Beat the beat with a mix of everything

Demi HEWAMANNA

Music is something we love, something that frees our soul, speaks our mind and lets us live a life like no other. But as music allows us to speak our feelings, there is something else that lets us explore and create magic with music. And that is none other than ‘dancing’.

People who live their life with music will know what I mean. Dancing brings out so many emotions that you can’t express with words, out of your body and soul.

The moment you hear a beat pumping your heart, suddenly your whole body starts to feel that it needs to get up and move with the beat - and that’s when you do move and release all the energy you got to that beat and try to Beat dat Beat.

This is exactly what the guys and girls of Sway, Muddrika, Royal Warriors and Rivega Dance Studio gave audiences two nights of just unbelievable dance offs. From futuristic to traditional to comedy to love to ethnic to just wild imagination, each dance was carrying the passionate message about what music and dancing does to a person.

There were more than 40 individual dancers who brought out so much in each category they performed. Sway was the main organizer behind this event and they invited the dancers from other groups to participate in this one of a kind event.

Sway is a group that was formed in 2010 and has an excellent team of Latin Ballroom dancers. The body rhythm, steps taken to just wave through the music, was just amazing to watch. Watching them perform items like the Pink Panther and several other classics were a treat.

Muddrika is an all female group, just stepping into the light and shining through brighter than any other entrance.

Muddrika Swarnathilake is their leader, artistic director, manager and choreographer. Their fusion of classical with western and modern moves was really a unique item to see. Even the costumes were colourful and showing off many mixtures of trends. They beat the beat to jazz, hip hop and fusion.

With so many competitions being held in the country, one of the shows that became a great hit among the youth was the Derana City of Dance reality program. This show brought out so many dancers of Sri Lanka into the public eye.

Through this the best of the best were chosen and it wasn’t easy choosing the best - because each and everyone in their own way were the best. One team - that really won the nation’s heart was the Royal Warriors. And I understood why they did win when I saw their live performance that night.

They began their intro with a hit from the Black Eyed Peas and gave us all a robotic experience. One of the guys from the team gave a solo item that kept me in giggles because his performance was a very comical one and the timing to the song’s beat was like clockwork.

So much time and practice was sure put through to make that dance item a tick toking one. The team of ten made sure somehow they got the audience dancing with them as well, because I could feel the ground moving as I heard their fans moving to the music from where they were.

The Rivega Dance Studio is a group that mixes traditional fusion and folk dancing headed by Rangika. Their performance of tribal dance was something I would watch over and over again and never get bored of watching.

The 18 set of dancers really showed true dedication in every movement of their performance and bringing the story of woman’s dominance alive through it.

Beat dat Beat was showcased at the Bishop’s College Auditorium and even though the stage was small for the teams when they came in large numbers to perform, nothing stopped them from giving their hearts best to the audience.

It was an event that really showed true dedication and love to something that doesn’t take forever to learn. Anyone who loves music and loves to dance knows that these two brought together changes the way we see life and feel about it when we just put all the worries away and dance till you can’t dance no more.