Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

A unique blend
By Dhananjani Silva
Virtuoso – the music festival with a blend of different cultures, organised by the local young artistes, together with bands such as Burn out, Tantrum and Sylph and the dancing groups, Soul Shakers and Latrois will be held on March 13 at the Bishop’s College Auditorium at 7.30 p.m.

The event will uncover the talents of local artistes, while promoting Sri Lankan cultural dances along with eastern and western fusion. “We are trying to do something unique. This is going to be a mixture of various forms of dancing and music. We are trying to create an atmosphere where dancers will have an opportunity to experience professionalism through various types of dance that include hip hop, and for the first time in the Lankan dance scene, we hope to introduce Street dancing items, which is a mixture of break dance and hip hop,” said Shabeer Rizvi, one of the organisers of the show, who is also performing in the band Sylph.

The Street dancing item too will be presented on the same day and at the same time. The event will also promote the local dance scene, when the bands play daha ata wannama, he said. “A total of 45 participants from various schools, such as Colombo International School, St. Thomas’ College and St. Bridget’s Convent will be participating in this show.

Meanwhile, speaking to the Mirror Magazine, some of the participants expressed their views as to what they think of this event. Fifteen-year-old Natasha Jayasekera of Colombo International School, who is performing in the Soul Shakers dance group, said that this show introduces something new to the Sri Lankan arts scene, as this is something which has not been done before, especially where the Street dancing aspect is concerned. “Also this gives us an opportunity to communicate with a lot of other people, as students from various other schools too will be participating in this show,” she said.

Shamali Weerasinghe, a student of CIS, said that she feels really good about this show, as it is a good experience for her. “Not only do we meet a lot of people, but we also get the chance to learn a great deal from others, as we see how the other bands are performing,” she said.

For Angela De Dois of CIS, this is an ‘awesome’ event that she is really looking forward to, as it provides an opportunity to express themselves using forms of dance and music. The proceeds of the show will be donated to the forum for research and development.

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