Entering the Galle Fort ramparts is always a voyage into another era, but what makes this experience of time travel complete this time is the enchanting classical music that ushers us in as we ascend the creaking, wooden staircase that leads to a dimly-lit hall in the Maritime Museum building.
‘Introduction to Classical Ballet’ proclaims the sign outside the room where, dressed in an elaborately embroidered tutu, Karis Scarlette Lynch-Park, together with her partner, Claire McNicholl, is guiding a group of children through the basics of ballet, initiating them into this great classical art. What made this dance workshop a favourite at the Galle Children’s Festival is evident to us as we see the beaming faces of the schoolchildren moving in time to the music.
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| Here we go: Karis demonstrates as the schoolchildren and their teacher follow.
Pix by Indika Handuwale |
A professional ballet dancer, who studied at the White Lodge Royal Ballet School for many years, before she went on to perform with the Royal Ballet in London, one of the world’s most prestigious ballet companies, Karis transformed her passion for dance into teaching after an injury called a halt to her stage career. She has since helped hundreds of students from all parts of the UK discover the timeless art of ballet.
Claire is the co-founder of The Ballet School in Nottinghill, London. She began the school together with her partner Vanessa Donkin in 2001 with only eight students, and today it has developed into an established institution with nearly 800 students.
“We are fortunate to have them here,” says Geoffrey Dobbs, founder of the Galle Children’s Festival held for the first time in mid-October as he watches Karis and Claire guiding the young children through their movements. Shy at first, the students soon overcome their bashfulness as the music captivates them. Claire’s daughters, Ines (10) and Estee (12), who have inherited their mother’s passion for dance join in, encouraging them on.
The children of Galle have a glimpse into the enchanting world of classical ballet, learning how to allow their bodies to express the music they hear, perceiving the moods and reflecting emotions through their movements. They are introduced to Tchaikovsky’s ballet ‘The Sleeping Beauty’, one of the most famous and most challenging for the ballerina, says Claire. The children are instantly drawn into this well-known fairy tale and learn how the different characters, the evil fairy dressed in black and the kind fairy clad in lilac, can be represented through different movements.
One basic step the children were taught was balance, explains Claire while Estee demonstrates this complicated foot movement to us. The children picked it up faster than we expected, said Claire. “Musicality is in the culture... Sri Lankans have an appetite for dance,” she said, impressed by their potential.
It is interesting to see how aspects of Sri Lankan traditional dance surface in the children’s movements almost unintentionally. “If you are a dancer, no matter where you go... you form an affinity with the dancing culture there... You nteract with people through dance,” explains Claire.
For Karis, it is her first time in Sri Lanka and she says she wants to stay in the island and start a ballet school. “Friendly, welcoming, warm, attentive, polite and wonderful” are their impressions of the Sri Lankans they’ve met. The girls even found a few pen friends, adds Claire.
“I am a Buddhist,” says Karis, describing that her first visit to a Sri Lankan temple was a “lovely” experience.
After witnessing a Sri Lankan dance in the parade at the opening ceremony of the Galle Children’s Festival, Karis and Claire are enamoured with the island’s vibrant dancing culture. “It was so beautiful,” said Karis, gracefully imitating Kandyan dance movements with her hands and Estee describes how a local girl taught her a few Kandyan dancing steps. “When we come back next year we are hoping to create a fusion, combining classical ballet with traditional Sri Lankan folk dance,” says Claire, adding that they could even take Kandyan Dancing to the UK.
They received the help of the Educational Department of the Royal Ballet School to make this visit, Claire says. The tutus were provided by a partner in the UK while, Bloch, a UK shoe manufacturing company, donated many pairs of ballet pointe shoes to be distributed among Sri Lankan students after seeing an article published in the Sunday Times about the Galle Children’s Festival.
“We want to give these shoes to less fortunate children. We want to take ballet to those who wouldn’t know about it,” says Ines enthusiastically. |
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