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Rhythm of passion
Channa BANDARA WIJEKOON
Ravibandu Vidyapathi was born into a family of dancers. Six
generations before him, from his maternal lineage, had been traditional
Kandyan dancers. His mother Malathi Algama was the daughter of the
famous dance guru Algama Kiri Ganitha.
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Ravibandu Vidyapathi. Picture by Lalith C Gamage |
His father Somabandu Vidyapathi who had made a name as an easel
painter had hailed from traditional low-country Bali-dancers and temple
painters. He had also built a reputation by designing national standard
costumes for Chitrasena's dance troupe.
Ravibandu's skills in dance had been refined by the veteran dance
guru Chitrasena. After the graduation of Ves Bendeema, Ravibandu
travelled to India, where he underwent rigorous training in Kathakali
dance. He was inspired by the works of Tagore like many other great
artistes in our country.
Ever since his return to motherland his innovations in the sphere of
dance and drumming had made him an esteemed personality.
Q: How do you define dance?
A: I define dance as an aesthetically satisfying array of pictures
drawn in space, by the human body in a given time.
A dancer touches the innermost feelings of spectator with the use of
three basic elementary things: human body, space and time to give an
aesthetic experience to the latter. Thus dance or ballet is closer to
symphony than to theatre.
The primitive man expressed joy plus all his expressions through
dance. Eventually it became a way of communication with a more organized
manner. A dancer always communicates with his audience. A dancer may
stimulate inner feelings to create vibes of life within a viewer,
through his performance.
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A scene from 'For the young killed in war' |
Q: Should the traditional dance forms taken from rituals and folk art
evolve to rub shoulders with modern dance methods?
A: I do not really see it that way. On the contrary, the modern
evolves from the tradition. The purpose of traditional dance is
different from that of modern dance.
Traditional dance is the root as it had developed through centuries
in harmony with folk art. It had been evolving with the ethos of a
particular country or society.
Thus it is deep rooted and also a sacred thing. The tradition may
develop hundreds of other new trends which may be called modern if they
really come within the accepted ideas of modernism.
The reason why a traditional dance sequence was performed hundred
years ago is not why it is performed today, even though the root ideas
are still there. The traditional dance rituals were a form of
psychotherapy.
Today as there are so many various modern psychotherapy ways and
means, the need for traditional psychotherapy is not in demand as it
used to be.
Yet, even the most urbanized people as the last resort to cure an
unusual illness may touch the traditional roots. This means, tradition
is still living in our blood.
The forming of traditional dance is gently evolving with time. Thus
traditional dance is automatically safeguarded and surviving as a folk
art.
Today there is a heavy demand for traditional dance performances as a
cultural need of society and to project the identity of a nation.
This cultural revival of today might not be so genuine though.
Q: Inferior dance methods which come in the guise of modern dance are
being practised by many youngsters at present. What is your advice to
these young people?
A: The youth is entrapped in a world of illusion. What they think
modern dance is not really so. Today there is a great misunderstanding
about modern dance.
Many young practitioners and even the audience think what they see on
television in highly commercialized manner is modern dance.
If we bring it to a more lay level of explanation, many think the
filmy stuff, colourful and glittery costumes, exaggerated makeup, flashy
lights and swinging of the female hips and butts is modern dance.
These appear to be a kind of mandatory aspects in that kind of dance.
Classical modern dance is completely the opposite of this. It is an
aesthetic combination of the basics: space, time and human body.
The nucleus of classical modern dance is none other than technique of
dance. It does not mean costumes and the use of technology isn't
important. Movement is the most important attribute.
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A scene from the short ballet 'Macbeth' |
In the classical dance literature of the East, it is clearly
mentioned that the use of the hips is prohibited. Instead, it is the
controlled movement of the 'torso' that may appear as the movement of
hips to an untutored eye.
Q: You may elaborate on the aspect of hip-movement.
A: Although it is an essential aspect in dance, it is very primitive
to have greater emphasis on the lower abdominal area or the reproductive
region of female body in dance. This is very tribal that connects with
fertility cults. Thus in traditional dance, hip movement is prohibited.
Prohibiting it does not mean denying it too. It could be used in a
controlled manner, to communicate sensuality not vulgarity.
Q: What should be the role of mass-media and authorities in
safeguarding traditional dance?
A: We lack dance criticism, dance journalism and hardly see dance
reviews with substance. There were great critics like Reggie Perera, A J
Gunawardena and Nihal Ratnayake in the heydays of dance in the late
sixties. On the other hand for reviewers to emanate more, quality dance
pieces should be created and performed. We rarely see serious dance
performances on stage now.
It is pathetic that dance is rapidly becoming an ornamental thing
which decorates state or private sector functions. This is one major
reason for us not having dance criticism and dance journalism.
Television which is the speediest vehicle of communication today must
provide more quality time for serious art. The state TV channels have
deviated from the core objective in the constitution of using greater
air-time for educational purposes. Even the few quality TV programs
initiated in regard to serious dance have seen premature deaths.
Programs like 'Dance America' are dedicated to good dance. Our state
TV channels could benchmark with these programs. Likewise, print media
must write more on serious dance.Nelum Pokuna is a good initiative by
the President. The constitution must provide room to stage international
dances at this venue to inspire the young and for the seniors to
benchmark with.
Q: You have set some standards in the sphere of short ballet which is
accepted in the circles.
A:I was exposed to western literature by my father at the very tender
age. He used to read to us Shakespeare and Greek plays. One day he would
read to us Shakespeare and the other day he would read Saddharma
Rathnawaliya or Ramayanaya. That was my inspiration. I started
experimenting with characters in the stories my father read to me. A
character like Judas provided me with enough and more material to
produce short ballet. I have created a number of ballet-lets which have
set the standards of that category of dance. Many youngsters were
inspired by this and they took to short ballet. Now the State Dama
Fstival too has a category of short ballet.
I was inspired by the works of Martha Graham the pioneer modern
dancer of America who is considered as the High Priest of modern dance.
We did Greek dramas like 'Oedipus' and Short ballets like 'Judas',
'Macbeth' and 'For the Young killed in war'. Emotion aspect is part and
parcel in these short ballets. I made Judas stab himself to show frenzy
demise.
Q: You have excelled in the sphere of drumming too. Tell us about
your experiences with Ravibandu Vidyapathi Drum Ensemble.
A: Dance is my love and drumming is my passion. The very rhythm of
the drum stems from the heart-beat. Thus drumming caters to the masses
and also has a healthy market here and abroad. We learnt drum in our
traditional dance training as well. In a ritual, drums play the most
important role. They speak to the dancer, spectator and to the super
natural being the 'dancer priest' is communicating with.
In rituals, drums are played in large ensembles at night, which is
sheer magic. Being exposed to these things from early childhood may have
persuaded me to take to drumming.
We got the opportunity to perform in many international festivals
like WOMAD and shared the stage with the greats like Zakir Hussein. The
response has been always positive.
Westerners praise the authenticity of Sri Lankan drumming and are
amazed to see the way we play them with our hands. The highly codified
and scientific technique of our drumming is visible when playing. I am
proud to say as a Sri Lankan and an Asian, Sri Lanka drumming is one of
highly developed arts in the whole world. However, I want to call myself
a dancer choreographer while indulging in drumming.
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