program to encourage young talents in Seva Sadhana, Malleswaram, Bengaluru. We just finished 29th monthly program. So far we have given opportunity to more than 100 young artists

Raghusutha Pratishthana

Annual Raghusutha Pratishthana festival – Instituted in the name of Late Vidwan Raghusustha, founder of the academy the annual festival is conducted on January 22nd every year. A cultural performance(dance,drama, music) and an award ceremony mark the evening. The awards have been given to Vimala Rangachar and Master Hirannayya.

History

In the year 1985 a small institution began in Yeshwanthpur with a dream to spread the elegant art of Bharathanatyam by conducting dance classes. What started as a simple institution to impart Bharathanatyam training in 1985 today has weathered 25 successful years and is considered one of the premier arts instituions in Karnataka. The first project of the academy was to host a 24 hour marathon performance by Prasanna Kasthuri, an event that created a world record in Bharathanatyam. Next came national level dance and music festivals in little hamlets around Bangalore that witnessed a tremendous public response. Meanwhile the dancers of the academy toured Europe and were invited by dance companies in USA.

The academy began producing ground breaking dance productions with artists of national and international repute. Grammy award winner Pandit VishwaMohan Bhatt produced music for “Rainbow II” a spectacular collaboration between Soorya Performing Arts of St.Louis USA that has toured all over the USA and was presented in India as well. Dance productions like Subhadra Parinaya was produced with French dancers and was presented in Paris and Pondicherry. Innovative and experimental “Rasa-Gathi” has been presented all over India.

Shanthala Arts Trust

The academy added Dasara Music and Dance festivals along with a doll exhibition(Bombe Pradarshana) that has increased by leaps and bounds making it a collection of more than 4000 dolls today. The students trained at the academy have completed dance exams (conducted by the Karnataka Secondary education Board) with flying colours, have won national level and state level scholarships, prizes in inter-school, inter-college, state and inter-state competitions and have stared their own dance institutions. Today the academy has branches in Vidyaranyapura, Yelahanka, Mahalakshmi Layout, Doddaballapura and Platinum City (Tumkur Road).

The academy also boasts of producing the ace nattuvangist of Karnataka Vidwan Pulikeshi Kasturi and heralded the importance of nattuvangam in the field of dance by conducting annual, encore nattuvangam workshops.

With the completion of 25 years the academy has reached a major milestone and continues to be responsible for spreading Indian classical arts far and wide.

Testimonials

RESPONSES FROM THOSE WHO SAW THE FIRST SHOW IN USA

Loved reliving our history, some of which I was never aware of. I loved how you included and portrayed various leaders from various parts of the country, who are often overlooked. I loved how every war scene was different and unique, even though it was still a war scene. This couldn't have been easy, and speaks volumes about the creativity behind choreography. I loved watching all the artists perform with vigor, which showed how much they believed in your production which again speaks to your leadership and love towards the arts.
Dr. Teju Naik
Thanks for creating such a great production. Congratulations to you and whole team for big success. Superb gift to Indian Community of St. Louis by Soorya Performing Arts on Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. Hats off to Guru Prasanna Kasthuri and whole team for A class production. Salute to to all who were part of the team. Happy Independence Day
Ashwin Patel
Dear Prasanna and Seema, Hats off to you both for the mega production Of Samarpan . The tales of our freedom beautifully woven around the many forms of dances of India was a treat to our eyes. We could see the countless hours of work you all put in to bring this to fruition. It was a goosebump moment for me , as I sang along to Jana Gana Mana reverberating through the auditoriums of Touhill . Thank you both and to the entire team of Samarpan Vande Maataram
Shanti Krishnan
"Congratulations on a fabulous job done. Keep up the good work."
Uma Eachampetix
Grand daughter of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishna (President of India)
"Thank you for creating this beautiful dance-drama ! A true feast for our hearts and senses !"
Kath Joshi
Congratulations on the great program Sir. Hope to see more of your performances in the upcoming days.
Pramukh Bagur
We really enjoyed the celebration of India Independence. It was a fabulous show. magnificent production.
V Jyoti and Ambuja from Dallas
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