Crafting life skills
Sulochana Dissanayake
Using the creative arts as a platform to develop life skills is what ‘Camp Kreativ’ is aiming at as five professionals prepare to bring the camp to life with their expertise . Conducting sessions in drama, dance, music, photography, cinematography and film-making – the team aspire to foster a spirit of learning, camaraderie and creative thinking amongst participants.
Chanaka Wijamunige
Sulochana Dissanayake, founder and artistic director of Power of Play, will explore the basics of play-writing, acting, directing and puppetry to create dynamic performances based on the participants imagination. Chanaka Wijamunige, a cinematographer with credits in Feature Films and Short Films, works as an independent film maker in Colombo. His insight into film-making will be mainly for the 14-19 year age group of participants, giving them a chance to make their own short videos. “The workshop will give the chance for youngsters to take a glimpse into the wonderful world of cinematography and open up their minds to creativity,” says Chanaka, adding that the bigger picture is to train youngsters to capture the entire essence of a scenario and reflect it in one shot. “One day, these skills can be used to evaluate problems and come to a better solution.”
Chamila Karunarathne -Professional photojournalist- will carry out ‘Glimpse in to the life of a photojournalist’, which gives participants a healthy insight into basic photography and picture editing. The sessions will be held both indoors and outdoors and Chamila will detail the workings of photojournalism.“It is a great opportunity for children aspiring to take up jobs in photojournalism,” says Chamila, “But at the same time, it will help in other fields of interest because photography has become such an integrated part of our lives.” Chamila explains that with the advent of social media, photographs are widespread and everyone is seen clicking away. “Doing it the right way is what is important, and understanding that photography is a creative arts tool used to develop your view of the world is imperative.”
Wendy Perera
Chamila Karunarathne
‘Breaking barriers through music’ – the workshop on music will be conducted by Gayathri Khemadasa, contemporary classical music composer and the first female opera music singer of Sri Lanka. Her workshop will give students a chance to enjoy the art of making music while taking a peep into the real world music industry.
Dancer, Choreographer and Dance Educator Wendy Perera, will take on the ‘Move, Dance and Choreograph’ workshop. Having worked with children of all age groups, Wendy believes that she knows exactly what the child needs to learn. “It’s about finding yourself within the dance, and inspiring them to use memories which can be transformed into movements.”
“Camp Kreativ breaks free from everyday workshops because it aims at specific age groups and caters to specific needs,” adds Wendy. “Arts is an essential part of development, and no matter how qualified one may be, it’s the creative arts that help you think out of the box.”Camp Kreativ will be held at the ABC Preschool, Shrubbery Gardens Colombo 04, in 2 sessions. Session 1 – August 11, to August 16. Session 2 – August 18, to August 23. Registrations can be done at the Milk Bookstore, Colombo 07. For more details and to register online send an email to powerinfoplay@gmail.com.
At a glance
The sessions on dance (Rs. 3000 per session) will be conducted by professional dancer, choreographer and dance educator Wendy Perera, while the music workshop (Rs. 3000 per session) will come to life with sessions by Sri Lanka’s first female opera composer, Gayathri Khemadasa. Experienced photojournalist, Chamila Karunarathne will carry out sessions on photography (Rs. 4000 per session) with Chanaka Wijamunige taking on film-making (Rs. 10,000 for both sessions) and cinematography, while Sulochana Dissanayake will carry out the sessions on play-writing, acting, puppetry and directing (Rs. 3000 per session).