At The Studio

Welcome to The Studio… You are about to encounter a great revival of the fine and performing arts. Brace yourself…
Having opened on September 20, The Studio – Fine and Performing Arts Academy, is the latest concept of "everything under one roof". Jointly run by Swasha Malalasekera and her mother Shyama Perera, they are steadfast believers in making life easier for both parents and children alike. "This concept is ideal, especially in today's context of the various restrictions imposed on parking etc., that kids can do multiple classes on the same day and at the same venue," said Swasha, joint Principal of the School.

"More importantly I find that the performing arts aren't given due recognition in our country, and more often than not, given second priority, as the focus is most often on sports or other extra curricular activities," she added. "So, with my four-room cum little garden space, I'm looking towards a revival of sorts," she said with a smile.

The curriculum will include all the arts, with the exception of dance, due to a lack of space but, as the school grows, she hopes to include dance into the course as well, says Swasha. The speech and drama syllabus will primarily be divided into three definite sections. "Students can opt to follow the structured curriculum based on examinations (local or foreign) or follow the more informal, performance-based programme, where kids can just let loose and enjoy themselves," explained Swasha. Some kids completely tune out at the mere mention of exams, so this alternate programme is ideal because they get to have fun whilst also learning something in the process, she added.

In addition, theatre and music workshops will be conducted by professionals in the industry such as Jerome L. De Silva, Indu Dharmasena, Feroze Kamardeen, Jehan Aloysius and Ranil Gunawardena. There will also be a very able and experienced panel of in-house teachers, with just the right mix of experience and youth.

The third aspect of the course is especially relevant and beneficial in this day and age as it provides Spoken English classes combined with public speaking and presentation skills. "This has become quite a problem today, especially in relation to graduates who are educated but cannot find employment or wind up underemployed, as a result of a lack of confidence, inter-personal and English skills," she explained.

In theatre for instance, students will be taught all aspects of a production, from performing, to working together as a team, to listening to the director etc., she added. Also, they hope to have a minimum of one public performance annually, in which students will handle all aspects of the production. We will tap all our in-house resources from performing, to set-building, to music and so on. “Everything will be done by the students,” she said enthusiastically.

There will also be music classes, either learning an instrument such as guitar, drums, violin, piano, electric organ or even voice training. The children can either work towards specific exams or simply for the joy of it, she said. Art classes will also be conducted, be it drawing or painting.

"Having been to many of my grand mother's (who's also a music teacher) festivals, I got to see the abundance of talent we have in our country," said Swasha adding, that "unfortunately, there's also a very real dearth of stage presence, personality and self confidence." This is where she sees a real need for improvement, she adds. That's why the programme at The Studio is targeted at starting kids off at a very young age (even as young as four sometimes), so that they can be taught the fundamentals right from the start and go on to develop and expand their skills and progressively increase their levels of self confidence, she elaborated.

"The Studio is presumably the first of its kind in the country at the moment and I'm very keen to take this concept out of Colombo as well. I've always wanted to do this but, never really got around to it," she said. Swasha also hopes to introduce eastern instrument classes in the future." Being the third generation of performing artistes down the line, Swasha would also like to teach but, will wait till the school is on its feet and can virtually run itself before moving into the teaching department, she says.

All subjects will not be available daily, there will be a specific time-table that will be followed. Classes will be held from Monday to Friday from 2–6 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 am–2 pm. Parking and seating is available at the venue, for parents.

Feel free to come revel in the great revival!

To enrol or for further information contact Swasha at swasha@lkmail.com or visit 209A, Kirula Rd, Narahenpita, Colombo 05 (near the old Asiri Hospital).