Arts Organiser

Prof P.V Peethambaran is a well-known Arts Organiser. He was the Promoter of Sree Sankara School of Dance, one of the well known internationally acclaimed arts organisation. He promoted International Sree Sankara Dance & Music Festival at Kalady, the serene birth place of Jagadguru Adi Sankaracharya. The objective of the Festival was to promote Kalady as an international cultural centre by providing platform to the great Indian and foreign art forms. All most all prominent national dancers and internationally reputed dancers visited Kalady for staging their performances. He also paved way for thousands of upcoming and younger dancers by providing platform to showcase their talents. More than 30,000 students received training from Sree Sankara School of Dance for the last 28 years, He was able to introduce many novel ideas in the field of classical arts for the promotion classical arts.

As an arts organiser, he introduced the concept of “Art for Social Change” by promoting choreographies having social and contemporary relevance. He promoted more than fifty such choreographies with the support, patronage and technical support of Mrs Sudha Peethambaran and Dr. C.P Unnikrishnan.

He promoted many associate bodies to promote classical arts. Some concrete examples are:-


Sree Sankara NatyaSabha

A Sabha to promote upcoming professional dancers

Sree Sankara Cultural Foundation

A foundation to promote the messages and teachings of Adi Sankaracharya through dance choreography.

Sree Narayana Cultural Foundation

A Foundation to promote the universal messages and teachings of the social reformer, SreeNarayana Gurudev

Sree Sankara Educational Employment and Cultural Organisation (SREECO)

A body to promote brilliant dance and music students.

Sree Sankara Music Academy

An Academy to promote Carnatic music.

Parents Teachers Association

Perhaps the first of its kind in the field of classical dance in the unorganised sector in Kerala.

New projects and schemes

He was instrumental in promoting new projects and ventures to promote classical arts. Following are a few examples:-

Sree Sankara Assessment and Accreditation Council (SAAC)

An autonomous body under aegis of Sree Sankara School of Dance, that accredits rising professional artists, an initiative of the first of its kind.

A team of senior gurus examine upcoming artists and rates them based on their performance under “Kacheri System”. Theoretical Exam, Practical and Viva-Voce form part of the accreditation scheme and talented artistes are identified. They are accredited as eligible for performance in important national and international stages. So far twenty five artistes have been identified as accredited in Bharathanatyam, Mohiniyattam, Kuchupudi and Carnatic music.

Choreofest

This is a festival of new choreography. Dancers are encouraged to choreograph new ideas, themes thoughts, messages etc. Some of the themes are traditional while some others are contemporary keeping in line with the basic grammar of classical dance.

SAAC Fest

It was a festival of SAAC artists. Sree Sankara School of Dance gave the first platform to accredited artists. They were given opportunities to perform in the National Sree Sankara Dance & Music Festival commenced in 2003.

Vision 2020 Artists

This is a scheme launched in 2019 to identify atleast 20 professional dancers by 2020. The aim of the scheme was to attract more upcoming artists to the dance field.

EKA-2021

This is a scheme to attract youth festival winners to classical dance by promoting their choreographic skills. Selected poems are given to dancers and they direct the programmes by themselves by selecting suitable steps, mudras and abhinaya.

കലയോരകാഴ്ചകൾ | 02 JANUARY 2021

Choreography based on "Mannathu Padmanabhan" Janam TV

എകെജി നൃത്തശിൽപ്പം

Dance Drama based on "AKG"

ഏക 2021.... ചിൻമുദ്ര...

Choreography based on "Chinmudra" of Chattambi Swamigal

ഏക 2021... മുല്ലപ്പെരിയാർ

Choreography based on "Mullaperiyar Issue"

ഏക 2021 .. അയ്യന്റെ യാത്ര

Choreography based on Repormative Activities of Ayyankali

ഏക 2021... ഇഷാൻവിയും, ജെസ്‌നിയും

Choreography for EKA 2021

ഏക 2021

ചട്ടമ്പിസ്വാമി ദർശനങ്ങൾ!



Mega Classical dance Programmes

Prof. Peethambaran conceptualised mega classical dances highlighting the great messages teachings and works of Adi Sankaracharya and Sree Narayana Gurudev. These mega programmes were staged throughout the length and breadth of our country. Conceptualised in 2000 and 2007, these two programmes attracted the attention of connoisseurs of arts and the media in a big way. These special choreographies gave value based education to the younger generation of our country. These productions also highlighted international peace and brotherhood. This programme of two hours duration was a fine blending of Bharathanatyam, Mohiniyattam, Kuchupudi and Kathakali.

Another mega dance programme based on the great teachings of Lord Krishna is a visual treat to boost the valued based education of the younger generations.

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International Sree Sankara Dance & Music Festival

Started as a small arangetram programme of dance students in 1994 titled Nrutholsavam, Prof. Peethambaran elevated it to National Sree Sankara Dance & Music Festival in 2003 and International Sree Sankara Dance & Music Festival in 2017 with the support of P.T.A., SSD. The festival is a concrete example of promotion to classical arts through public participation. The festival is one of the largest festivals of classical arts in India. On an average Six hundred upcoming and famous artists take part in this weekly festival organised, at Kalady, Ernakulam District, Kerala, biannually. The festival is organised in a scientific manner without any governmental or local body funding. The preparations for the festival will take place one year in ahead. The dancers and musicians who staged programmes in the festival have expressed utmost satisfaction over the manner of conduct of the festival including hospitality of the host.

Four types of artists participate in the festival- i) Junior dancer (arangetram), (ii) upcoming dancers (iii) well known younger dancers & (iv) world famous dancers. The festival is conducted on a mega stage and pandal erected for the purpose on the banks of holy river Periyar.

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Inauguration of Sree Sankara Dance & Music Festival in 2003 by Dr. Padma Subramaniam
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Audience - The 1st Arangettam in 1994



Platform to Artistes

Prof. P.V. Peethambaran was instrumental in providing beautiful platform to world famous artistes and upcoming young artistes by inviting them to Kalady, the serene birth place of Adi Sankaracharya, for stage performance. The venue of International Sree Sankara Dance & Music Festival is one of the best venues to artistes for show casing their skills. On an average, six hundred artistes, including junior artistes, used to perform in this biannual festival.

The following artistes have staged their performance at Kalady:-

1. Padmabhushan Awardee Dr. Padma Subramaniam, Chennai (Bharathanatyam)
2. Padmabhushan Awardee V.P Dhananjayan & Padmabhushan Awardee Shanta Dhanajayan , Chennai (Bharathanatyam)
3. Padmabhushan Awardee T.V. Sankara Narayanan, Chennai (Carnatic Music)
4. Padmabhushan Awardee Madurai T.N Sheshagopal, Chennai (Carnatic Music)
5. Padmasree Awardee Malavika Sarukkai , Chennai (Bharathanatyam)
6. Dr. Vasundhara Dora Swami, Mysore (Bharathanatyam)
7. Sri Sreedhar & Amt.Anuradha Sreedhar, Bangalore (Bharathanatyam)
8. Smt. Gopika Varma, Chenna- (Mohiniyattam)
9. Dr. Neena Prasad, Thiruvananthapuram (Mohiniyattam)
10. Padmabhushan Awardee Swapna Sundari, New Delhi– Vilasini Natyam
11. Padmasree Awardee Bharathi Shivaji, New Delhi – Mohiniyattam
12. Padmasree Awardee Smt. Manju Bhargavee, Bangalore – Kuchupudi
13. Smt. Priyadarshini Govind, Chennai – Bharathanatyam
14. Padmasree Awardee Kalamandalam Kshemavathy
15. Padmasree Awardee Dr. Geetha Chandran – Bharathanatyam
16. Smt. Methil Devika, Palakkad – Mohiniyattam
17. Smt. Rama Vaidyanathan, New Delhi – Bharathanatyam
18. Smt. Aiswarya Warrier , Baroda– Mohiniyattam
19. Smt. Deepika Reddy, Hyderabad- Kuchupudi
20. Dr. Alekhya Punjala, Hyderabad – Kuchupudi
21. Guruji Ashim Bandhu Bhattacharji, Kokata- Kathak
22. Sri Renjith & Smt. Vijna, Chennai – Bharathanatyam
23. Smt. Sunanda Nair, America- Mohiniyattam
24. Smt. Jayaprabha Menon, New Delhi – Mohiniyattam
25. Dr. Draupadi Praveen & Dr. Padmini Krishnan, Kerala – Bharathanatyam Kuchupudi Fusion
26. Smt. Saritha Misra, Bangalore- Odissi
27. Smt. Reshma U. Raj, Dr. Jishnu Sajaykumar, Aparna Muraleedharan – Pratakshina ( Fusion)
28. Smt. Sreelakshmi Govardhan- Kuchupudi
29. Sri Harirag Nandan – Carnatic Music
30. Smt. Dakshina Vaidyanathan Bhagel – Bharathanatyam
31. Sri Mankompu Rajan – Nadaswaram Recital
32. Sri Changanassery Madhavan Namboothiri- Carnatic Recital
33. Smt. Revathy Sreenivas Raghavan & team, Mumbai – Bharathanatyam
34. Sri Parswanath Upadhye & team, Bangalore- Bharathanatyam
35. Mysore Chandan Kumar – Flute recital
36. Smt. Shirani De Costa & Chithrini Veerathunga, Srilanka - Srilankan Dance
37. Smt. Paris Laxmi- Flamenco Dance
38. Smt. Aditi Bhagwat – Kathak
39. Smt. Rukmini Vijayakumar, Bangalore – Bharathanatyam
40. Smt. Sanchita Bhattacharya , Kolkata- Odissi
41. Smt. Pratheeksha Kashi – Kuchupudi
42. Smt. Sudha Peethambaran, Kalady, Kerala
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International Sree Sankara Dance & Music Festival 2022

International Sree Sankara Dance & Music Festival 2022 Organised by Prof PV Peethambaran as Promoter of the Festival. He could invite and manage the event by bringing world famous artistes to Kalady with the support and involvement of PTA, SSD.A bird's eye view of the events. View more photos

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International Sree Sankara Dance & Music Festival ISSDMF - 2022 held at Kalady
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Lighting the lamp by Dr P V Jayaraj, Chief Overseas Co ordinator ISSDMF & Member, Loka Kerala Sabha

അന്തർദ്ദേശിയ ശ്രീശങ്കര നൃത്തസംഗീതോത്സവം

INTERNATIONAL SREE SANKARA DANCE & MUSIC FESTIVAL


Training to 30,000 students

Prof. P.V.Peethambaran & Smt. SudhaPeethambaran could promote, co-ordinate & impart training to nearly 30,000 students hailing from rural areas though Sree Sankara School of Dance since its inception in 1993.

Cultural Ambassodors

Many senior students from S.S.D are working in foreign countries propagating the great Indian classical dance. The contributions of senior students and teachers within the country are also praise worthy. One of the important contributions of S.S.D. over the years was that it could create a good ambience for promoting the great tradition and culture of our country through classical dance.

Poems and Dance Choreography

Poems based on reformative and social themes scripted by Prof. P.V.Peethambara became popular in social media when visualised through dance.

‘Mannathu Padmanabhan’, ‘Chinmudra’, ‘Ayyante Yathra’, ‘Mullapperiyar’, ‘AKG’, ‘Chattambi Swamigal’, are the dance choreographies released through digital platform during the pandemic period. The artistes choreographed the themes by themselves by adhering to the Covid -19 protocol. Krishna Kripa C.K., Niranjana Menon, Anusree V., Aiswarya V., Sreekutty Muraly, Anjana P.Sathyan, Jessni Varghese were the artistes who staged online programme.

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Krishna Kripa C K
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Sreekutty Muraly
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Anjana P Sathyan
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Aiswarya V
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Anusree V
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Niranjana Menon

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Parvathy V S
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Jessni Varghese
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Ishanvi Rajesh


Workshops, Seminars and Lecture Demonstrations

He took steps to organise several useful workshops, seminars and lecture demonstrations for the promotion of classical arts. He was successful in bringing several well-known artists and senior gurus to Kalady to conduct such programmes.

Training in Compering

Prof. P.V.Peethambaran is giving training to dance students to groom them as good anchors. But training in compering is not done on a commercial basis. Individual attention is given to upcoming artistes to improve their level of confidence. Emphasis is given on sound modulation, pronounciation, clarity of words, grammar, stage control etc. Over the last three decades, the following teachers and students were groomed as anchors.

1. Sreevidhya K.V. 2. Simi Jayaram 3. Ambili A. 4. Sreelekha K.V (Sshivada 5. Remya Varma 6. Soumya Varma 7. Soumya Joyson 8. Dr. S. Sreevarsha 9. Resmi Narayanan 10. Athulya Shaji 11. Dr. V.S. Pravitha 12. Sangeetha S. Menon 13. Sarishma Satheesan 14. Anila Joshy 15. Akshara V.R. 16. Meenakshy V.P. 17. Sreekutty Muraly 18. Rahna Nandakumar 19. Amrutha Suresh 20. Anusree V. 21. Avanijalakshmi 22. Sreelakshmi S. Nair 23. Gayathrykrishna U. 24. Anagha S. Menon 25. Athira Sivadas 26. Anusree Sivadas 27. Krishnapriya R. 28. Gayathri K.S

Seniors Teachers and students doing compering in EKA 2021 Programme

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Anila Joshy
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Rahna Nandakumar
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Anusree V


Cultural Ambassadors of SSD - A new project of SSD

As part of promoting dancers who propagate the great Indian classical within & outside India, Prof. P. V. Peethambaran introduced the scheme ' Cultural Ambassadors of SSD" on 23 rd May 2022, a day which coincides with the 30 th formation day of the School. The scheme, the first of its kind in Kerala and perhaps, the first of its kind in India was inaugurated by the Honourable Justice PS Gopinathan in connection with the Second International Sree Sankara Dance & Music Festival at Kalady. 18 danseuses / dance teachers / choreographers were identified as Cultural Ambassadors of SSD.

Cultural Ambassadors of SSD - 2022
I) Kavitha Sindhuraj, Chennai 2) Simi Nirmal, Angamaly 3) Ambily Rajeesh, Kozhikod 4) Seemol Varghese, Piraroor 5) Remya Varma, Guruvayoor 6)Reshmi Babu, Karukutty 7) Manju KK, Nedumbassery 8) Dr V. S.Pravitha, Okkal 9) Dr. Dhanya Srikant, Newzealand 10) Pooja Vineesh, Desom 11) Anju K. K., Vaikom 12) Dr. P Padmaja, Palakkad, 13) Resmi Narayanan, Edathala, 14) Shivada, Alappuzha 15) Dhanya Sandeep, Newzealand 16) R. L. V. Geethu Sarun, Kannur, 17) Amala Mary Jose, Canada 18) Chinchu Sadanandhan, Kanjirappally.

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