Guru Gedara Festival: Up close and personal with our cultural heritage
Deshamanya Chitrasena with his wife Vajira were artists who performed tremendous service in establishing a modern Sri Lankan tradition of dance, and popularising traditional Sri Lankan dance forms worldwide. The new generation of the Chitrasena Kalayathanaya continues the service, and their latest venture is the Guru Gedara Festival- the First Immersive Traditional Arts Experience.
Vajira with two of the gurus. Pic by Indika Handuwala
The festival was launched on July 18 along with a panel discussion entitled, “Remembering Chitrasena”, the panel comprising Guru J. D. Gunatunga, Upeka Chitrasena, Ravibandu Vidyapathi and Kanthi Shilpadipathi, with Mirak Raheem, Chitrasena’s biographer, moderating.
To be held from August 30 to September 2, the festival marks 75 years of the Chitrasena Vajira Dance Foundation. The aim of the festival is to bring the multi-faceted world of Sri Lankan traditional arts to one location with the aim of raising awareness and understanding of these sacred art forms that have evolved into a truly unique cultural heritage. The festival is choreographed as a fully immersive experience.
Over 30 ‘gurus’ will gather at the Chitrasena Kalayathanaya over the four-day festival to share their expertise through discussions, master classes, workshops, demonstrations and performances. During other times they will be in their studios or ‘kutis’ creating their craft and sharing their expertise with small groups of audience members.
Heshma Wignaraja, artistic director of the Chitrasena Vajira Dance Foundation, stressed that they were trying to support what is left of our art forms- ‘as best as we can.’ She said that their work primarily involves creating an experience and inspiring through our traditional dances by carefully innovating to make a sacred ancient art form relevant to modern times. “Our aim is to help rediscover the essence and value of these art forms and to shine a spotlight on the last of
Kandyan drummers - Pic by Lukshmanan Nadaraja
the gurus. The festival can also serve to develop a better understanding and appreciation of these arts among its teachers and students, and the general public. This is an attempt to reveal the forgotten creative and healing expression of our country and support its preservation for the future.”
The festival will open on August 30 with an excerpt of the serenely beautiful Pahan Maduwa performed in the centre of a ritual space where many lamps will be lit and the traditional ritual blessing of light and wisdom will be danced and drummed by a group of ritual artistes.
August 31, the second day of the festival, is dedicated to educating and sharing with teachers from schools across the island who teach dance as part of the ‘O’ level and ‘A’ level syllabi. The afternoon session will be for undergraduates studying dance at several universities in the country. Open public sessions on the following two days, September 1 and 2, are ticketed and audience members have a choice of participation: either at an intense immersive level or at a more leisurely, curated level of interaction. Traditional meals and snacks will be served throughout the day, reminiscent of the hospitality at a traditional guru’s home.
The festival is presented together with Cinnamon Life in association with the John Keells Foundation, the Corporate Social Responsibility entity of the John Keells Group.