Chitrasena Dance Company enthralls New York

As part of the 63rd National Day celebrations organized by the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in New York, the Chitrasena Dance Company, led by Upeka, performed in New York on February 4 and 5.

On February 4, a classical music concert followed by the performance of the Chitrasena Dance Company took place at the Asia Society Auditorium, attended by the Diplomatic Community, UN officials and the US government officials. The performance on February 5 was at Forest Hills High School in Jamaica, New York which was open to the community.

The Chitrasena Dance Company is Sri Lanka's oldest and most prestigious dance company. Established in the 1940s by Guru Chitrasena, who was instrumental in bringing Sri Lanka's traditional dances from the village rituals to the modern stage, the Dance Company became his vehicle of expression both in traditional dance forms and contemporary dance, which set the standards and transformed dance theatre in Sri Lanka. Today, his dance school and Company led by daughter Upeka have nurtured his legacy with deep love and respect.

Reputed for being the pioneers and revolutionists in the dance sphere in Sri Lanka - they continue to experiment without compromise and use traditional dance language and form to create cutting-edge contemporary dance theatre.

In New York, the Company performed selected items from their most recent repertoire to show how rich and varied the foremost dance language of Sri Lanka - the Kandyan Dance - can be.

The program encapsulated how, what was once a ritual art form, has now developed over the years into a highly polished and refined performance material.

How the dance has moved from the rural villages onto contemporary dance platforms, while retaining the spirit and the essence of its origin. The Kandyan Dance is an abstract language - falling into the ambit of 'nritta' or pure dance - which is a dance form not supported by "mudras" (or hand gestures), to depict a story.

The Kohomba Kankariya ritual gave birth to the indigenous Kandyan dance art form which has been performed over thousands of years to cure afflictions and ward off evil.

The Chitrasena Dance Company revisits this traditional ritual, and through innovation and artistic experimentation, ushers it into a new era of discovery. The group consisted of Dancer's - Upeka, Thaji, Kushan and Geeth, Drummers - Susantha, Prasanna and Iroshan and the Artistic Director Heshma. This tour was made possible by the generous sponsorship and support extended by the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in New York.

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