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A life of dance, discipline and dedication

By Esther Williams
Fifty years in dance is certainly a cause for celebration and Niloufer Pieris is fortunate enough to have reached that milestone. Looking back on those years she does feel a sense of achievement, yet recalls the discipline, dedication and hard work she has put in.

An accomplished dancer, proficient in classical ballet, character, contemporary dance and jazz, Niloufer today choreographs performances that reveal other diverse influences - oriental, Sri Lankan and others that she came across during her numerous travels. This she has amalgamated into dance forms, resulting in an East West dialogue.

Through the Nelung Dance Academy she started in 1991, Niloufer has been able to pass on her gift of dance to others. "We dance with and from the heart," she says.

The introduction to dance came at an early age for Niloufer. Four years old and she would trail behind her mother, watching in fascination her graceful movements. Her mother had learnt Kathak with the renowned Indian dancer Ram Gopal in Bangalore, Niloufer's first home. " I loved to watch her dance," she recalls. Surrounded by movement, music and colour, it was hardly surprising that she felt drawn to dance.

What really triggered her interest in classical ballet was the picture she saw in the Good Housekeeping Magazine, that her mother subscribed to while in Ooty, India where the Pieris family lived during Niloufer's early schooling. Anton Dolin and Anabel Lyon in 'Giselle' made an enchanting picture. "I used to look at it every night and deep down I knew this was what I wanted to do."

Getting a teacher for classical ballet in India wasn't very easy especially during wartime and the Indian Independence struggle. They finally did manage to find a teacher who would also teach Asian children and at 9, Niloufer began her classes. The Pieris family moved to England in 1952 where her mother set about finding a ballet school for her. It wasn't easy - The Royal Ballet School only admitted talented pupils whereas Niloufer had bowlegs and flat feet.

In addition, Niloufer was quite frail and hence her mother was sceptical, wondering if she had the proper body. She knew that ballet training, as other forms of dance could be quite rigorous, resulting quite often in burnout. Niloufer would probably have to go to a good academic school, her mother thought. But her father never gave up. They looked around and finally went for an audition to the Legat School (Russian), 1 ½ hours away from London. Most students started ballet at 8 and Niloufer was already 13. They were taking an enormous risk in seeking a professional career in ballet that no Asian had ever tried.

However the teacher was impressed with the flexibility of her body and good back. Niloufer was the first Asian to be accepted into the Royal Ballet School (RBC) in 1957 after a crucial audition. The 2 ½ years at RBC were physically taxing, with about three classes daily focused on technique that tested her endurance. "I could not allow myself to get depressed watching all those strong dancers."

All along Niloufer was aware that she might not be able to make it. Mother and daughter went for many shows where they were exposed to the highest professional standards of classical ballet, which was predominantly for white people. "If you are not on that level you will never make it," her mother would say.

It was at this time she made her stage debut in "Aladdin," the musical at the Coliseum in London, directed by Robert Helpmann. Swan Lake Act II, Les Sylphides, Coppelia were some of the other ballets that she danced in. She even met her childhood inspiration Anton Dolin and Svetlana Beriosava amongst a host of other ballet personalities.

In 1960 Niloufer went for a further two-year training in Paris with Russian teachers. Then followed a difficult phase, her share of failures. "There were two years of endless auditions and you didn’t get a job." Having a good body and technique was insufficient, she learnt - people had to like her.

In 1962 Niloufer got her first break at a new company started by a Ballet master in Lubeck, Germany. It opened a new chapter in her life. She also took on other professional engagements in dance companies that required her to travel. Tours to dancing festivals took her to Holland, Italy, South America, Mexico, Scandinavia, Granada and Spain.

Having received a teaching diploma in 1977 from the Royal Academy of Dance, UK, Niloufer took on several teaching assignments in Stuttgart and Singapore. She also taught for a few years in Israel .

In 1991 she returned to Sri Lanka and started the Nelung Dance Academy (NDA), a non-professional dance school. Since 1995 she has also offered teacher-training programmes (1-2 weeks of intensive training) in Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.

Niloufer was awarded the SAARC Award in 2000 and the Zonta Award for Achievement in Performing Arts last year. Last month she choreographed a production called 'A Celebration of Dance' and hopes to do a musical comedy in April.
Speaking about dance education here she feels children and parents need more commitment. "Parents have an unrealistic ambition for children - want them to do brilliantly in every subject. They make them run around from class to class. How can they do anything properly when they are pressurised," she asks.

Parents should never expect a teacher to perform miracles she adds, quoting a Chinese proverb - "Your teacher can open the door, but you must enter by yourself."

Baila, biriyani, breadfruit and Buultjens

baila: A popular form of dance and song. It is a legacy from the Portuguese period. ''...dancing the fandango to the clash of castanets, the tinkle of guitar and rousing hand-clapping - a dance which in its degeneracy is today called the baila": this deprecatory comment is from R. L. Brohier, writing about Portuguese sailors in 16th C. Colombo (Changing Face of Colombo). While there is a body of traditional lyrics, new lyrics are being constantly improvised.

Bambarakanda Falls: These waterfalls, near Haputale, are the highest in the country, having three drops with a total height of 241 m. The flow of water is best after the monsoons. The Diyaluma Falls, close to Koslanda, has the highest single drop, of 171 m.

Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact:
An agreement concluded between Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and Tamil Federal Party leader S. J. V. Chelvanayakam in 1958, which the Prime Minister scrapped after protests from Sinhalese activists led by Buddhist monks in which they occupied the lawn of his house in Colombo.

The agreement covered such issues as the official language, devolution of power from the central government to regional bodies, and how families were to be chosen for land settlement schemes in the Northern and Eastern Provinces which Tamils claim to be their "traditional homelands".

It followed strong Tamil protests, led by Chelvanayakam's party against the government's adoption of Sinhala as the sole official language, replacing English.

betel:
The leaves of betel vine (Piper betel) are chewed, generally with shavings of arecanut and a pinch of chunam (lime) and sometimes a piece of tobacco, in Sri Lanka as well as elsewhere in South and South East Asia and parts of the Middle East. The chew, which produces profuse quantities of red saliva, has a mildly narcotic and carminative effect. A sheaf of betel leaves is a gift denoting respect in rural Lanka. The betel vine is part of the pepper family.

Bharathas:
A very small community deriving from India who became Roman Catholics in the Portuguese period and took Portuguese surnames such as de Croos, Moraes, Paldano, Paiva and Victoria. They are found mostly in western coastal towns, with a concentration at Negombo.

biriyani:
A special preparation of rice fried in ghee and boiled in stock, including pieces of chicken, mutton or vegetable.

Birth-rate:
At 18.4 births per 1,000 population in 2000, the birth-rate has come down significantly in recent decades, responding to a number of factors. These include higher income and living standards, improved educational opportunities for women, greater women's employment, women marrying later in life, and the promotion of family planning. In 1948, the year of independence, the birth-rate was 39.7 per 1,000. There was little change in the 1950s, but from the 1960s, it steadily declined. It is now the lowest rate in South Asia, and lower than that in several countries in South-East Asia too.

BLPI: -
Bolshevik Leninist Party of India. Short-lived Marxist party formed in 1942 in India by members of the main Sri Lankan Marxist party, the LSSP, exiled there and later constituted as a party in Sri Lanka by a section of the LSSP, in a somewhat acrimonious split caused partly by wartime privations.

While party leaders who had been detained from opposing Britain's wartime role, including N. M. Perera and Philip Gunawardena, and their supporters remained as the LSSP, some of those who returned from hiding in India, notably Colvin R. de Silva and Leslie Gunawardena, with their supporters, formed the BLPI. The BLPI transformed itself into the Bolshevik Samasamaja Party for a while before coalescing with the parent LSSP in 1950.

breadfruit:
The nearly round, yellowy-green, seedless fruit of the breadfruit tree, which belongs to the genus Artocarpus, has white meat which is eaten boiled, made into a curry or fried into chips.

Budugunalankaraya (Ornament of the Buddha's Virtues) A 15th C poem by the monk Vidagama Maitreya, who was scornful of Brahmins and others who believed in gods. The author used a simpler language than is found in most classical works.

Buduruwagala:
The site of a group of seven very large rock-hewn Buddhist sculptures, showing Mahayanist influence and dating back to the 9th or 10th century AD, south-west of Haputale.

A(lfred) E(rnest) Buultjens: (1865-1916)
A Burgher who converted to Buddhism while an undergraduate at Cambridge University, to the articulated consternation of the Anglican Bishop of Colombo. He was the first Sri Lankan principal (1890-98) of Ananda College, which was to become the leading Buddhist boys' school in Colombo.

He also served as Manager of Buddhist Schools and edited the journal, Buddhist.

S. Thomas College, from where he won a government scholarship to Cambridge, dropped his name from its roll of honour after his conversion.

(Extracted from Encyclopedia of Sri Lanka, published by Sterling Publishers, New Delhi & distributed by Sarasavi Bookshop, Nugegoda. Website: www.srilanka-encyclopedia.com)

Kala Korner by Dee Cee
'Sath Siyak' - half a century's effort
With lights dimmed at the SLFI auditorium and as Wijeratne Warakagoda with his 'guru' Henry Jayasena by his side started singing 'Andhakaren Durathithe', the first lines of Henry's much talked about play, 'Kuveni' , most of us in the audience went back to that memorable opening night in September 1963.

Henry had broken new ground in Sinhala theatre. He had given a new interpretation to the story of Kuveni, the eternal woman - the woman who forsakes everything for the love of her man and bears his children, and is finally spurned by him. The other night we were not seeing the play all over again. It was a prelude to the launch of 'Sath Siyak', the cassette and CD with selected songs from Henry's dramas.

After half a century of tremendous effort, Henry is able to leave behind some of his creations for the benefit of future generations. It's a rare collection to be treasured. With numerous State organisations claiming to support the arts, none had thought about the need to preserve such a valuable and creative effort.

An idea mooted by young filmmaker Somaratne Dissanayake (of 'Saroja' fame) had borne fruit. He had given the start and helped by a few other sponsors, 'Sath Siyak' (a popular song sung by Manel Jayasena in 'Kuveni') became a reality. The launch evening was a fine mix of song, dance (Channa Wijewardena’s troupe choreographing some of the numbers) and two evaluations of Henry's contribution to theatre.

As always Professor Sunil Ariyaratne was well prepared with his material. So was Professor Carlo Fonseka, both of whom had no hesitation in hailing Henry as one of the greatest dramatists in contemporary Sri Lanka. Professor Ariyaratne saw the logical transformation from the traditional 'nadagam' to John de Silva's 'nurti', in which effort he depended heavily on Vishwanath Lawjie, revival of the 'nadagam' by Dr. Sarachchandra and on to Henry Jayasena who pioneered a new approach and introduced playwrights like Bertolt Brecht to the Sinhala audience. His contribution to Sinhala theatre has been enormous, he said.

Professor Fonseka couldn't think of any other person who could match Henry's record. Henry has been active in so many fields. He has excelled as a dramatist. His role of Azdak in 'Hunuwataye Kathawa', Piyal in the film 'Gamperaliya' and Sudu Deeya in the tele series 'Doo Daruwo' rank amongst the best on stage, in cinema and on the small screen. His novels are a treat. In 'Balha Gilano' he relates how he fought cancer bravely and gives hope and courage to other patients. His lyrical compositions are superb. He has been a music director too. Is there anyone else who could match this record, he asked.

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