Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

Watch that move and that groove!
By Smriti Daniel
I hope your blue suede shoes are ready to go, coz’ come this weekend, there’s goin’ to be a lot of moovin’ and groovin’ goin’ on at the Lionel Wendt. Courtesy the students of Wycherley International, this concert marks a somewhat emotional milestone for the school – while this is their first BIG production, it is also their director – Ruwani Seimon’s – last.

“Ruwani is our inspiration,” says Tahanee Aluwihare, who is the choir leader, along with Rukshan Meegahage; she goes on to explain that while the whole choir always wanted to perform well, they are now simply determined to “do a show Ruwani would be proud of.” While putting together a moovin’ and a groovin’ has meant a lot of hard work and sheer dogged commitment for the group, it has also given them the chance to become friends and bond together as a choir. It has in some ways been a trial by fire – anyone who’s ever worked with Ruwani will testify to that.

“Ruwani is just such a perfectionist,” is the unanimous vote. And perfection doesn’t come easy. In the two months that the group has been hard at work, total commitment has been the basic requirement. “I think the stress was the best part,” says Manthinda Wickramasooriya sarcastically, clutching his head. But it turns out, that strange as it may seem, the whole choir is rather attached to being bullied and yelled at and forced to reach their potential – “in the end you find that the pushing actually got you a lot further!”

In keeping with Ruwani’s theories on exactly how school productions should be, everyone is given a chance to shine in a moovin’ and a groovin’. “Everyone has his or her own two minutes of fame,” says Manthinda. In fact, ten soloists – Manthinda Wickramasooriya, Tahanee Aluwihare, Lasanka Dias, Yusra Aziz, Rukshan Meegahage, Eilin González, Ho Young Lee, Maria Saifuddin, Dushyanth Aluwihare, Dong Soo Ha and Deanne Senaratne – will get their moment in the limelight, and they’re determined to make it count! For instance, Rukshan, who will be singing “Broken Vow” by Josh Groban claims it is his avowed ambition to move his audience to tears.

“The music is incredibly involving too,” says Yusra Aziz, another member of the senior choir. Tahanee adds that the frequent change in gear – for instance from Jesus Christ Superstar to Grease – means that the choir barely gets a chance to put two thoughts together as they switch costumes, roles and songs with alacrity. Part of the challenge lies, of course, in coordinating arms, legs and vocal cords. As the choir will be stepping out in time to their music throughout the concert, they’ve all had to learn and remember a number of moves.

Gyles Dharmaratne, for instance, had to learn how to jive in a day, a gruelling experience which he seems to have enjoyed thoroughly, despite all expectations to the contrary. This is in most part due to the successful choreography of three girls – Dilini, Izara and Ashanthi. Complementing the well-executed steps will be some fabulous costumes, designed once again by the lady with her fingers on all the strings – Ruwani. Also, adding to the overall impact of the concert are the imaginative backgrounds, most of which are designed and put together by the staff at Wycherley.

“We’re passing out this year,” says Yusra. While that thought alone is enough to justify a little sentimentality, the fact that she, and many of the others, have been singing with Ruwani for a long time is sure to make this a concert they’ll remember for a long, long time. “In fact, we’ve been singing with Ruwani since fourth grade,” says Tahanee. Gyles adds that Ruwani has always told them that “‘Beginnings and endings matter. If you do it right, (the ending) will always remain with the audience’… and we always do it right,” he finishes, laughing.

The pieces selected for the show are all well-known crowd pleasers. The medleys in particular are drawn from some of the most popular musicals in the world – Jesus Christ Superstar, The Phantom Of The Opera and Grease. The Boney M medley to be performed by the Junior Choir (affectionately nicknamed ‘the chipmunk choir’ by their director) comes with a guaranteed cuteness factor as does the song “Say”. Written by Ruwani herself, “Say” is a poignant wish for peace.

“When a man extends his hand to help another,
When a soldier calls to his foe, you’re my brother,
When love is in the air, blowing through the rustling leaves,
I thank you lord for this I know is peace”

In addition, four specials have been planned to represent the four races who attend the school – Tamil, Sinhala, English and Korean. As you can imagine, this is quite a challenge, particularly for the students who do not in fact speak some of the languages. Aside from these songs like “A Whole New World” from Aladdin, Erroll Garner’s classic “Misty” and “Bad Day” by Daniel Powter pepper the concert. All the tunes are to be sung to tracks arranged by Mahesh Denipitiya.

a moovin’ and a groovin’ will feature nearly 90 students of the Wycherley International School. The concert is to be staged at the Lionel Wendt from 7.15 p.m. onwards on March 25 and 26. Tickets are priced at Rs. 1000, 600, 500 and 300, and 300 again for the balcony (unreserved) and are on sale at the Wycherley International School at No. 232, Baudhaloka Mawatha. The Radio Sponsor for the event is Sun FM, and the Print Media Sponsor is The Sunday Times.

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