Switching onto dance
At the Deanna School of Dancing (DSD) it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been actually dancing. What does matter is dedication to the form and absolute, unerring commitment for getting it right. We’re watching a small group rehearse an African tribal number and from the intense look of concentration it’s clear these girls are aiming for nothing but their best in their next show ‘Switch’ where they’ll be bringing alive the spirit of a newspaper, and when everything’s in black and white there’s little room for error!
The cleverly crafted show will embody the spirit of different sections of a newspaper; cultural news, classifieds, crime, fashion, events, breaking news, travel and weather. From burlesque to contemporary ballet, the young dancers of DSD will use contemporary dance to communicate with their audience. They’re choreographed by Natasha and Natalie Jayasuriya, the young heads of the school’s junior and senior sections respectively-their mother Deanna Jayasuriya is one of Sri Lanka’s renowned instructors of ballet, and the duo both trained with her before attending prestigious schools of dance abroad.
Their young protégées are pages off the same book. “I’ve been dancing since I was two,” says Rosheni Abbey, who moved to Sri Lanka from the US when she was nine years old. “Natasha’s lessons have always been about fun, which I think some of us need to be reminded of!” With dance she has found her sense of peace, she smiles. “I find that I can be grounded.” In bringing alive a newspaper, Abbey finds the matrimonials (they’ll do a Lonely Hearts section for classifieds) a great place to start.
Deshara Goonetilleke, on the other hand, hasn’t been doing this for too long at all. She fell in love with dance when she watched a previous show staged by the school and started her lessons just last year. Contrary to popular myth, you can dance even if you’re pushing your late teens, she laughs, “as long as you come for all the rehearsals and practice very, very hard!”
Sixteen year old Dinali Dharamadasa has wanted to dance since she was six, and did exactly that. She tried an entire gamut of different dance forms before deciding that ballet was where her passions-and bendy muscles-lay. “Ballet has taught me discipline,” she shares. “But hip hop and contemporary dance is also a lot of fun. I make time for both and it’s very fulfilling.” For ‘Switch’ she’ll take part in several items; if forced to pick (and we did), she’ll tell you that selected numbers from ‘The Pharaoh’s Daughter ‘and a very new age version of ‘Titanium’ are her favourites.
Tamaie Dandeniya used to come to Deanna’s for lessons when she was in Sri Lanka from England on vacation. Tamaie moved permanently to Sri Lanka a while back and began training full time with the school. “I’m bit of a perfectionist,” she explains when asked if she finds her calling in ballet or hip hop. “So I’d say ballet.” For this show, she’ll be doing a bit of both. Fellow dancer Mansha Wijegunawardene is an athlete first and foremost, but dance has always fascinated her. “I trained in jazz,” she tells us. “So crossing over to contemporary ballet was a major change.”
‘Switch’ happens on August 6 and 7 from 7.30 pm at the Bishop’s College Auditorium. Tickets for the show are available at the Deanna School of Dancing on Longden Place.
