Lankan Art Director honoured in Canada

Sri Lankan Production Designer and Art Director, Errol Kelly, a member of the Film Location Services production team, was responsible for the construction of the sets and overall production design of the new hit film, Deepa Mehta's "Water", which was filmed entirely in Sri Lanka, standing in for Benares in India.

Errol Kelly's work has been nominated for the 2006 GENIE Prix Awards, the equivalent in Canada to the Oscars in Hollywood along with eight other nominations for the film.

Errol created the city of Benares by the Ganges in the Bolgoda Lake on the outskirts of Colombo. Errol Kelly has been the Art Director of numerous Hollywood films, including the location shoot of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom directed by Steven Spielberg and has full Production Designer credits on international films, such as "Jungle Book II", "Mother Teresa" and the Vietnam film "Iron Triangle".

He was also the Art Director on the Academy Award winning French film, "Indochine".

Errol Kelly, a resident of Kandy, is truly a credit to Sri Lanka. The film "Water" will be released in Sri Lanka in April by the National Film Corporation.

Another of Duminda's maiden attempts

by Prasad Abu Bakr

He joined the modelling field in fun which later absorbed him in a big way making him a mega star. Duminda de Silva not only made a name for himself as a popular ramp model but also a familiar face on TV commercials. He stands singularly as the only Sri Lankan model, male or female, that had the privilege to win an audition session with Calvin Kleine Inc; in New York and later attended a photo shoot with the company.

Today Duminda is set to face another important event in his life. He will wed pretty Ceylonne Fernando in grand style at Water's Edge. His bride who is employed as a Business Development Executive at a leading private enterprise, has had her own share of success working as a photographic model for some of the top designers in the field.

Duminda who is a full time banker has opted at one time or the other to lend his good looks to enhance the fashion, film and later the television industry.

"Acting in a film was never my goal" said Duminda adding that the director of the film Bora Diya Pokuna, Satyajith Maitipe contacted him and offered him the main hero's role following Maitipe's observations of Duminda's career as a model, specially on TV commercials.

Bora Diya Pokuna, which was highly acclaimed at the Honolulu International Film Festival, won the award for the best Feature Film in that category at the festival which was held in 2001. The film has awaited its release for a long time; but has run into difficulties here with the censor board, owing to the many controversial scenes it contains. But it is now learned that the film is due to be released during the first half of this year.

A keen sportsman, Duminda has captained both Rugger and Basket Ball teams as a student of Trinity College where he was once adjudged the Best All-round Student which won him the Ryde Gold Medal in the process.

Later he was to play for both the Kandy Sports Club and CR & FC at club level. Duminda has represented Sri Lanka at many international tournaments abroad. He still continues his sports activities even in his busy profession.

English ballet - drama without words

The World of Arts by Gwen Herat

Classical ballet is the human architecture of anatomy synchronized with movements of artistic evolution tied up by the ancient classicism and Gothic mystery with austerity. It is also the embellishments of Baroque and the worldliness of Romanticism. Ballet in its finest glory is really the summit of human discipline. It has been the heart and core of London in its unassailable beauty. But ballet never came easy to London or for that matter, to England.

It took a French ballerina, Madlenie Guimard to visit London in 1784 to stir the imagination of the Brits towards this fine art. They went crazy over her and she said: 'Since I am in town they have not left me alone for a moment: Such a public paved the way a century later to create the atmosphere and the ideal climate for Adeline Genee to arrive in London followed by Anna Pavlova, later.

Genee was only 19 when her uncle brought her to England in 1897. In the following 10 years, she became the 'prima ballerina' of London's Empire Theatre. She continued, restored the traditions of the great dancing of earlier half of the 19th century.

Three years later, the magical spell of the Diaghilev Ballet fell upon England when one of its dancers, Lydia Kysht replaced Genee at the Empire Theatre. Kysht had studied under Gerdt along with Pavlova and Karsavina. In 1914 she was succeeded by an English dancer, Phyllis Bedells who enhanced the art for three years at the Empire Theatre.

In England the atmosphere had changed. There was mixed feeling and an urge for the solo artist or companies capable of presenting ballets. But was it enough? Was England ready for a permanent company?

No, not yet, screamed the choreographers.

They did not have the breeding ground for ballet companies. It required schools from which the nucleus of dancers may be drawn. A few schools did operate but they were far in between. Collecting many of them, the Association of Operatic Dancing of Great Britain was formed. Dame Adeline Genee became its first president until her resignation in 1954.

She was succeeded by Dame Margot Fonteyn. The association was granted royal charter in 1936 and came to be known as the Royal Academy of Dancing.

Now, England was ready. A start had been made.

There had been in existence troupes that had been formed by Pavlova and few lesser known personalities because of which a permanent impact in England was made by these intermitten companies. Pavlova's company became the vehicle with which to enable her to display her exquisite and unique talent.

Marie Rambert too founded her own company in 1920 followed by Ninette de Valois which was a rather pompous-sounding Academy of Choreographic Art. Both schools presented their individual ballets. Rambert's first was A Tragedy of Fashion in 1926 at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith with a very talented 22-year-old choreographer, Fredrick Ashton who was to become a legend later.

Two years later Velois' pupils presented ballets at the Old Viv. She herself danced in many of them. Velois had taken control of English ballet and expanded all possibilities towards serious classical ballet. Diaghilev's death in 1929 left a serious wide gap as everything fell on to the lap of Velois.

The Camargo Society was founded in 1930 by Arnold Haskell and Richardson. Though the company was not in a position to dictate ballet, it was able to draw dancers from the camps of Rambert and Velois and along with great dancers like Anton Delon. Alicia Markova, Olga Spessivsteva and Lydia Sokolova to produce classical ballets along with a man who was to become the pillar of England's national ballet.

He was the composer/conductor Constant Lambert. The Camargo Society mounted 16 ballets from 1930 to 1933 and disbanded itself after a very successful short life. Some of the classics it mounted was Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Coppelia among other greats.

After many great dancers made their impact following this, Ninette de Velois and Marie Rambert created the national ballet for England during a difficult period form the energies they derived from the defunct Camargo Society. They became the backbone for the future Royal Ballet. In the meantime, Dame Margot Fonteyn took over the association and was granted a royal charter and since been known as the Royal Academy of Dancing.

With a lot of hard and dedicated work done by all those involved in ballet over the years, Fredrick Ashton took over the Royal Ballet as its director in 1963. After serving this mecca of ballet for over ten years, he made way for MacMillan to take over as director.

He did not enjoy instant popularity at Covent Garden from public and critic alike. After a shaky start, he got back on rails with his genius of creativity mounting successful ballets.

MacMillan may not have been another Ashton but he was the best choreographer from among the younger generation. He was able to negotiate and absorb the new-generation, contemporary-style choreographers such as Hans van Manen, Glen Tetley and Christopher Bruce to create new and exciting ballets.

The Royal Ballet was in good hands. There was no looking back for British ballet as they went on to display their virtuosity, excellence and supremacy in this celestial art.

Nu Box in concert

A jazz concert by German band NU Box, organized by the Goethe-Institut Colombo (the German Cultural Centre) in collaboration with the Barefoot Gallery will be held on February 13 at 7:30 p.m. at the Barefoot Gallery. Following the concert, a workshop will also be held (only by invitation) on February 14 at HyO Discotheque, Union Place.

The concert will feature Reiner Winterschladen (trumpet), Alois Kott (bass, electronics), Peter E. Eisold (drums, electronics) and Vincent Graf Schlippenbach (DJ).

In the early 80s when DJ club jazz was still uncommon, the eclectic music of Blue Box came as a big surprise, horrifying the jazz purists. Some called it techno jazz, some no wave funk, some industrial dance.

Cult band

Winterschladen, Kott and Eisold started an international career that led them not only to several European countries but even to far-away places like Hyderabad, Mumbai, Jakarta and Seoul. Their third album "Captured Dance Floor" reflected the rise of dancefloor jazz in the late '80s.

Charismatic trumpet lines communicate with complex rhythms and driving bass grooves: The sound of Blue Box was way ahead of its time and soon turned this trio into a cult band.

A member of the NDR Big Band since 1995, trumpet player ReinerWinterschladen, participated in numerous recordings for jazz labels, radio and TV.

Over the years he played some very distinguished solos on albums of the Nighthawks, the Klaus K'nig Orchestra and Ensemble Indigo. Alois Kott, bass professor and founder of several ensembles, has been a professional musician for 30 years.

He made recordings for ECM, Enja, Intuition and other labels and composed works of chamber music for the WDR. Drummer Peter Eisold is best known for his work on the experimental and alternative concert scene. He played with groups like the AOS Ensemble and Modern Percussion Quintet and was the drummer in Helge Schneider's Big Band.

Now Blue Box is back after a recording pause of 10 years - changing their name into Nu Box. Using the sounds and techniques of the present-day electronic and remix scene, the three of them reflect their past into the future.

Open to a new generation of jazz creators, they were signed to ENJA's nu jazz label "19" and will soon be heard live on stage together with DJ Illvibes, the son of Germany's free jazz pioneer Alexander von Schlippenbach. Blue Box a.k.a. Nu Box keeps on exploring the outer space beyond jazz, dance floor, avant-garde and underground.

Dance floor jazz

The group from Berlin is on tour through South Asia, coming from Karachi and leaving for Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai etc.

The tour is organised by the Goethe-Institut to promote a different kind of jazz, which in the few past years only has seemingly got its label as "Dance floor-Jazz". Tickets are available at Barefoot and at the German Cultural Institute at No. 39, Gregory's Road.