Praiseworthy show by the differently abled

Review: Dr. Narme Wickremesinghe

ENTERTAINMENT: On March 31, I attended a presentation of the Ceylon School for Deaf and Blind, Ratmalana, entitled Rhythm and Song at the Ladies' College Hall. I felt that I should bring this exquisite performance to the notice of the media and the public.

The show opened as is traditional with a Pooja Dance performed by the hearing impaired. Without hearing the music or drums the dancers kept excellent rhythm with the drum and dance master giving them signs of any change of the dance sequence. The same excellence of the dance form was shown in a subsequent item - the Gajaga Vannama.

As the performers could not hear sounds, the audience was in raptures moving their hands above their heads as instructed by the compere Geethanjali Algama who too did an excellent job as a presenter.

But alas, the number in the audience were few and I hope the vigour of our hand movements would have given sufficient encouragement to this hearing impaired dance troupe.

The beautiful baritone voice by a sight impaired person gave a solo rendition of Edelweiss from the Sound of Music sound track. Then a sight impaired orchestra gave an instrumental medley of both local and western songs - excellently harmonized, including the lead xylophone (mind you by a person who could not see!).

Then the sight impaired choir sang popular patriotic songs as also in another vocal item entitled Rangiri Giri, again in perfect harmony. They also did the tea pluckers' dance, their movements and rhythm well synchronized, and one wondered how they could have done it even at the edge of the stage and the wonder grew as to how they could perform as well as any unimpaired professional orchestra, choir or dance troupe.

An appreciative audience though small in number resounded with loud applause which the visually handicapped performers would have been able to hear and get encouraged.

After the interval was a 45 minute ballet-Bathe Upatha performed by the hearing impaired, and the songs sung by the sight impaired. The story depicted was the birth of rice from the time of ploughing through the harvest and threshing up to the eating of rice.

This was an expert performance in perfect rhythm and well synchronized and no one would be able to say that they are differently abled.

I hope some commercial and advertising agencies would sponsor another performance of 'Rhythm & Song' by the Ceylon School for the Hearing and Sight Impaired, Ratmalana and for it to be well publicized, attended, and televised so that the performers will see or hear an appreciative audience and be so encouraged in their journey as normal people in the world.

The performers, their backstage supporters. their patient trainers - master Amaradasa Thalagahagoda and Mrs. Ranee Fernando deserve all the plaudits and applause for doing almost the impossible and showing that differently abled are as abled as any other.

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