Ambassador of dance
In the wake of nATANDA’s mainstream success and critically acclaimed performances, Founder and Artistic Director Kapila Palihawadana frequently finds himself being courted to mentor other young performers. One such offer that he did accept was an invitation from the Cleveland Foundation to take up a residency of three months in the USA and share his knowledge with local dance students.
Artistic Director Kapila Palihawadana
In September, Kapila travelled to Ohio to meet the dance company he would work with for the next three months.
?”I was ecstatic”,? he says of the opportunity. ?”I knew I was the first Sri Lankan choreographer who would mentor a foreign dance company abroad. It was an honour, and I was determined to do well.”?
Every year, the Cleveland Foundation hosts a select group of accomplished artists from different cultures as part of its ?Creative Fusion? programme. The multi-year initiative aims to facilitate the exchange of ideas and experiences across sectors, populations, ideologies and modes of creative expression; within existing cultural institutions. The selection process for this programme is a tough one, as the position is one that is highly coveted.
Kapila pulled through, and was chosen by the Inlet dance company to choreograph a piece for the company’s ‘Inlet in Concert’ show in November. On November 16, Kapila’s chosen 15 students performed ‘Chakra’ at the Hanna Theatre, based on healing and the central energy of the body. “For me dance is a healing process,” explains Kapila. “Even some of our Sri Lankan dance forms started out as healing rituals so there is a very strong connection with my own dance culture.” They will perform a 10 minute extract from Chakra (the full version is 30 minutes long) at the show, and Kapila will travel back to the States next year to train the students for Chakra’s world premiere in April.
Teaching a group of dancers accustomed to Western forms of movement, in how to stay in rhythm with the Eastern genre was no easy task, he admits. “These dancers have different backgrounds. Some come from dance and theatre, some from classical ballet… It’s a mixture of different bodies and capabilities,” he says. “Building a dance vocabulary in a new language was a mental challenge in addition to being a physical one. But it was an inspiring challenge. I’m proud because I have trained them in basic Kandyan dance and through that the Inlet dancers have discovered new sounds, rhythm and dynamics.”
“In turn, they’ve been very motivated and supportive,” he adds with a touch of pride. “They challenged themselves to figure out how to overcome difficulties with movement by trying to understand their own dynamic body movements.” It was difficult to answer the multitude of questions that would often be fired his way by 15 very different dancers about why they were doing a particular dance move, he smiles. But the choreographer admits he in turn has learnt some important things about his craft.
Kapila’s students strike a pose
His residency has been peppered with a series of master classes at venues such as the Inlet dance theatre, VERB Ballet, Cleveland State University, Hathaway Brown, Kent University, Rainey Institute, Tri C College and Changrin Yoga. “It’s been fantastic to teach people about our culture and our dance forms,” he enthuses. “People were fascinated with Sri Lanka’s long history of dance and culture and many have made their minds up to visit.”
The community of Cleveland has been incredibly welcoming, he adds, going out of their way to respect his status as someone who was sharing with their community a new culture. “It makes you very happy, to be afforded that respect,” says Kapila. “It makes you want to keep doing what you do.”
He fully intends that this partnership will not die out after his residency. “I want to see how nATANDA and Inlet can partner in the future, because it would be a pity if we do not sustain the relationship. Of course, that will depend on how we can work together as two groups in the future.”
He is keen to point out that it’s important for the government to take an initiative with such artist exchange programmes.
Kapila with his students
“These exchange programmes could really help us learn about each other. I strongly believe that dance is a wonderful communication tool to connect people from around the world to our beautiful country.
That’s why I say that my achievement is an achievement for all Sri Lankans.”
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