Arts
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| Segar’s
saga Segar's first career was as an accountant and then a public relations officer at Elephant House in the early eighties. "A promising professional" was how he was known to his employers there. The turning point came when one of his friends approached him to place something in a church sale. He contributed handmade greetings cards, made during his leisure. His friend seeing the beautiful greetings cards told him "Segar, you don't belong here!" The realization of his hidden talent gave him the urge to produce more such paintings on cards. His first painting was of the "fishmonger", who stopped by at his home daily. Segar could not resist the temptation of framing it but hid his creation, fearing criticism from his family members. The disappointment of the cynical comment by his mother, "what a waste of the glass and the frame," made him so angry that he dumped the painting into the garbage. But the urge to paint was so strong that he obeyed his inclination and painted more and more. Meanwhile he used his biology and chemistry notebooks to sketch human figures in different lifestyles and actions.Donavan, the Dutch connoisseur bought his first painting. Segar's gratitude was such, he named his son after him. A couple of his paintings occupied space in the art gallery of renowned artist Senake Senanayake. The enthusiastic young artist in a week's time found that one of his paintings was sold. Here began his new career. Unlike artists who were inclined to draw traditional religious art and iconography, he followed modern artists who are free to choose from a bewildering variety of art styles: realism, impressionism, expressionism, surrealism, cubism, abstraction, abstract expressionism, pop-art, neo-realism and so on. In the process Segar oriented his own style "refractive effects in cubism" as his favourite subjects were physics and mathematics. Segar's paintings are an unusual visual experience in that they are a combination of realistic and abstract. The real style of his paintings is "figurative cubism" he says. He traces the evolution of his love for cubism to his early days of "cramped living" in a housing estate in Colombo. However he faithfully holds on to his style for he believes that a professional painter who goes on changing his style, would lose his identity. Nutcracker:
It wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be The "Company" comprised 18 dancers and the performance lasted exactly 60 minutes. Normally "Nutcracker" is a full-length production with ensemble, soloists and children. This presentation was a concert version and showed pas-de deux (duets) and solos for the two principals. Extras who were local children were out of place demonstrating their lack of training (unstretched legs and feet). The B.M.I.C.H. stage is not ideal and was obviously slippery and hard. The female soloist slipped and fell and thereafter all the female dancers were not "on pointes" - totally unacceptable from professionals. Since the advance publicity informed us we would be seeing the "greatest dancers in the world" this may be a good moment to give a brief historical perspective of the development of ballet. 1669 saw the beginnings of ballet as we know it in France. Louis XIV, the ''Sun King" who was himself a keen dancer founded the Academy of Dance, now the Paris Opera School. The exchange of dancers and teachers between the European Courts of the 17th-18th centuries contributed significantly to its development. 1738 saw French ballet masters travelling to Russia and the imperial patronage of Catherine II led to the founding of the St. Petersburg School, (now the Kirov) in 1764 to Moscow, developing into the present day Bolshoi School. The combination of French flair, Russian temperament and physique were ideal for the development of the "Russian style". Continuing imperial patronage provided a stable framework for excellent dancers and performances to emerge and develop. In 1909, Russian impresario Diaghilev brought a stunning company of dancers, musicians and painters to Paris. The dancers led by Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina and Nijinsky were products of the Imperial schools. Regular seasons of Diaghilev's Russian ballet generated huge enthusiasm in Europe. However, the 1917 Revolution put an end to the stream of dancers trained in Russia. Diaghilev and his company remained in Europe, isolated from their roots, and tapped into English and French dancers, lifting levels. The formation of the Soviet Union cut Russia off from Europe and its vibrant modern developments. Diaghilev's death in 1929 in Venice was devastating and his company scattered to various parts of the world. Happily for us they started schools. Interestingly in Diaghilev's Company were the seeds of future national companies. Serge Lifar, who eventually became Director of the Paris Opera - Ninette de Valois, founder of British Ballet, Alice Marks (later Alicia Markova) and Anton Dolin, both young soloists with Diaghilev who formed London's Festival Ballet, (now English National) while Marie Rombert (assistant to Nijinsky) founded Ballet Rambert - eventually to develop into a contemporary company. Sri Lankans now travel extensively to Europe, UK, Australia and the US and have exposure to excellent performances. All major dance companies can be viewed on videos and DVDs - TV documentaries too have sharpened our eyes and our critical awareness. Personally I was sad to see the great Bolshoi traditions presented so poorly. We owe Russia an enormous debt for so much inspiration and excellent teaching - the present day excellence in Europe and the rest of the world has been transformed by Russian genius. Sadly these dancers who were competent enough did not come into this category. Sri Lankan audiences would welcome good dancers properly presented (at affordable prices) and we hope future tours will present work of integrity - Niloufer Pieris |
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