Chitrasena in focus at Fete de la Musqiue 2005

BY PRASAD Abu Bakr

A special Award is due to be presented to Deshamanya Chitrasena Sri Lanka's master of dance at this year's Fete de la Musquie to be held at the Galle Face Hotel Grand Ballroom this evening.

Chitrasena, his wife Vajira and the troupe of specially trained dancers notably put Sri Lanka on the world map at a time when the country had little or no recognition for the art form that he was struggling to promote.

His contribution towards making the country's traditional dance forms which consisted mostly of ritual backgrounds into modern forms of presentation and creating a form of ballet art with a unique touch of local folklore and theatre are two of the reasons cited for this leading artist to deserve this award.

The Chitrasena and Vajira duo has not only taken their art of dance globally to many international feasts and festivals but has also performed at many locations such as Sadlers Wells in England and the Kremlin theatre in Russia which no contemporary Sri Lankan dance troupe has had the privilege of gracing.

Chitrasena during the initial stages danced at prestigious circuits. Performing in the presence of the Maharajah of Trevenco at his palace, dancing in the distinguished presence of Governor Andrew Caldecott in duet with Chandralekha the country's (Ceylon then) first ever female dancer to appear on stage before Vajira.

In 1945, he performed in aid of the Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Foundation together with his grand daughter Mrs. Kriplani. In 1959 Chitrasena and Vajira along with their dancers were the first ever Sri Lankan cultural troupe to tour India.

Together with Vajira and their dance troupe they have toured wide around the globe mostly at the invitation of other countries or at state sponsored events abroad. he has the honour of choreographing two episodes for the 'Pageant of Sri Lanka' staged to mark the first independence celebrations in 1948 held in the presence of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.

In 1949, Chitrasena presented his production of Nala Damayanthi at a preview graced by the then Governor General Lord Soulbury as its chief guest.

During her visit here in 1966 Martha Graham one of America's top modern dancers who revolutionised classical American ballet saved time to attend one of Chitrasena and Vajira's performances and was quite marvelled at what she witnessed.

In 1952, the first Chitrasena and Vajira Dance Academy was opened in Colpetty in the form of an open-air theatre under the kind patronage of E.P.A. Fernando and in the presence of Sir Earnest de Silva who graced the occasion as its chief guest.

The school which was a marvellous training ground for over 44 years to many young dancers and drummers was closed down as its then owners who had bought it from its original ownership of the Fernandos wanted Chitrasena to vacate the property for re-sale.

Since then after a long and harrowing journey of moving their training grounds from one place to another the school is at present being built on a land presented to them under the kind patronage of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.

As a school of long standing reputation for dance, the Chitrasena and Vajira Dance Academy with two of Sri Lanka's most dedicated duo at its helm has trained and brought around into focus many dancers who are training and touring with ensembles today based upon the training that they have acquired from the maestro as young students.

Channa Wijewardena of Channa and Upuli Dance Academy fame, Khema (who dances by herself mostly at present) and Ravibandhu Vidyapathi one of Sri Lanka's finest drummers, dancers and choreographers at present, who also operates his own dancing school and who is also the son of Somabandhu Vidyapathi incidentally happens to be Chitrasena's very first student.

Besides being a leading artiste today, he is responsible for the execution of many stage sets, backdrops and costumes designed for many of the theatre productions under the Chitrasena Vajira banner.

As the choreographer of his many productions Chitrasena became totally involved in all his creative exercises using some of the country's best names at the time to complete his image.

Magsaysay Award winner W.D. Amaradeva was one of them who composed some memorable background scores for some of Chitrasena's earlier productions long before he became the recipient of the famous award in the recent past.

Among others were Lionel Algama and Somadasa Alvitigala. The well known poet and painter Mahagama Sekara wrote the lyrics for most of the songs and verses that is remembered even today for their melodious overtures made at the time.

Among the many productions that were presented as theatre ballet by the Chitrasena and Vajira Dance Academy the outstanding ones that found its way to enthral audiences even today are Nala Damayanthi, Karadiya, Muhudu Puththu and Gini Hora from some of its past productions while Kinkini Kolama, Nirthanjali and Navanjali are more from the recent times which had his daughters Upeka and Anjalika involved in them as creative directors.

Today the Chitrasena and Vajira Dance Foundation and Academy stands with its master at its helm, a master who has served the purpose of his art to its fullest by making it a passionate past time to watch him dance not only by his country's public but by the world at large.

For Maestro Chitrasena who arrived on stage playing the role of Siri Sangabo at a very tender age in 1936 and for the gigantic role he played in the field of dance of this country no award is big enough. as for the honour he will be felicitated with; this evening at the Fete de la Musqiue we say a big thank you to France, where incidentally Chitrasena's two daughters Upeka and Anjalika along with his daughter-in-law and grand daughters who are all dancers are performing at the Momtelea Dance Festival along with the rest of the Chitrasena and Vajira Dance Foundation and Academy.

This evening's events will feature a performance featuring some of the country's leading traditional dancers orchestrated by Ravibandhu Vidyapathi followed by a classical music concert by the French Duo Stephanie Carpentier (violinist) and Franck Labiste (flautist).

(Invitations to the event could be collected at the Alliance Francaise de Colombo.)