Night of delight

Munchee Samaga Ridee Reyak unfurls its seventh chapter :

Ruwini Jayawardana

It was a dazzling spectacle that will be etched in your emory throughout the year till the next performance takes shapes. It is one of the prominent events in the culture and arts calendar where artistes are able to showcase the best of their talents live on stage before millions

Munchee Samaga Ridee Reyak 7 took shape at the BMICH on December 17 at 7 p.m. The much-looked forward to event will be telecast on Rupavahini on January 2. More than 50 artistes representing the younger generation and the golden era of cinema took part in the event which included 25 items.

Munchee Samaga Ridee Reyak 7 opened with Swarna Vimana. There was an array of dancers dressed in yellow and gold and Malani Fonseka bursts into the scene amidst the dancers, renowned dancer Channa Wijewardena, the director and choreographer of the event, explained.

Other noteworthy items included a comic skit performed by Tennyson Cooray and a cinematic fight sequence between Jeevan Kaumaratunga and Teddy Vidyalankara. Organized by the Cine Star Foundation headed by NFC Chairman Jayantha Dharmadasa, the annual night of dance and glamour raises funds for the health scheme of cinema artistes.

“Professional dancers are involved with the art for at least nine hours per day but it is the not the same when you choreograph an act for a cinema artiste. They have to be involved in the field to do a proper dance act. I need to know what exactly to take out from them to bring out the best of their abilities. The interior movements which come out of their acting should be the central focus. I create the act out of those movements which are familiar to them,” he added.

Though similar artistes dance performance programs came to light after Ridee Reyak they did not last after the first or second performance. However such artistes take their shows which are bear close resemblances to Ridee Reyak to foreign countries and many come to see the performances assuming that it is the actually Ridee Reyak show.

“I started this concept around eight years ago with a felicitation for Malani Fonseka. A lot of actors studied under me and I knew that if I put on a show it would be very successful. We even showcased productions at the Sydney Opera Theatre and Dubai,” he noted while stating that the key players in Ridee Reyak do not perform in other dance shows.

“Now it has become a fashion for artistes to dance. There are reality programs which telecast artistes dancing but the question is how can you dance without undergoing the training routine? All they do is learn an act. Film dancing is different. You can take a number of shots for one particular movement.

You have to be well trained and experienced to do theatre dancing,” Wijewardena said. He also stated that Ravindra Randeniya, Dillhani Ekanayake and Tilak Hewakapuge were the pillars of strength behind the event. The event is sponsored by Munchee (Ceylon Biscuits Ltd.) as part of its corporate social responsibility projects.

“Munchee gave a free hand for the event. They did not interfere with the program.

I wish to thank Nandana and Theja for their support,” he said.

Channa who will be choreographing the dance items for two major awards events this year, the Sarasaviya Awards and the National Film awards, said that choreographing for an artistes’ dance show and an awards night are two different experiences.

“We incorporate dance acts into the awards night. People come to see who are the award winners so how you cater to that audience is totally different from how you would cater to those who had come to watch an artistes’ dance show,” he said while stressing that the exercises and techniques essential for a dancer is not correctly taught at most dance schools.

“Most of the dances you see on TV are just acts. None of these people are trained to dance. You can move but you cannot dance without proper training. Your whole system needs to be balanced to get into professional dancing.”

Apart from the enrapturing events line-up, Munchee also distributed special cash donations to senior artistes Udula Dabare and Harun Lantra in recognition of their contribution to the local film industry.