Touching souls through dance
When Nilan Maligaspe, chief choreographer of Arpeggio Creative Dance Academy (ACDA) went on an 8 day visit to Patiala, India he didn’t know that the foreshadowing visit would be one of the most moving experiences of his life. Along with four of his senior students Pradeep Gunaratne, Amila Adushan, Chaturi Perera and Chamith Veeraba, Nilan’s visit to Patiala came by invitation of Col. Karaminder Singh (Retd.), the secretary of the Society for Welfare of the handicapped who he met in 2014 in Ladakh,India at a performance of the ACDA. Interested in Nilan’s style of teaching, Col. Singh extended an invitation for the choreographer and a few of his students to perform at the Golden Jubilee of the Patiala School for the Deaf and the Patiala School for the Blind. Managed by the Society for Welfare of the Handicapped, the troupe performed at the Satrangi festival as a part of the anniversary celebrations.
During their stay the troupe not only performed at the festival which attracted participants from all over India, but also conducted workshops for teachers and students.
Having persuaded Nilan to perform an “emotional dance” number, the choreographer was encouraged to conduct workshops for the teachers of several schools on the style of emotional dance. Nilan has been experimenting with the art form, creating syllabuses that would specially benefit deaf students. Together with the use of sign language and specialized movements, his workshops for the staff he feels, will also help in their teaching methods.
The enthusiasm toward this new style of dancing and learning hopes to find Nilan back again in India in the coming future. He is grateful to the India Sri Lanka Foundation, the High Commission of India and the Society for Welfare of the Handicapped, for the opportunity.
Since his inspiring visit, Nilan and ACDA’s vision for nurturing dance is readily progressing. This month finds the choreographer preparing for a workshop for local teachers of deaf and blind students as well. “Before we teach the children we need to teach their teachers” he explains.
