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| Wednesday, 31 December 2003 |
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Sri Lankan dances from royal court to temple and stage by Derrick Schokman There is no written treatise on the subject of dancing or music in this country. Whatever fragmentary evidence there has to be extracted from other sources, such as the old chronicles, literature, carvings and engravings and mural paintings. In ancient times dancing was a part of court life. King Parakrama Bahu I established the Sarasvati Mandapa or Hall of Music and Dancing, the first institution for the study and practice of dance forms. The fact that Queen Leelavathi was an exponent of dancing, reveals the esteem in which the art of the dance was held in medieval times by royalty, and also by the temples or devales which practised cult worship of Hindu gods. The content of this dance was Bharata Natyam, which had spilled over from India. Temple dancing Digge Netum performed by flower-decked maidens was well-known in the Saman Devale in Ratnapura. According to historian Paul E. Pieris, the women dancers wore white cloths with a mantha hetta (a short-sleeved jacket with a frill behind that fell below the nape of the neck). These dances are no more, but records of land holdings given to the families of dancing girls are still available in the Saman Devale. Ibn Batuta, Arab historian and pilgrim, who visited this country in the 14th century, has also recorded the presence of dancing girls in the Devinuwara temple: "From this place we proceeded two days and arrived at the city of Dinaur. Here is an idol placed in a large temple in which about 500 young women, daughters of the nobility of India, sing and dance all night before the image." The Sandesayas also have reference to Digge Netum. The Venerable Sri Rahula waxes eloquent about them in the Kelaniya Devale. In the Selalihini Sandesaya he says: "Watch the beauty of the Evidence of temple dancers is also seen in the wood and ivory carvings of the Embekke Devale. The danseuse in these elaborate carvings has a braided coiffure, attractive drapery and a shawl spreading fanwise over her shoulders as she dances. Mural paintings of music and dance by women are also seen in some rock temples. Mulgirigala is an example. The Ambalangoda Maha Vihara is another. Traditional Despite the practice of dancing in royal courts and devales, this art form failed to gain a footing among womenfolk in the country, because social values acted as a deterrent. All the traditional dances therefore belong to the masculine virile type, which in Indian technology is called Tandava. Broadly speaking these dances are divided into two types - ritual and secular. Ritual dances are enacted for seeking relief from prolonged ailments or adversities attributed to celestial beings. The Kohomba Kankariya is the ritual dance of the upcountry (Kandyan), while Devol and Sanni dances belong to the low country (Ruhunurata). Dances performed to fulfil the aesthetic sense of spectators are the upcountry Ves (derived from Kohomba Kankariya) Vannam, Udakki Pantheru, li-keli, kala-gedi, raban and goyam-kepima (rice harvest dance). In the low country there are the masked dances (Naga Raksha, king of the cobras, and Gurulu Raksha, king of the birds) and the masked farcical folk drama or kolam. In the science of dance and song Dr Andreas Nell says that there is a five-fold music provided by geta bera (long drum) daula (large drum) tammatema (double drum) talam-pata (cymbals) and horaneva (small oboe). The traditional form was a union of dance, song and rhythmic music provided by these instruments as accompaniment to singing and recitative which are linked to the dance. A good troupe would have experts in seven kinds of dancing viz. naiyandi which is narrative with gestures and postures, Kalagedi or small pot dance, li-keli or victory dance with sticks shaped like broad-bladed swords, udakki or handheld hour-glass drum dance, pantheru or tambourine dance and Daha-ata-paliya masked dance and Ves sellama or Kandyan dance. The following up to and aftermath of independence induced the national creative dancer to abandon his long dependence on Indian art forms and develop his own traditions. A notable feature of this resurgence was the eradication of old prejudices and the restrictions that were placed on women indulging in dance. **** Back **** |
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