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So, can such an intrinsic feature of the ancient Sri Lankan dance forms have more than one interpretation or expression, or should it be interpreted at all? "Different Expressions of Thala," a splendid dance performance by the Channa -Upuli Performing Arts Foundation held on October 25, at the St. Peter's College Hall, was sure to have generated many such questions in one's mind. But keeping to the troupe's reputation, the performance was a combination of immaculate timing, precision of movement and tasteful costumes. The dance recital by this well-known dance troupe, was organized by the Welfare Society of the college, to raise funds for the college building fund. A blend of traditional and free-style dance routines, the performance was a presentation of many dance forms, interpreted in diverse ways. Six dancers clad in the traditional white dhoti and carrying oil lamps came on stage performing the welcome dance, which was followed by the chief guests and other dignitaries lighting the traditional oil lamp. The performance was almost a journey through time, where the audience was briefly taken through the history of Sri Lanka, from Vijaya's arrival to contemporary times. Kuweni, flanked by four other young women of the Yaksha tribe performed a fiery dance, showing the strength of her kingdom. But her power is soon diminished with the arrival and taking over of Prince Vijaya, who depicts his satisfaction by taking a fist full of sand from the beach at Thambapanni and holding it up joyously. With the characters of Vijaya and Kuweni portrayed by Channa and Upuli themselves, the quality of that performance goes unsaid. A colourful peacock dance was next in line, with dancers dressed in 'peacock' blue performing the Mayura Vannama, one of the many Kandyan Vannamas of Sri Lanka. The dance was accompanied by the authentic verses. A fast moving Indian fusion dance titled "Temple Games" followed, adding really nothing more than variety and choice to the line up. Keeping to the traditions of the dance form, "Nagaraksa," a Low Country style dance of Sri Lanka, was performed next. Two dancers, bearing the customary masks depicting mythical creatures such as the Nagaya and the Gurula entertained the audience with their sprightly spins and turns. The next item was a solo performance of free style dance moves, performed to the song "My heart will go on," from the famous movie Titanic. Though the expressions were displayed very visually, a few movements such as the worshipping motion taken from Kandyan dancing, didn't quite seem to fall into place with the daring costume, ocean setting and Western music. Keeping up with the mood of defying tradition, an interpretation of the Gajaga Vannama, was presented next. Clad in jet-black satin costumes, complemented with intricate accessories, the dancers depicted the magnificent movements of the tusker, but this was ironically accompanied by a techno version of the original Gajaga Vannam music. A brilliant expression of the pure rhythmical Low Country dance tradition, followed. This dance highlights the ritual known as the "Devol Maduwa" performed in honour of the Goddess Pattini, and was performed by two dancers and a drummer. A fusion of Sabaragamuwa dance traditions came next, accompanied by the traditional drum beats and the blowing of the conch shell. "Sabaragamuwa Fusion" it was, with traditional Kasthiram and ballet movements alternatively merged. The break was followed by an exquisite performance of creativity and tradition, a definite favourite of the audience. This ballet saw King Kassapa being entertained by the captivating dance of his Sigiriya Apsaras. According to the myth, after being mesmerized by their beauty, he decides to immortalize them, and so the Sigiriya frescoes were inspired. The expressions and emotions expressed by every single dancer were perfectly fitting, while the tastefully done pastel shaded costumes added to the splendour of the performance. A traditional Ves dance was next in line, and featured two dancers and two drummers. Being the traditional dance of the Kandyan kingdom, this dance form is taken from the ritual of the Kohomba Kankariya which gave birth to Kandyan Dance. Two performances to Sinhala songs were lined up subsequently, backed by energetic dance movements and colourful costumes. The two songs, "Rangahala" sung by Wijeyaratne Warakagoda, deals with the Maname play, while "Thanane" is a song belonging to the new generation, sung by the Bhathiya - Santhush duo. A comical interpretation of the two demons who are capable of curing the sick, was the next traditional dance item. "Salupaliya", had quite a degree of crowd interaction, with one dancer walking through the audience, and on to the stage. An exotic dance to the rhythmic tunes of Arabic music, with the dancers in gold and black costumes, revved up the tempo. The finale was a festival dance tilted Makusa, with provocative dance movements and Indian folk music accompanying it. "Different expressions of Thala" was a "different" experience indeed. It must have surely left many pondering over the fundamentals of interpretation, but that didn't take away the fact that it was on the whole, a delightful performance. Acting out the
path laid out before her Her choice
of the kind of acting she believes in is apparent by looking at
the roles for which she bagged this award up to now: the main female
characters in Sophocles' Antigone, Ariel Dorfman's Men Without Shadows
and K.B. Herath's Dona Katharina. "Art can never be a hobby or a pastime for me. I do not believe in art being only for fun or entertainment, either for myself as an actress or for the audience. Though of course that aspect is important - I feel that there is so much more to it. It should have a serious grounding or footing for something substantial to be built upon it. That is what I mean by serious art - not that it should be exclusive or elitist," she adds. Even her roles in film and television stand testimony to her steadfastness of purpose. In the electronic media, working mainly with award-winning director Asoka Handagama, Kaushalya has been the main actress in his film Sanda Dadayama, receiving the Critics Award for best actress in that film which unfortunately did not reach the public halls here due to a technical fault in production. She was also in his film Me mage sanday. Her involvement
in his television serials like Dunhinda addara and Diyaketa pahana
also gave mass audiences a chance to see her acting and she received
the OCIC award for best actress for her role in the former. She
is also the lead actress in Sathyajith Maitipe's film, Boradiya
Pokuna, which is awaiting release. "It is sad to see the situation of Sinhala drama in this country now," she says. "It has become such an economic loss because people do not patronize the theatres like they used to, so that many will not enter this field or survive long here even if they did enter. I think that the main reason for producing new plays in this country is to enter them for the State Drama Festival - not for anything else. And that is a very sad thing." This also leads to many veteran dramatists lying low without attempting any new productions, Kaushalya points out. For example, there had not been a single experienced dramatist's work in the recently concluded State Drama Festival. "Only the young have the energy to take the risk of getting into this field. They are the ones who are capable of being intoxicated with this art to forget the consequences and get involved in it, no matter what." Though this is commendable, she says, by not having the experienced dramatists to compare their work with, to compete with, to challenge, they lose a chance to gain an important aspect to their development as artistes. Kaushalya does not lay the blame for this situation solely on the medium of television that has invaded the leisure hours of Sri Lankan people. She feels that the world of theatre can answer that challenge by itself becoming more competitive and entering the fray alongside the musical shows, the dance shows and the like. "Innovation and creativity - the willingness to experiment, all these are necessary," she says. "We have to think of methods where we can attract the audience. That is our responsibility." She cites examples from the West where even classics like the plays of Shakespeare have been adapted to suit contemporary audiences. Despite the complications and challenges in the field of Sinhala drama, Kaushalya is firm in her belief that this is where she belongs. In a way, it will be difficult for her to believe otherwise, since she hasbeen reared within this world since birth almost. When she was a baby, her mother, Somalatha Subasinghe was the reigning prima donna of Sinhala theatre having the main role in Galappatti's Mudu puttu and so on. Even her father, though leaving the field subsequently for an illustrious career as a civil servant, had been involved as an actor in the groundbreaking production of Sarachchandra's Maname. "I was taken to almost all the shows and rehearsals as a baby, apparently" smiles Kaushalya. "I must have had good doses of drama with my milk." In the absence of an institutionalized programme for the training of dramatists in Sri Lanka, Kaushalya gained her "training" in real life experiences, real involvement in the world of theatre. "The grand people that I met during my childhood and youth; the things they talked about; what they did; the films, the plays I watched; the books I read - all this was my training," says Kaushalya. Working with great directors like Sugathapala de Silva, in whose production of Marat Sade she played the main female role, Dharmasiri Bandaranayake in whose Dhavala Bheeshana she was again in the lead female role, the Finnish director Helena Lehthimaki who did Brecht's play Puntila in Sinhala and gave her a part in it, and Khemadasa who put Kaushalya's trained voice to song in his opera Manasa vila, was a formative experience, she says. "And being with my mother - that is a training in itself. She talks only theatre most of the time - she would discuss whatever she read with me and that was such a learning process." Somalatha Subasinghe had started a drama group by the name of "Lanka Children's and Youth Theatre organization' when Kaushalya was young and this being based at home, gave her a chance to be actively involved in it. This group is still very much involved in the work they believe in and have produced quite a few wellknown names in the field of drama in Sri Lanka. Kaushalya, along with her mother, is now involved in training young people in this art, holding workshops and so on, in an effort in further the ideals she stands for. Kaushalya herself has had many chances to participate in drama workshops abroad and the knowledge thus gained she disseminates among her students here. Kaushalya is equally at home as a teacher as she is as an actress. After her BA degree from the University of Colombo she worked as an English instructor at the university for quite some time. "It was a teacher that I remember always wanting to become. I had never planned on being an actress - I had associated certain looks with that role and did not see myself as one. But I guess there was no way I could avoid the path that was laid out before me. Fusing
eastern inspirations and western form The 27 participants of the ten-day long camp in Habarana Village were from eight countries; India, Switzerland, Norway, Russia, Pakistan, Netherlands, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. "I loved the camp. It is my first time here in Sri Lanka and I got a lot of inspiration from the things I saw," said Hanna Hoiness from Norway. Her artwork was done on mixed media on board. What was apparent was the fact that almost all the artists from abroad, had in some way tried to fuse eastern inspiration with western forms. Many of them had used ancient inscriptions and Sri Lankan cultural symbolism together with European forms of art. 'Sri Lankan mood', drawn by Monika Bachli from Switzerland, showed how well the artist has been able to create a dialogue between Sri Lankan and European civilizations through drawing on tempera and canvas. The media used by artists varied from fibreglass, oil on canvas, elephant dung paper, to metal and soap. Santhoshi Jayasekara from Sri Lanka exhibited four of her drawings. 'Footprints' was more like a memoir of the camp for her as it contains her own footprints along with greetings in different languages that she learnt from the new friends she made at the camp. "It was a completely new experience," she commented on the workshop. The international artists camp is one of the annual events organized by the George Keyt Foundation with the idea of promoting art and assisting Sri Lankan artists to establish a gallery of modern Sri Lankan art. NORAD, the John Keells Group and SriLankan Airlines sponsored this year's event. |
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Different,
it definitely was
