Kannan had a zeal to learn the classical art of Kathakali from his childhood but never let his studies suffer. Today, he is a mentor to Ph.D. students and also a project director in a leading deemed university for classical arts.

Kannan Parameswaran is a Kathakali performer, and project director at Sangeet Natak Academy Kutiyattam Kendra, Kerala. Kannan is also a Ph.D. in Kathakali theater and working as a guide to Ph.D. students studying in Kerala Kalamandalam Deemed University. He has also worked with several foreign universities like University of California and in the theater department of many  New York Universities.

Kannan was born in a village named Ettumanoor in Kottayam district of Kerala. His family used to work inside the Ettumanoor Mahadeva temple. Being associated with the temple, Kannan got an exposure to kathakali dance performances which used to take place during festive season.

This interest in Kathakali resulted in him becoming a performer at an early age of ten. However, Kannan says that his father was not in favor of him learning Kathakali and wished for him to study well and become a doctor or engineer. Seeing his passion in the field, his father made a deal with Kannan: he could continue his Kathakali training until he scored well in academics and remained in the first three positions in his school. Kannan says that this motivation helped him focus on both his academics and art which helped him later in his life while working in foreign universities.

Talking about his journey in the field of Kathakali dance, Kannan says that he started his initial training in his village itself from Guru Mohan Kumar. After that, he trained under Kalamandalam Vasu Pisharody. He also completed a one year special training in Natya Shastra and facial expression under Padmashree Mani Madhava Chakyar.

When asked about challenges he faced, Kannan says that he faced a lot of challenges as one cannot earn a good livelihood from just performances itself and hence he had to manage different fields together. Also, a knee injury slowed him down a bit but now he is back on track.

Kannan says that he did not enroll with any specific institute for learning and took gurukul style training under his guru. He further adds that he won first prize continuously for four years in his school youth festivals and used to receive a lot of praise for his performances. He also drew inspiration from great dancers like Kalamandalam Gopi and his guru Kalamandalam Vasu Pisharody.

Talking about his mistakes, Kannan says that he got into a wrong marriage alliance which he feels was a mistake. He also adds that he did PG in Malayalam but he wanted to do it in Sanskrit. However, he later did pursue Sanskrit as well and just regrets not doing it earlier in his life.

Sharing about his accomplishments, Kannan says that he has received a lot of awards but for him real achievement in life is being happy and content. He feels that having a peaceful mind devoid of all negativities in life is an achievement.

Talking about his role models, Kannan says that he has followed Aurobindo Ghosh and his ideals all his life and he is his role model.

Kannan says that his life mantra is to be self-aware and self-observant about our actions. He feels that self awareness is important as it gives us a chance to correct ourselves in life.

In his free time, Kannan likes listening to classical music, and reading books related to philosophies like Sankhya, Vedic systems, Yoga and Vedanta etc. He also engages himself in watching dance performances and getting involved in theater activities.