Ten Sing rocks Kandy
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Ten Sing Norway took the stage at the Kandy City Centre by storm. From pop band to choir and from step-dance to ballet, they performed an hour’s worth of simple yet meaningful pieces to the ad-hoc audience that sat on the floor or stood around in the lobby.
Ten Sing Norway is a young performing arts group founded under the YMCA-YWCA banners and was touring the island. Their regular activities are based on the concept of using culturally relevant forms of creativity to share Christ. And since their target audience is youth, this means their repertoire consists mostly of pop songs, hip-hop and step-dance, ballet and some mime. Most of the students in the group are also students of Theology at the University of Oslo in Norway, and have a passion for youth and social work.
The items they performed in Kandy that afternoon were all very meaningful. Through song, dance and mime, they talked about peer pressure, about failure, about discovering who you are and where you belong, and about finding meaning in life. Each song was sung in a simple style with sensitive instrumentals and basic vocal harmonies while the dances too were uncomplicated but powerfully choreographed.
The twenty or so strong group of 18-20 year olds kept switching the line up, many of them playing different instruments at different times and singing and dancing/miming as well. Local youth that participated at the Ten Sing workshops over the previous few days also took the stage to sing and dance and demonstrate what they had learnt from their Norwegian peers.
After Kandy, their first stop, the group headed to Batticaloa for a similar program, conducting workshops with young creative people and performing for local audiences. Over the next few weeks, until March 21, they will be conducting similar workshops and performing around the island, visiting Point Pedro, Matara, Galle and Colombo.
Ten Sing Norway will perform in Colombo, on March 16 at the Dehiwala YMCA. The two-hour show begins at 4pm and will include musical and dance items from the touring group as well as from youth of the local YMCAs. Creative workshops in Colombo will be held on Wednesday, March 19 at Lassalian Centre, Mattakkuliya, Colombo 15, from 3pm to 6pm.
For more information, call Natalie on 071 451 8379.
