The prima donna of ballet in Sri Lanka, Oosha Saravanamuttu, is no more.

The child prodigy who wowed audiences at the tender age of seven – with even hardcore journalists going into such raptures as to call her the ‘Shirley Temple of Ceylon’ – and danced and choreographed her way into the hearts of thousands while also moulding many a young one through her teaching and wisdom, is no more. She was just short of her 88th birthday which is in October.

“She is exuberant, passionate, warm, temperamental, creative, impatient, dramatic, dynamic, and chic,” wrote the late Manique Gunesekera, then Professor of English at the University of Kelaniya who had known Oosha from the 1970s, soon after Oosha’s 75th birthday in a book of tributes to her.

Calling her the “Renaissance woman of performing arts in Sri Lanka” in the book, ‘Oosha – A Life of Dance in Sri Lanka’, Manique also states that she represents many things to many people…….a dancer, teacher, choreographer, pianist, violinist, singer and actor.

For Kumudini and Paikiasothy (Thamby), she was just “Amma” and it is from them that we ask who the woman behind this icon of dance was. The much photographed icon many people knew – in her signature silk or Manipuri saree, huge pottu and bright flowers in her hair.

Kumudini we meet first in their lovely and spacious home down Ascot Avenue, Colombo 5, on Thursday afternoon, joined later by “Boy” as the sister calls her younger brother.

They have cremated Amma on Wednesday and Kumudini had gone on Thursday morning to pick up her ashes which are to be interred at the General Cemetery, Kanatte.

“Tenacity of purpose,” as Amma would say, they keep repeating, adding that this and faith in God made her what she was.

Do you know that just before the curtain went up on any performance organized by Amma, either at Royal College or Regal, even in those early days she would drop down on her knees behind the curtain and say a little prayer and long before it became a thing, the National Anthem preceded all performances, asks Kumudini, adding that Oosha was “very, very Sri Lankan”.

She was disciplined and extremely punctual. If she was invited to a wedding and was teaching that day she would have decided long, nearly a month before, what saree she would wear, what jewellery and shoes, recalls Kumudini, and she would finish teaching, be dressed and at the wedding about five minutes before it started.

“Amma worked very hard but when she relaxed she would go out at night, have a puff and sip coffee and brandy” and as teenagers when Kumudini and Boy went to let down their hair at the few nightclubs then such as Little Hut, they would find to their consternation Oosha walking in too.

My mother celebrated life to its fullest, prior to the dementia. She was the “life and soul” of our parties, singing, dancing and playing the piano in her inimitable style,” says Kumudini.

Oosha was very tough too, screaming out all sorts of insulting names if her students including Kumudini and Thamby did not meet her high standards. However, she was extremely generous, teaching many students free and also giving board and lodging to those in need. “She taught them much more than dance and an appreciation of the arts. She was a friend and confidante to her pupils and some say they were touched by an angel,” says Kumudini, while Paikiasothy adds that she shaped their personalities and instilled in them the confidence and the ability to achieve in their own lives.

And anyone and everyone who is someone now has passed through her circle of influence. The numbers are such that it is impossible to mention them all.

Having been stricken by dementia and a hip replacement that impeded her mobility in the past 10 years, Kumudini goes beyond that to reveal who Oosha was…….“She had a strong, vibrant dynamic personality always looking to the future and it is sad that we were robbed of her ideas and wisdom. Professionally, she had many plans for ballets and shows which she discussed with us. She was very innovative and a pioneer. She had a lot more to do and give. As she was so busy running her school she didn’t have enough time to devote to choreography, which many close to her regret as she had a creative genius.”

As a mother she was warm, loving, protective and supportive. She loved hard work. She was very practical and a problem-solver. She was very quick in everything she did and never procrastinated.

“She trusted us implicitly and took our advice and even criticism,” says Kumudini, smilingly recalling her “mischievous” sense of humour. “I told her that I was going to Yala to see animals and she told me to look in the mirror. This was when she had fairly advanced dementia. She was, of course, an animal lover.”

Oosha’s childhood was lonely, we gather, looked after by her grandmother Louisa Seneviratne de Livera and as an only child spending all her time with her beloved dogs, an enduring love until her death.

It was her grandmother who “spotted the rhythm in her little body” when she was just 2½ years old, enrolling her in Marjorie Sample’s ballet classes. She schooled at Bishop’s College, while also excelling in piano and violin. The star was born soon after, at seven years.

Later in life, five marriages she had to four men, with her last husband, Mohan Wijeyesinghe, passing away a few hours after she did last Monday (June 24).

Her first husband was Sepala Goonetilleke whom Oosha married when she was just 18. By 21, she was divorced with one son, Rohan (now deceased) “because conventional married life did not suit her”.

Next she married Dr. Bhaskaran Saravanamuttu with whom she had Kumudini and Paikiasothy who say that it was “passionate but turbulent”, with many an argument almost daily.

Our Amma the star

“She stood up to him all the time but he was also the person who encouraged her to start her own school,” says Kumudini and it was Bhaskaran that she remarried after third husband, S. Ganeshan, who was more of a father figure died.

When Dr. Bhaskaran died she finally married Mohan Wijeyesinghe with whom she had the longest stint as a wife.

Meanwhile, the beginnings of the Oosha Garten Ballet School, reported to be the oldest ballet school in Sri Lanka, were humble with just five students in her drawing room down Stratford Avenue in Kirulapone. There was no mirror or barre and it was Oosha’s perseverance that ensured its growth, with her dance studio finding its permanent home at Ascot Avenue.

The rest, of course, is history.

In the words of Kumudini, Oosha was “a force of nature” earlier and then a “presence” due to her illness. She was a natural star. “I am honoured to be her daughter.”

The firmament has grown slightly dimmer, with the passing on of Oosha who strode across  it like a colossus but also left behind a strong legacy.

 

1938, a star is born

Both Kumudini and Paikiasothy danced too but invariably the conversation veers towards the achievements of Oosha, their mother on whom has been heaped laurels and honours.The leap into stardom came at 7 for Oosha, when her teacher, Marjorie Sample, took her students onto the Royal College stage on November 10, 1938 with ‘Dancing Display’. The programme is a revelation – while the older children did group dancing, one name pops up in solo on seven items. ‘Little Angeline’, ‘A Hornpipe with Syncopation’, ‘The Poppy’, ‘Ukelele Baby’, ‘Trepax’, ‘Rumba’ and ‘Valse’ by seven-year-old Oosha. There was no turning back for little Oosha. Greatness did not await her in the wings but on the main stage itself. While formally studying classical ballet she had also studied and performed contemporary dance, tap, modern dance, fusion, acrobatics and Kandyan dance and as Manique Gunesekera states: “Oosha the dancer represents an eclectic blend of all that dance has to offer in the 21st century, from classical to contemporary.” According to Manique: Oosha’s dancing career, her training, and her performances are entirely Sri Lankan and she was proud to call herself “completely made in Sri Lanka”……but she took pride in absorbing influences from the east and the west in creating dances for Sri Lankans. Her career in dance symbolized the sociopolitical changes Sri Lanka has undergone. And her productions have included dances based on the legends of Saradiel; Rama & Sita; Saliya & Asokamala; and Vijaya & Kuveni performed to the music of Bach, Beethoven, Borodin, Bartok, Chopin and Tchaikovsky. Her children recall ‘An Ode to Youth’ held at the Ladies College Hall in 1966 – husband Bhaskaran mooting the idea of a ballet of four seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter), both Kumudini and Paikiasothy (role of spring) as well as Oosha (as the spirit of winter) herself taking part. Drums is another production, they talk about. Designed to the rhythm of Ravibandu’s drumming, it had been very innovative – the first time Sri Lankan drumming had been combined with barefoot and pointe dancing. Many more followed – Joie de Vivre which included The Sun Dance, Thumbelina, and Wild Swans; Les Couleurs de la Vie, Rhapsody in Blue, Les Jeunes, Adam and Eve, Les moments Musicaux, My Fair Lady, Cabriole et Entrechat, Giselle………the list seems endless.

Thank you Aunty Oosha

By Sashini Rodrigo and Ruqyyaha Deane

Theatre and dance personalities and students shared heartfelt tributes to the legend that was Oosha. Here are extracts:

Jerome de Silva:

To say that I owe my theatre career spanning 50 years to her is to say the least.  She together with Wendy Whatmore, Fr. Claver Perera and Ena Heynecker nurtured me to be what I am. It was Aunty Oosha who taught me most about the discipline one requires to be an artist. The immense knowledge I gathered from her and the knack to teach were inculcated in me by her. Her generosity to share her knowledge and resources is unmatchable. I personally hope I can continue to share the legacy she left in me and that it would be continued even after me till we all meet on that beautiful shore.

Upeka Chitrasena:

From the time I was a little girl, I always knew her as Aunty Oosha and as I grew up and got more immersed in dance, I tried never to miss any of the productions she presented on stage with her pupils. She was an icon in the Sri Lankan dance world of Western Ballet and my parents and she had a fondness and mutual respect for each other, understanding and appreciating the valuable contributions they had made to the theatre tradition in Sri Lanka.

Later, as my friendship extended to her children, Sara and Kumudini, I was a regular guest at the family’s annual Christmas party, with carol singing and a sumptuous Christmas dinner being regular features. She was always a cheerful and gracious hostess and in the latter years, in spite of her debilitating illness, she would never fail to attend, even though she couldn’t partake in most of the activities and conversations.

She will be sorely missed by her many friends and the myriad students, some of them going on to be professional dancers, who passed through her classes, and it will take some time before we will get used to her absence at those memorable Christmas celebrations.

Naomi Rajaratnam:

At a time when Ballet was not given much prominence in this country, Oosha Saravanamuttu persevered with great courage to keep this dance form alive in Sri Lanka and will always be considered one amongst a very few who was a pioneer of ballet in our island.

I recall Chattanooga Choo Choo being one of her favourite items and I recall her dancing to it.

Sureka Gunawardena:

Aunty Oosha as we all fondly called her, was an extremely gracious lady, an outstanding teacher, choreographer, a role model and an inspiration who shaped the foundation in my 27 plus years of dance training under her guidance. Aunty Oosha not only taught us how to dance but also instilled in us the importance of discipline, attention to detail and taught us that hard work, dedication and sacrifices will ultimately result in amazing creativity and noteworthy dancers in us. She was the teacher who believed in you, pushed you and led you on to the next plateau and most often poked you with a sharp stick called the truth.

Aunty Oosha, you are a gift from God and I am eternally grateful to you for shaping my life that has led me to be where I am today.  Your imprint lives in my heart forever. May you rest in eternal peace.

Menaka De Fonseka Sahabandu:

Aunt Oosha is a legend. She taught me ballet when I was in primary school. Everything I learned from her, be it appreciation of classical music, dance, poise, confidence on stage became useful to me later as a musician and as a teacher. She was the Shirley Temple of Sri Lanka. I was also lucky to have worked with her later in life in several productions and concerts.

Christopher Prins:

Aunty Oosha – a truly amazing human being – to me, she was more than my dance teacher. She was a mother, friend and mentor.

My first experience with Aunty Oosha was in the production of Joseph for the Wendy Whatmore Academy where Aunty Oosha was the choreographer, Mary Anne David was the choral director and Jerome de Silva was the director. I had never done ballet prior to that. At the end of the production Aunty Oosha encouraged many of the cast to attend her ballet classes and so I too was blessed to learn ballet under Aunty Oosha.

Aunty Oosha was able to bring out in each of us much more than we ourselves believed possible. She made dancers of all of us who attended classes.

I thoroughly enjoyed my five and a half years of being a student of the Oosha Garten. Aunty Oosha, thank you.

Romina Gyi and Tara Cooke:

Ever since the start of the Oosha Garten of Ballet more than 50 years ago, lessons at Aunty Oosha’s have played a significant role in many of our lives. It’s not just us, the generations upon generations of lives she touched during her career is countless. We learnt the importance of discipline, hardwork and perseverance amongst many other attributes.

Her legacy lives on through us at The Ballet School of Colombo as we are forever grateful for all that she taught us and strive to pass her passion and dedication to the future generations.

The memories etched in our hearts are far greater then those captured in pictures.

Kapila Palihawadana:

For me Oosha Garten Ballet was very very special and unique among all the ballet schools in Sri Lanka. Aunty Oosha was very particular about her students developing the right technique, and learning under her meant that one has to dance properly as she would not settle for anything else. I always appreciated and will appreciate the fact that she demanded the best from her dancers and she always made her choice not to present a dance performance until it was perfect.

She was the proof of the existence of grace in our lives. Aunty Oosha made me the person I am today. I learned a lot and there are not enough words to explain how influential she was to me. Today I am running Sri Lanka’s first ever contemporary professional dance company nATANDA dance theatre, and I believe her blessing is always there for me.

Otara Gunewardene:

I was a dancer with the Oosha Garten of Ballet for almost nine years. It truly was one of the most memorable and best experiences of my life. Not only did she train me to be one of her lead dancers, she taught me dedication, discipline, commitment and to also have fun. What I learnt from her and have used the most throughout my life was her great passion and love for what she did. Thank you Aunty Oosha.

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