“Without art, no education can be a true education.”

Rukmini Devi Arundale

About the school

Kalagriha School of Performing Arts was founded in 2020 by Ottawa-based Bharatanatyam artiste Ms. Stuti Mukherjee, who serves as its Artistic Director. “Kalagriha” is a Sanskrit word for “house of art” and was created to nourish Indian classical arts across Ottawa through Bharatanatyam dance classes, performances, workshops, and lecture demonstrations.

Kalagriha honours the Indian classical dance form – “Bharatanatyam”- by providing students with superior professional dance training and artistic leadership.  

Kalagriha’s primary goal is to instill in its students the importance of discipline, precision, finesse, clarity of technique, and artistic intent through Kalakshetra bani of Bharatanatyam.

Since its inception, Kalagriha has established itself as one of the premiere Indian classical dance institutions in Kanata. Kalagriha conducts regular Bharatanatyam classes and regularly offers workshops, lecture demonstrations, and performances across Ottawa. 

meet the artistic Director

stuti mukherjee

founder & artistic director

Stuti is an Indian classical (Bharatanatyam) dancer based in Ottawa. She earned her Diploma in dance in 2005 from Kalamandalam, Calcutta, India. Stuti had her dance graduation in 2019, and following that, she continued her advanced dance training with an eminent artist -Shri Kalakshetra Amarnath Ghosh. Stuti also received dance training from the distinguished Bharatanatyam artist Dr. Apoorva Jayaraman to work on a specific dance item (a Pada Varnam) for eight months. Stuti got certified for intensive online workshops by the Kalakshetra Foundation, Chennai, India. Recently, Stuti got an opportunity to collaborate on a dance project funded by the Citadel + Compagnie in association with Fall for Dance North, Toronto, to work with eminent Bharatanatyam artist Shri. Bhavajan Kumar( a Padmashri Leela Samson disciple) and Kalakshetra KP Rakesh (a dance teacher at the Kalakshetra Foundation, Chennai). Stuti is training in Kuchipudi under the guidance of Shri Kasi Aysola from the US. 

Stuti was one of the dance jurors for the Ontario Arts council’s dance project grant 2020. In 2021, Stuti was awarded a dance Fellowship by Indian Raga dance productions, USA. Stuti’s work was selected by Citadel+Compagnie’s Night Shift 2022 in association with Fall for Dance North in September 2022 in Toronto. In June 2022, Stuti received the City of Ottawa’s 2022 Equity and inclusion in the arts fund – SEED award. Stuti was invited for a lecture demonstration and dance presentation at “Artasia 2022” and “GenNext 2022” by the Kabir centre of Arts, Montreal. Recently, Stuti got a chance to perform at the National Arts Centre (NAC) as a part of the Aroha Diwali Fest organized by an award-winning Ottawa-based Kathak artist Ms. Anjali Patil. 

Since September 2022, Stuti has been working as a MASC Artist (Multicultural Arts for Schools and Communities), wherein she conducts Bharatanatyam workshops, lectures-demonstrations across schools in the Ottawa-Gatineau area. Stuti owns a dance school – Kalagriha School of Performing Arts in Kanata. She teaches beginners, intermediate, and advanced dance lessons to kids, youth and adults of the South-Asian community in Ottawa.