After 50 years on stage, Sri Lanka's first lady of dance decides to retire
We met Vajira early in the morning so as to find her free from the daily dance rehearsals for the forthcoming dance festival. The first lady of Sri Lankan dance will commemorate 50 years of professional dancing this year, and this festival will be her last performance on stage.
You have to stop dancing at some point of time She explains, its not that I want to stop- but I am old now and it is physically difficult to dance on stage like I used to.
At 64, trim and fit the years sit lightly on her supple frame.
That is the problem she laughs. People expect me to perform like my daughters do now
This grandmother of five, began dancing at the tender age of eight , performed on stage in her early teens and was guru to hundreds of young dancers who learnt their first Kandyan Dance steps under her watchful eye. Today the dance traditions that she and her maestro husband Chitrasena instilled are being carried forward by the younger generation- their students as well as their children- especially daughters Anjali and Upekha. Vajira and Chitrasena have grandchildren, also professional dancers in the making.
The dance festival will feature revivals of many past performances. But the jewel of the festival will be the ballet- Chandalika. A poignant Tagorian tale of a gypsy girl who falls in love with a priest named Ananda. The ballet is my interpretation of the original tale. It was first produced by Chitrasena in 1951. But through the years our outlooks have matured and I feel that our experiences are reflected in this work
Vajira's first stage performance was in 1948- Pageant of Lanka - the Ravana epic produced by Chitrasena . Chandalika will be her final ballet performance. In it she takes the role of a sorceress, who is also the gypsy girl's mother, who weaves a spell on the priest Amanda, to make him desire her daughter. The role of the gypsy girl is played by Upekha. The story was given a more Buddhist interpretation by Vajira. In the last sequence, Lord Buddha seeing the plight of the priest under the gypsy spell comes to his aid and preaches the Dhamma to the gypsy village thus removing them from worldly suffering. Chandalika will premiere on March 15, with performances continuing at the Lionel Wendt till the 17.
Vajira learnt Kandyan dancing under Chitrasena, who was her guru from the beginning.
It was never my intention to become a dancer she said. Ò It was my mother and Chitrasena who claimed I had the talent and pushed me into it.
Obviously this graceful dancer never regretted her decision to be a professional dancer. Through the years dancing has been like a life force to Vajira. She never had a different occupation, a contradictory philosophy or a conflicting interest to dancing in her life. Chitrasena in no small measure has contributed to this atmosphere. You have to make dancing your life, Vajira mused.
Even though I had three children, I got back to my dance practices as fast as I could. That is the kind of dedication we had.
Vajira was a very hard working student, at a time when women dancers were rare. She is the first woman to dance on-stage professionally here.
Even today there are so few female dancers who perform. Most good dancers become teachers in schools
Vajira and Chitrasena ran a dance school in Kollupitiya, which in its heyday turned out famous dancers of today like Channa, Khema, Ravibandu and Upekha. The school, no longer at its former location, is Vajira's main occupation these days. Students of Kandyan dance are expected to start practicing at the age of seven or under. At the school, their first teacher is Vajira- who will take the tender footers through the very first steps of a dance and a culture which will take them years to master.
According to Vajira it takes at least ten years of continuous daily practices to become dancer who is stage worthy. But I wonder whether the pace of life in the future would allow for such dedication, she says. People go for the fast and easy ways in life these days.
According to Vajira they have been practising for Chandalika for at least one year now. She still dances at least three times a week and does exercises to keep the body supple. Although she will stop dancing on stage, Vajira will continue to produce ballets for an audience that was nurtured by them . But producing ballets in the future will not be as satisfying . There is a dearth in resources- especially male dancers .
Vajira's students , if they show talent and dedication are singled out for special attention and daily practices. I used to be a very impatient teacher. Very strict with my students, expecting from them the same level of dedication and hard work that I put into my dancing. But now I have become a more peaceful person. So I teach with a gentler hand too.
A typical day for Vajira begins early. She wakes up at five in the morning and meditates for an hour. Then she does exercises for her body, for physical fitness
After breakfast, Vajira takes her classes. After lunch she relaxes and reads- newspapers or literature on dance. In the evening she attends to rehearsals and more classes. Vajira has been a vegetarian for twenty years, ever since she began meditation under an Indian guru.
I have very few wants now, Vajira said. The biggest desire I have is to put others on stage. I want to slowly retreat from that want too. For it is a kind of suffering- to not be able to give up the desire to perform or train others to perform.
Vajira lives in Nawala, and drives to her classes and practices in her own vehicle. She lives a simple and unpretentious lifestyle , with her mother, who is 96 but keeping very well, and her daughters and grand daughters. Chitrasena has his own retreat in Mahara and Vajira visits him whenever she is free.
The dance festival will go on till October with two performances a month. Chandalika will go on stage again in July and October. Until then Vajira will be busy practicing and training her troupe. It would be an important milestone in her life as a professional dancer. Vajira may leave the stage- but through the years her talent has touched the lives of countless people. The light she kindled will certainly continue to burn.
March 8th is International Women's Day. Pulsara Liyanage writes of an inspiring woman leader.
"How do you know Mrs. Vivienne Goonewardene?" shot the gaunt ASP. I had been kept wondering the whole morning what fresh line of questioning would be launched on that day. After an entire session's deliberations and consultations this is what the 5th floor had come up with.
How did they expect me to answer it? I t ried out a few replies in my head: "As the lady whom the Police loved to beat up on for her daring, because that earned them a promotion"; "As the lady who climbed the Colombo Town Hall building to help a comrade scale the dome to plant the red flag"; "As a surviving pioneer of the Left movement in Sri Lanka"; "As a fighter for Sri Lanka's independence from the British". Three or four pairs of eyes were riveted on me. They waited as if the answer to the question was going to "reveal all" - the time I took to answer it raising their expectations that they had hit upon the question to stump me with.
I abandoned all of the above answers. It was a stupid question which deserved a similar answer. "In the women's movement" I replied. This made them angry. So I was punished with having to answer some more of the same type of questions, like: "where?" "when?" "who else was there?" etc. But these had me worried.
Why bring up Vivie's name so suddenly? The axis of our politics was so different from that of the Old Left. In fact the politics of the Old Left was our point of departure in a different direction. It is our disappointment in that Left that made us turn away. But we were and remain very close to the older stalwarts. They are that sort of individuals. It was my turn to question the ASP: "Has anything happened to Vivie?" "No", he replied, "she is coming to see you at 3.00 p.m. Do you want to see her? I was touched. It changed the whole place for me and I began to prepare for her visit. "But she can't climb so many stairs." - The lift was broken in the morning. I was assured there was another lift. There were no more questions that day. We were waiting for Vivie. A few minutes past 3 p.m. she came. One and a half years later I found out that she had had to climb down five flights of stairs!
I really got to know this fascinating personality in the one and half years of incarceration. Twice a year for the rest of the 18 months she came to see me - even for 5 minutes. I got addicted to her visits on Tuesdays and Fridays. I never told her how sad I was if she missed a visit. But she knew. One day she came past 10 p.m.! With that most charming smile she told me she knew I'd be worried if she didn't come. How did she know? That is another silly question to ask of Vivie. What she feels for others is not just sympathy, but something quite distinct, empathy. Extremely concerned that I had only a cement slab to sleep on, she prevailed upon the then Minister of National Security to provide me with some sort of bedding. The following day the CID complied. She herself brought me a pillow. When I left, one of the matrons asked if she could have 'Vivie's pillow'. I happily parted with it. No wonder her electoral opponents found fighting an election with her a tough proposition.
Whenever I felt somewhat depressed, as one is apt to once in a while when closely surrounded by yellow walls made even yellower by a constantly burning bulb, Vivie would, sensing the mood, relate an anecdote in which she was downcast and husband Leslie told her how to cope with such situations - "chin up". Vivie never failed to tell me in parting, "Remember, chin up." It helped me then. It helps even now.
It is not an exaggeration to say that much more has been written on Vivie in the form of articles and books than any other single woman in Sri Lankan politics except perhaps Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike (because she was the world's first Prime MInister). Much of this literature, biographical and even repetitious, focuses on Vivie's defiance and militancy. She is all of that, a radical, a daring fighter, etc. But she is also a woman of high principles and self-discipline, with strong convictions and the moral strength to stand up for them. She is also a charming, dignified woman, with a very subtle sense of humour; a deeply sensitive woman who loves to read poetry and reads it aloud very well.
With strict medical advice to rest, family and friends are finding it a hard task to implement that advice. With a profound love for the country for whose independence she sacrificed her youth, she is disturbed by the present trends in its development. To many, Vivie is still the last resort to air their grievances, with the conviction that she will do something to make their lot a little better. And Vivie is still engaged in doing - untiringly. No problem is too big or too little for her to tackle; no person too insignificant for her to care. Thus it is not surprising that one sometimes finds Vivie sad and reflective.
Chin up, Vivie! To those of us who find we are out of tune with contemporary social trends, you are our inspiration that principles and convictions still matter.