About Us
The School and Founder
Kalamandapam is a Gurukulam style school of music and dance based in Washington DC upon the vision of renowned Kuchipudi dancer and guru Smt. Mrinalini Sadananda. Smt. Mrinalini Sadananda is recognized internationally as an exceptionally talented dancer of Kuchipudi, an able illustrious teacher, and an excellent choreographer.
About the Organization
Kalamandapam is also a non-profit organization dedicated to the teaching and promotion of performing arts of India. The institution provides rigorous training to its students in Kuchipudi and Carnatic Music, adhering to the principles of guru-shishya tradition. Kalamandapam believes in imparting the classical art in its original form to its students in theory and practice. Kalamandapam performs in special fund-raising events to support the cause of many charity organizations around the world. In its mission to contribute to the community, Kalamandapam raised money for Chinmaya Mission, Hope for Humanity, Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation and many more non-profit organizations.
Achievements
Kalamandapam has staged numerous Kuchipudi ballets - Bharat Sambhavam, a popular ballet depicting the advent and glory of India was performed at the prestigious John F. Kennedy Center of Performing Arts, in Washington DC. Other Kuchipudi ballets - Andal Kalyanam, Sarvam Vishnu Mayam, Ramayanam, Venkateswara Vaibhavam, Sambhavami Yuge Yuge, Sharanam Ayyappa, Cheyyetti Jai Kottu, and Bhaja Govindam were received with great applause and appreciation by diverse audiences.
Gurus
Smt. Mrinalini Sadananda hails from a family of artists. Her father
Vinjamuri Parthasarathy Iyengar and mother Smt. Kamala Devi nurtured each of
their 7 children into one art form or another. Her father was a well-known
lawyer by profession but had a great love of the violin. Her mother was a
dedicated housewife and an accomplished violinist in her own right.
Mrinalini was introduced to dance at a very young age. Over the years, her
Gurus (teachers) have included her own sister Mrs. Hemalatha NaramhaChari,
Burra Subramanya Sastry, Chinta Raddha KrishnaMurty, Adinarayana Sarma,
Mahankali Surya Narayana, SathyaPriya Ramana and Dr. Vempati Chinna Sathyam.
She feels strongly that their dedication to this art has molded her in to
what she is today. In addition, her Drama teacher Sri Mandapati
Ramalingeswara Rao helped her understand the importance of facial
expressions for which she is very well known.
Mrinalini is married to Dr. K Sadananda, the son of a great Telugu and
Sanskrit scholar Sri. Kuntimaddi Seshasarma and JayaLakshmi. He has always
supported her passion for dance and encouraged her to continue refining the
art within her after emigrating to the United States. She began by
performing extensively across the United States. About 20 years ago she took
on the mantle of Guru and it is this role she has flourished. Most
importantly she has continued the tradition of her own Gurus by passing this
art to countless youngsters. In this endeavor she began as a volunteer
teacher for 7 years at Gandhi Memorial Center and for 7 years at the
Chinmaya Mission, both in the metropolitan Washington DC area. In 1993, she
established Kalamandapam as an institute dedicated to dance and music. As a
vehicle for her own creative impetus and as a means to motivate her
students, she has put on several dance ballets.
Sri. Subhash Vinjamuri is a highly accomplished violinist. He composes and
teaches music for the Kalamandapam ballets. His first inspiration was from
his father, Sri Vinjamuri Parthasarathy Iyengar, and then went on to be the
disciple of Sri Brahmanandam Naidu, a direct disciple of Sri Dwaram
Venkataswami Naidu. His talent was evident from childhood when at the age of
10 he won the Indo-Russian competitions for violin. He is very well known
for his melody and has accompanied internationally recognized musicians in
India and the US.
Directors and Instructors
Keerthana Sidhaye is the current Co-Director of Kalamandapam. She has studied classical dance from the age of four from her mother, Mrs. Sadananda and later was a disciple of Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam, having spent nearly every summer of her school age years in Chennai. She will always be indebted to the Nambiar family for taking her in as a daughter. Although, she had been in Chicago for several years, she continued to participate in almost every major production of Kalamandapam. Aside from performances around the world, she has had several lead roles in our productions and she enjoys being able to play a variety of roles from male deities, to damsels in distress, and even a fortune-teller performing a folk dance. Keerthana is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD.
Kavitha Cheedalla is one of the dance instructors and also a treasurer and Co-Director of Kalamandapam. Her intense desire to learn Indian Classical dance was fulfilled when she started her training under Mrinalini Sadananda with her two daughters. She has been learning Kuchipudi since 1999 and has become an integral part of the school. Currently, she works as an assistant kindergarten teacher at Round Elementary School.
Amani Cheedalla
Bhuvana Ratnapuri
Bhavana Channavajjala
Chinmayee Bala began her training under Guru Smt. Mrinalini Sadananda at the age of 6 and has loved it ever since. She is now pursuing her Master's in Kuchipudi from the University of Silicon Andhra and has been teaching at Kalamandapam for the past several years. She helped start the virtual Margazhi performances during the Covid-19 pandemic and hopes to continue to use her art and knowledge of Kuchipudi to make an impact.
Divya Swamy is an instructor at Kalamandapam. She began her training in Indian classical dance in Bharatanatyam at age 5
from Guru Ambika Sukumaran in New Jersey. After moving to Washington DC, began learning Kuchipudi at Kalamandapam in
2004 and feels lucky to have learned from Guru Mrinalini Sadananda, SathyaPriya Ramana and the many other wonderful
visiting gurus. She works in foreign policy, sings Carnatic music, and runs a Girl Scout troop when she's not chasing
after her almost 5 year old.
Jishna Ganguly is a versatile dancer trained in multiple Indian classical dance forms, including Bharatanatyam,
Kuchipudi, and Karanas. With a passion for dance that started at the age of 3, Jishna grew up in Kolkata and pursued her
engineering studies while simultaneously training in Bharatanatyam under the tutelage of renowned gurus such as Shilpi
Baruri, Girija Murali, Venkit Kalalayam, and Anita Mallick.
After moving to Chennai for work, Jishna discovered Kuchipudi and was immediately drawn to its beauty. She has been
training in this style for over 10 years under the tutelage of Mrinalini Sadananda, Sathyapriya Ramana and other
renowned gurus.
Megha Saggurti
Nalini Mirajkar
Past Instructors
Pragathi Kollu, an instructor,
was born and raised in Andhra Pradesh where she started learning the rudiments of Kuchipudi at the age of six. Since
her childhood, she has developed a deep passion for the dance, which led her to become an acclaimed and talented
dancer as an adult. Pragathi has been extensively performing in the east coast of the U.S. with a lot of enthusiasm
and interest despite of her professional activity as a Software Engineer working for Freddie Mac.