A different dance

"Tea, Cricket and a War… " These are apparently what the world hears about our Emerald Isle – Sri Lanka. But, as all of us Lankans know, there really is a lot to this country of ours, which is steeped in so much history, and culture, and heritage. In fact, one very important feature of our heritage and also history, is dance.

One person who has studied dance and also teaches it, is Kapila Palihawadana who is the founder of the dance troupe 'nATANDA' and they have had a number of dance performances, which include, Traffic, Nacca Geetha Vaditha, Aus dem Takt, Mokabalo, Modaborn, Footprints and issuki.

'nATANDA' promotes and pushes the limits in terms of dance theatre in Sri Lanka. And the dancers come from various backgrounds and they are trained in traditional Sri Lankan dance, western classical ballet and the result is a rich and colourful dance style.

What is interesting about the kind of dancing they do, is that it is modern dance and this is what they were in Bangkok to performed at the International Dance Festival 2008, on March 28 – 30, 2008, organised by Ms. Vararom Pachimsawat, Director, 'friends-of-the-Art foundation.' Dancers from a number of dance troupes from Thailand, Italy, Netherlands, Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan and of course Sri Lanka, were all a part of this festival.

Romeo and Juliet and Hoon La Korn Lek were performed by dance troupes from Thailand, Ido Tadmor by the Italians and Podium Dance by the dance troupe from Hong Kong. And from Sri Lanka, what was performed was Piece of Cake The performance, was of modern dance, and as a result had stood out from the other performances, Kapila said. The dance was about the a birth, a wedding and a death and the significance of cake at these occasions.

Most of the performances were "sort of like ballet with classical movements," Kapila said, like the Bali Dance by the Philippines and the Mask Dance from Hong Kong. However, Kapila explained that the dance they did consisted of modern and contemporary movements along with dialogue. Due to the performance being a unique one, it seems, Ms. Vararom had told Kapila that those in the panel had all been talking about the performance. In fact, according to Kapila, when they were rehearsing, she had told him that his dancers looked so small in height,s but once they were in costume along with their make up and so on, had realised how different they were. Also their dancing had been of a very good standard and after the festival she, had a two and a half hour conversation with him! And had suggested that they perform next year at the festival as well!

"It was a very nice experience," Kapila said adding that this was the fist time 'nATANDA' had gone abroad on a tour. He went on to say, "the audience liked it very much because they had not heard of modern dance in Sri Lanka."

Kapila and his troupe had received a lot of help and mentioned Ms. Neloufer Peiris from the Nelung dance Academy because out of the 10 dancers (four boys and six girls) she sponsored four of them.

He had got to know about this festival through an email and after a few discussions decided to participate in it. The organisers had seen their website and were therefore interested in them performing at the festival. According to Kapila, Ms. Vararom had been organising such festivals since 1982 and there will be a festival scheduled to be held in March, next year, as well.

About the experience they had in Bangkok, he said, "we had a very nice time there," and went on to say, "Thailand is developing a lot in the department of dance" adding that they do a lot of research and investigations in dance. He went on to say, "we had a good experience" adding that, "I was able to understand where we are," in terms of the standard they are in.

He felt that they way he combines various dance styles made his performance the most interesting dance. He also went on to say, "my dancers and I gave our best," adding "it’s how you approach your feelings into dancing and only then can you know your standard," he said.

As for the future, he said, "my dream is to have an international dance festival here in Sri Lanka." He also said that Ms. Vararom had expressed her interest in sorting out their own funding and coming to Sri Lanka if that's the case, he said smiling! He also said the manager of the Italian dance troupe was interested in them and that she hopes to bring musicians here for a performance which will involve 'nATANDA,' he added excitedly.