Ravi Sara Savi
Ravi Sara Savi, taking stage in BMICH
at 6.30 pm on November 21 is another experimental dance-drum symphony
and a percussion concert of master percussionist and modernist
choreographer Ravibandu Vidyapathi. Past Pupils Association Araliya
Group of Pannipitiya Dharmapala Vidyalaya which bred artists in the
calibre of musician Rohana Weerasinghe, Ravibandu's father Somabandu-a
pioneer of local stage dance costumes, Ravibandu and brother Manubandu,
organized the show. His mother Malathi Algama, daughter of the Kandyan
dance guru Algama Kiriganitha, taught dance at the school. Ravibandu's
early tutoring was by Vajira and Chitrasena, Piyasara Shilpadhipathy,
Kerala Kala Mandalam and India's David Appuhamy. Tickets available at
Sarasavi Book Shop-Maharagama-Nugegoda, ODEL-Townhall, Hemas Book Shop-Homagama
and Soya Food (pvt) Ltd.-Kiribathgoda.
Jayanthi LIYANAGE
Sri Lanka's traditional and contemporary music and dance is second to
none among other countries, yet why we do not receive regular
invitations to international platforms of world acclaimed festivals and
performing halls, is the grouse of Ravibandu Vidyapathi. At Mahaweli
Centre, the other day, he told the press that Ravi Sara Savi is the
first of a series of programs that will bridge this gap in three prongs-
dance compositions based on traditions and modernist liberalised music,
and percussion performances mixing drums of local traditions and other
musical traditions.
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Ravibandu and percussionists |
His achievements match those of Channa Wijewardena who brought local
traditional dance on to the global platform. Ravibandu's fusion
performances of geta beraya, western and Indian classical music and jazz
sounds staged at classical concerts and arts festivals in Washington DC,
Australia, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Wellington, Dhaka, New Delhi and
New York brought him nearer to his ambition. In Sri Lanka Festival of
Drums 2005 at World of Music Arts and Dance (WOMAD), he displayed his
prowess to international artistes on homegrounds.
"We must create international recognition for our drum symphonies by
sending them on compact disc to impresarios of world concert events,
music companies and musicians of other countries," Ravibandu advises.
The software of an electronic synthesizer has besides the mainstream
western traditional instrumental sounds, those of Japanese, Chinese and
jazz percussion. The missing percussions of geta beraya and other local
drums must be part of such software and the Internet. "In today's world
music scene, traditional percussion is paramount. That should be our
aim. If we can contribute to at least one concert of Rahman, we would be
able to go a long way," he insists.
"Ravi assessed the hertz frequency of the beraya so that recording is
easy," commented Channa. "Ravi's pupils can be recognized by his strong
style. He has a deep knowledge of drums, dance, music, art and
recording." University of Performing Arts Music Faculty Dean Kolitha
Bhanu Disanayake said that it is important to analyze the quality of a
beraya before fusing it with low-frequency musical instruments.
"Ravibandu succeeded in magnetizing youth towards the traditional
drum," said Pannipitiya Dharmapala Vidyalaya Principal K. G. Wimalasena.
"Rural and urban schools are now drawn to drumming." In local musical
traditions, percussion instruments are the majority. Ravibandu
experimented with this medium, creating a new direction to the young
musicians. His innovations trying out pakwaj, tabla, ghatam and geta
bera with Krishna and Upula Madhushanka awoke a liking for traditional
percussion in the broader palate of the English-speaking Colombo elite.
"Playing African and Latin American drums with Asian percussion, we
attracted a lot of youth," said Ravibandu. "Now individuals as well as
bands are taking to this stream which is a good omen." The stage for
this was set in the forties initiation of Panibharatha to bring together
low country, Kandyan and Indian drums on one stage. This heightened in
the seventies when Piyasara Shilpadhipathy changed the local drum into a
concert instrument. Shilpadhipathy's ingenous atempts to mix Rohan De
Saram's cello playings with geta beraya lifted the beraya to a new
plane. All these coupled
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Ravibandu directs his pupils |
with efforts of Chitrasena and Vajira rescued Kandyan, Low Country
and Sabaragamuwa dance and their respective drumming from traditions to
make them a concert art.
Ravi Sara Savi brings Ravibandu's various traditional, modernist,
ballet and music arts to one forum. "We are going to play geta bera, Low
Country, Kandyan and Sabaragamuwa drums, Indian, Latin American, African
and Brazilian drums and sustitute instruments," assured Ravibandu who
Bandara Eheliyagoda said could turn even a piece of clay or bamboo into
a drum. His "kala beraya" made with a skin tied over a pot and played
using traditional drum beats is a new percussion. "This is the kind of
sound we should take to an international platform!"
As he sees, Sri Lanka lacks artistes who can turn their traditional
artistry into a concert art. "Percussion concerts should be frequent,
with chiefs of tourism, hotels and media present. Open air performances
can help. A progressive trend can be seen in the National Rupavahini
programs of Sri Lankan Life and Rangabhisheka." What else can we do to
see local percussion rank among the world's great? Will Ravibandu's
dream come true? |
