{"id":15867,"date":"2013-02-03T22:50:09","date_gmt":"2013-02-04T03:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=15867"},"modified":"2013-02-03T23:03:56","modified_gmt":"2013-02-04T04:03:56","slug":"sri-lankan-dancer-chandana-wickramasinghe-has-incorporated-some-indian-forms-into-the-traditional-kandyan-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=15867","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lankan dancer Chandana Wickramasinghe has incorporated some Indian forms into the traditional Kandyan dance"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Anasuya Menon<\/strong><\/p>\n

C<\/strong>handana Wickramasinghe feels a deep connect with India. As a young student of dance, he came to India from Sri Lanka to learn Kathakali.<\/p>\n

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The HinduSri Lankan dancer Chandana Wickramasinghe at Kochi | Photo: Thulasi Kakkat ~ The Hindu<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt was considered the ultimate. Many of the acclaimed artists from Sri Lanka have come to India to learn the Indian traditional arts,\u201d he says.
\n
\nWhen he came to the Kerala Kalamandalam, however, he fell ill and had to return to Colombo. \u201cBut that did not kill my desire to go back to India,\u201d Chandana says. He went to Shantiniketan and found himself a guru\u2014Kalamandalam T.N. Sankaranarayanan, who taught him Kathakali. \u201cThe days at Shantiniketan were the most fruitful days of my life,\u201d he says. Chanana also learnt Manipuri dance under Yaikhom Hemanta Kumar at Shantiniketan.<\/p>\n

Chandana, an acclaimed dancer and founder of The Dancers\u2019 Guild of Sri Lanka, combines authentic Sri Lankan Kandyan dance with the profound nrithya facets of Indian dances. \u201cThe stress is on nritha in the Sri Lankan dance tradition. But when it uses the nuances of natya and nritya, the performance is elevated to a whole new level,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

When he started his dance school in Sri Lanka in 1997, he had only four students. Gradually, the number began to grow and today, the guild has seven branches in the country with 4,700 students and 40 professional dancers. The team has travelled the world giving performances, something that Chandana feels proud about. \u201cIt is a great opportunity to present Sri Lankan dance to the international audience,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Though a classically trained Kandyan dancer, Chandana has brought in innovations to the dance form, integrating it with modern beats, a bit of folk and classical. \u201cIt is important to tell a story through a performance. Dance is not just about movement. You have to tell a story, weave a beautiful narrative,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The Kandyan dance is similar to Indian classical dance in terms of movement and costumes to a certain extent. When infused with navarasas, it becomes even more captivating, Chandana feels.<\/p>\n

Despite years of war and struggle, art was not snuffed out in Sri Lanka, he says. \u201cHowever, now that peace has come back to reign, it is the best time for art and culture to flourish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Bollywood dance has caught the imagination of the youth in Sri Lanka, a lot of youngsters are taking to classical dance. \u201cThe discipline is imparted by a classical tradition. It is extremely important for a dancer,\u201d says Chandana, who calls himself a disciplinarian when it comes to training his students. \u201cUnless there is a strong foundation, one cannot carry forward an art.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chandana choreographs for films, acts in serials and is the main judge on Lil Champs, a popular television reality dance show in Sri Lanka. He was in the city recently for a performance organised by Samudra Arts. COURTESY: THE HINDU<\/em><\/p>\n

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by Anasuya Menon Chandana Wickramasinghe feels a deep connect with India. As a young student of dance, he came to India from Sri Lanka to learn Kathakali. \u201cIt was considered the ultimate. Many of the acclaimed artists from Sri Lanka have come to India to learn the Indian traditional arts,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15867"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15867"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15869,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15867\/revisions\/15869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}