Dance for pleasure and love it forever
Seneka Abeyratne
“Rhythm of Life”, an evening of music and dance, went on the boards
on Sunday, May 16th, at the British School Auditorium. The organizer of
this event was Shiromi Perera, one of Sri Lanka’s leading Latin and
ballroom instructors.
The rhythmic evening |
More than 35 dancers from her school, Rhythm World Dance Studio,
performed in this event, in this eagerly awaited concert. All in all,
there were 14 dance items choreographed by Shiromi and her students.
This collaborative exercise, designed to showcase their versatility, was
one of the highlights of the concert. The dance forms ranged from Latin
and Ballroom to contemporary, freestyle, hip-hop and Kandyan, kollywood,
broadway, and musical.
Another exciting feature of the show was that several guest artists
such as Noeline Honter, Ann Nathan, Umaria and Umara, Soundari David and
her choral group Soul Sounds accompanied by Christopher Prins, and Sohan
and the Experiments were the occasion. The evergreen Sohan and his
talented band be backed many of the items billed for the evening and
kept the audience entertained with their lively, toe-tapping music.
Incidentally, Shiromi has brought honour to her country by becoming
the first Sri Lankan dance instructor to be appointed to the World Dance
Council Asian Amateur League. Her school has grown by leaps and bounds
in recent years with more and more students enrolling in her medal level
classes (Bronze, Silver and Gold), which are held on weekends at
Kalalaya.
The medal tests are conducted once a year by foreign examiners and
this year the results were outstanding, with most of her students
obtaining high marks. Her beginners and advanced level classes are also
very popular, not to mention the sundown practice session, which is held
once a week exclusively for students of Rhythm World. On Sunday evenings
the hall is packed with students dancing to non-stop music provided by
Shiromi.
“Dance for pleasure and love it forever” is the motto of the Rhythm
World Dance Studio. “Rhythm of Life” an apt title for the show as the
school motto is not merely a slogan but a part and parcel of life of
students young and old enrolled at the school.
This was revealed in the performances and the show a hit was
indicated by the full-house and will undoubtedly become a regular
feature in the Rhythm World Dance Studio Annual events. Part of the
proceeds from this successful show was given in aid to the Ranaviru
foundation. The media sponsor for the event was the Associated
Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, with co-sponsorship by the Bank of Ceylon. |