KALAIKAL-Although the idea and concept was in the minds of many, University of Toronto St George Campus through their Tamil Students Association (UTSG TSA) gave a platform for what is now KALAIKAL Inter-College and University Dance Competition. The year 2004 marks the beginning of this Tamil Dance Competition initiative for the first time in Toronto, Canada.

Through instilling a dance team on campus the members of UTSG TSA were given an opportunity to experience Tamil Dance and greater unity amongst themselves as a community of students on campus.

This initiative with the help of dedicated friends, supportive members, and passionate dancers was showcased through the tri campus performance done by University of Toronto Scarborough Campus TSA (UTSC TSA), University of Toronto Mississauga Campus TSA (UTM TSA), and UTSG TSA at the University of Toronto TSA Formal in 2005. Not only was this a memorable performance but it included another significant highlight that was about to change Tamil students at York University as some of the dancers from this production were founders and coordinators of the participating YUTSA Huskies Dance Team of 2009 and 2010

The two years that followed the successful initiation from 2005 to 2007 were the testament years of KALAIKAL, where organizational growth coupled by an uphill plight was undertaken by the past team members of what is now Kalaikal Creative Arts also known as KCA. Through the aid of community youth organizations and TSA’s, KALAIKAL underwent a learning experience of what it takes to hold an event that united artists from different schools and varying groups of artists.

A milestone was met in 2008, where the core group of directors that comprise the organization today felt a greater need and reach for the arts field in the community. Hence KCA was formed to sustain not just dance but all forms of Tamil arts and to help develop a platform for which artists seeking careers could receive the necessary tools to capture their dreams. KCA was formed, revamping its brand and logo to communicate its new mandate and vision, which was to “Propel Tamil Arts to the forefront of the world stage by unifying and sustaining diverse community initiatives through visionary leadership”.

The board of directors having developed this vision felt that it encompassed everything the newly formed not-for-profit arts organization needed to strive for and was necessary to achieve the organizational mission of Unity, Identity, and Charity. This mission stood for the unity of artists and the community as one to help sustain and develop the Tamil identity which in turn was the charitable cause that contributed back to the community through the development of the Tamil arts.

Another key development was the structure and organizational reform that KALAIKAL underwent, as new sectors were developed to target the members of the community in the arts as well as vocal artists. Having a structure that allowed the organization to expand and diversify in the field while still sustaining itself was a key structural innovation that will project KCA into the arts as an organization that could continue to grow and perform just as well as any profit based organization. This was a reformed arts organization with the type of dedicated directorship needed to build and sustain the Tamil arts through a not for profit arts organization.

March 28, 2009 marks a significant landmark in the history of KCA since its initial formation in the year 2004. KALAIKAL 2009 was held at the Queen Elizabeth Theater in Toronto Canada. It was a very emotional moment in time for the community as the war in Sri Lanka took a toll on the Tamil populace. KCA along with all of its participants undertook the event as a Relief Concert to raise awareness about the civil war waged on the Tamil people, in an attempt to uphold KCA’s mission. The event marks the participation of six Universities and two Colleges along with a collaborated Toronto wide secondary school team, and an array of talented and growing group of Tamil vocal artists.

Moving forward KCA continues its stride to build an upstanding not-for-profit arts organization to sustain the arts and artists through reinvesting in the community while enriching the Canadian cultural fabric.