Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

Dancing miles away from home
By Vidushi Seneviratne
As the youngsters performed for us, the sunlight dancing behind them, one thing was certain – they were completely Sri Lankan. All of them residents of Bahrain, the six young girls will be a part of Aavarjana, a dance recital bringing together young Sri Lankan talent from overseas and local students as well. Scheduled to be held at the Lionel Wendt on August 20, at 7 p.m. the show promises to be essentially traditional, yet different.

“Most of them were born in Bahrain, but a few of them moved there later on and so have grown up there,” says Charmaine de S. Wijeratne, one of the main organisers of the event. She added that the show was an effort of the Sri Lankan Club in Bahrain and was yet another effort to instil and cultivate a sense of nationalism among the younger generations of Sri Lankans living there.

With a huge number of Sri Lankans living in Bahrain, the Sri Lankan Club has about three hundred and fifty families registered under it. “It’s an extremely active club and is mainly sports oriented. The Sri Lankan families can get involved in cricket, netball, badminton and almost every other sport. But other than sports, the club organisers other activities such as a Sinhala classes, scrabble, toast masters and youth leadership programmes as well,” she said.
This show came about as a result of the Oriental dance class of the Sri Lankan Club, which was originally started up in 2000, with about six students.

Conducted by Lankanganie Kavirathne, an oriental dance teacher and resident of Bahrain, the class has become an active centre for youngsters to develop their talents.

“Since there were so many kids interested in dancing and we had Lanka who is a talented dance teacher, we thought the class would be of great help in developing our ‘Sri Lankanness’,” says Charmaine. The students of the class have previously performed in Ebony and Ivory, a dance recital held in 2003, along with about forty other children from the Victoria Ballet Centre.

Aavarjana which will have participants from both Lanka’s class and interestingly her dance teacher Ms. Kusuma Komangoda’s dance school as well, with the show mainly being a tribute to the renowned teacher. “Everything I’ve learned, I’ve learned from her and since she is retiring from service after forty years, we decided to have her students, and my students perform for her as a tribute. I will be doing a solo as well,” says Lanka, explaining the motive of the show.

With sixteen items scheduled to be performed, the focus will be classical, semi-classical dancing and a few variety dances. “My students will be performing seven semi-classical dances such as the Pooja dance, Nárilatha and a bathing dance, along with a dance for the song “Asha” which incidentally has been composed in Bahrain!” said Lanka, adding that the students of Ms. Komangoda will be focusing more on classical dances such as Vannam, the Kohomba Hálla and the Gráhaka Vannama.

The students participating will be between the ages of eleven and seventeen, with most of them having learned oriental dancing for the last few years. “I was born in Bahrain and study in an International School,” says Dinusha Wijeratne (17), who claims to have always enjoyed dancing and so was thrilled when a dance class was started by the Club. “I have my Advanced Level Examination next year and since Bahrain does not have universities, I hope to go to either Australia or England for my higher studies,” she added. Asked what she thought about being a part of a show like Aavarjana, she commented that it was bound to be an enjoyable experience. “Though we have performed back in Bahrain, it will be a good experience to actually perform here in Sri Lanka,” she said.

Heshini Perera (11), the youngest participant from Bahrain in the show, was initiated into oriental dancing through family interests. Being Lanka’s daughter, and having her sister Hasini (14) involved in dancing too, she is thoroughly enjoying her part in the event.

Though Mihiri Panditharatne (17) and Shenali Perera (12), both will be leaving Bahrain for studies in Dubai and migration to Australia, respectively, they are both actively involved with the show. Mihiri has been dancing since 1999, and so will undoubtedly miss her involvement in the Club’s activities.

“The show will be a good opportunity for kids to sincerely get in touch with the Sri Lankan culture and all thanks goes to Lanka for enabling this to become a reality,” say Charmaine. The proceeds of the show will be in aid of “Angana Kala Parshadaya,” Ms. Komangoda’s dance school, which assists numerous underprivileged children with their education and so on. Other than this, the show will be an obvious boost to help keep the dancing tradition going even miles away from Sri Lanka.

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