Kapila Palihawadana on nATANDA Dance Theatre’s newest
production:
Waken the raven
Ruwini JAYAWARDANA
Known as a contrary spirit the Raven had always been a bird which had
been linked with superstition and magic for centuries.
Kapila Palihawadana. Picture by Saman Sri Wedage |
On the negative side the bird represents evil spirits, the devil, the
thief, trickster, destruction, war, death and doom. Yet in a few other
cultures the Raven stands for transformation, healing power, wisdom,
protection and prophecy.
This large bodied member of the Corvus family is related to its
miniature version of crow, jackdaw and rook.
Dubbed the symbol of the sun as well as a metaphor for a moonless
night, the Raven is the birth giving light at the center of the galaxy
as well as the black hole in the universe from which we travel to our
eventual extinction. The complex attitude towards the bird had
fascinated many literary thespians.
Portraying the moves of the bird with the black coat |
Writers from the Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso to British
playwright William Shakespeare have used this striking all black bird to
create imagery in their work. American writer Edgar Allan Poe had even
penned an entire poem called The Raven.
nATANDA Dance Theatre founder and artistic director Kapila
Palihawadana too was attracted by the species. He explained that he came
upon the concept in Batticaloa where he was on a visit to conduct a
workshop.
“The roads were deserted at dusk. I was sitting in the veranda by a
mango tree. A crow was perched on one of the branches which were just
within my sight. He looked right into my eyes and I was quite taken
aback because it was a questioning look. It intrigued me.
As I was returning home on the train the next day I was struck by the
idea of doing my next project based on the bird,” Kapila elaborated on
how the exceptional dance performance took shape.
Just as a painter can create visual images through his brush and a
poet can string couplets through his pen a dancer is a person who can
dream with his feet.
After spending three months of research by observing as well as
reading up about the subject the nATANDA team finally pieced together
their knowledge to produce Ravens, a dance production re-examins the
public perception of the crow. Divided into 11 parts the performance
follows a group of ravens struggling to coexist.
Watch the dancers give birth to crows and wrestle to overcome the
trials of the outside world amidst all its disorder and pollution.
Ravens reflect these features but does not simply imitate. The
dancer’s style of presentation had added substance to the production
which is blended with modern techniques of composition.
Ravens embody team spirit |
Caring nature is affiliated to the raven |
Speaking about the fact that nATANDA does not believe in confining a
dancer to a pre-choreographed mould, Kapila said that most of the modern
dancers does not know the value of the art.
He says: “This is because the interaction between the teacher and
student is minimized. You need to give freedom to the students to try
out new concepts. Sometimes the student has the power to excell over the
teacher.
This should be accepted and understood. I always challenge my
students because I do not hand the whole package over on a silver
platter.
As an artiste you should know how to bring your knowledge and
contribution to the choreography instead of copying the teacher’s moves.
You need to think ahead. A teacher is there only to judge if the
student’s ideas are suitable for the theme, body capability and if it is
suitable for the dance item.”
Running for one hour and 15 minutes the Ravens will be staged at the
British Council on September 29 at 7.30 p.m.
Queried about the social stigma towards the bird, Kapila says that
there are indeed a lot of myths surrounding the crow’s existence.
“German Professor Bernd Heinrich had dug deep into facts about the
raven’s life. These stories struck a cord in my heart because we never
imagined that the raven is such a caring creature.
They have a lot of communication skills and they have a network in
which there is a leader as well as team spirit. They are similar to us
in a lot of ways,” he noted adding that the challenge was to link the
bird’s similarities with those of the human.
One of the reasons for the raven’s existence is to keep the
environment clean.
Frangipani, Betodiaf, Issuki, Modaborn and Mokabalo are some of
nATANDA’s past productions. They are also involved with charity work of
bring emerging young dancers to the stage. Their next project involves
the hearing impaired from Ratmalana. It is based on the sign language.
Pictures by Lekha Edirisinghe
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