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Kala Korner - by Dee Cee

A most fitting tribute to the guru
Who said Chitrasena is no more, one wondered watching 'The Art of Chitrasena' - an excellent performance of the art he nurtured over six decades. His pupils did him proud that night. Every one of them - nearly fifty dancers and drummers - played to perfection at the Lionel Wendt, where many a night we had watched the guru at his best. There was ample evidence that the sweat and toil of Chitrasena and wife Vajira had not been in vain. They have built up a generation of talented young dancers. The discipline on stage was just one striking example of the hard work they had put in.

For Vajira it would have been an evening with mixed feelings. She sat in a corner during the first half of the concert and moved over to the stage and joined the rest of the family to pay a most moving tribute to the great man in 'Guru Maga' conceived and directed by granddaughter Heshma.

Upeka stood out as the pivot around whom the new generation would rally to show their colours. It was nice to see Ravibandu giving her all the support and between the two of them the evening turned out to be one of exceptional beauty in the forms of dancing that Chitrasena nurtured.

Chitrasena's colleagues were there to pay tribute to their erstwhile friend and master. Somabandu, the one who looked after the artistic side both in planning the stage décor and costumes in many a Chitrasena play, though somewhat feeble had turned up. I spotted the master drummer Piyasara Silpadhipati as well as versatile drummer Punchi Gura. They watched the new generation continuing the good work.

Passing the site where Chitrasena Kalayatanaya is to come up down Park Road on the way to the show, it was encouraging to see that work has begun in earnest.

As Vajira reminds everyone, "Chitra rescued our dying art forms while bringing them to the stage.” Yet his mission is not complete. Sadly, we failed as a nation to rebuild his ashram in his lifetime. We owe it to our children that we continue to create and strengthen our traditional art forms through institutions like the Kalayatanaya.

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