Passionate steps

Nipuni WIMALAPALA

Elegance, aesthetic beauty, discipline, balance and tradition surface in the techniques of real dancing. No doubt, it is the best form of expression using the movements of the human body.

Dancing is not just swaying to a musical track. It means more than that, armed with passion and dedication. It is a feast for the artistic eyes and minds of dance enthusiasts. It is an art which can hold them spellbound for hours.

Dancing teacher Miranda Hemalatha

Jayani Wijenayake

Sarangi Thejani

Ayodhya Jayagodaarachchi

Sathya Gurusinghe

Five students of Miranda Hemalatha Kala Ashramaya will perform ‘Narthana Pooja’ to celebrate their passion and dedication towards dancing at the Tower hall Theatre on May 12 at 5.30 pm. Narthana Pooja will be a two-fold purpose concert which will showcase the pleasure and beauty of dancing to the audience while raising funds for down syndrome children of Hemalatha’s Diri Daru Piyasa.

Kala Guru Hemalatha expressed her delight of guiding the five young dancers by saying that it had taken many years of hard work for the students to prefect themselves for the event.

“I am really happy that this is the outcome of my work. They are perfect and balanced. All of them studied under me from their tender years. Today they are capable of organizing these types of classy dancing shows themselves. I am really proud of the outcome,” she said.

“There is no proper dancing culture in Sri Lanka today. Club dancing and western dancing have taken over the field. Prominence is given to those westernized and skimpily clad dancing genres through which sexuality is exposed. Showcasing a classical dance show during such an era is admirable. This is also a show with a worthy cause for the funds will go for the wellbeing of the down syndrome children. They do not need sympathy but give a helping hand to help them to stand on their own feet,” she added.

Sandagomi, Sarangi, Jayani, Ayodhya and Sathya are the students who will display their dancing movements in Narthana Pooja. The specialty of the event is that none of them are professional dancers but carry on dancing as their hobby. Another interesting factor is that they have experimented in combining modern dance and traditional dance forms. The dance items which will be showcased will comprise bharata natyam, Kandyan and low country dance items. All items are composed and choreographed by the performers themselves. The costume designing and stage decorations are also done by the young dancers.

Jayani Wijenayake is a medical student of SAITM, Malabe, who aspires to become a doctor.

“I took classes from Hemalatha from 2001. I enjoy the classical and creative forms of dancing. My main purpose is to make this show a success and help babies suffering from Down syndrome through the funds we raise,” she enthused.

Sarangi Thejani is employed at NSK Group of Companies. She had completed her degree in IT. “My talent and interest in dancing brought me here. The thought of helping others through your skills pleases me,” the student who had joined the classes in 2009 said.

Ayodya Jagodaarachchi, a third year student of Moratuwa University, follows her degree in Architecture. She has an inborn streak for creativity. She was placed second in the island for her scholarship exam in 1999.

“My dancing teacher, Hemalatha, trained me to become a disciplined classical dancer. Our effort is to enthrall the audience and make them become aware of the beauty of dance,” she noted.

Sathya Garusinghe had learnt dancing from childhood. She has just finished her A/Ls and is getting ready for her law entrance exam.

“My teacher’s work has inspired me a lot. I always look for means on how to help others and this gives me a chance to do my bit,” said the youngest member of the troupe.

Sandagomi Talagala was Hemalatha’s 100th student to perform the Bbharatha N natyam Arangetram. She staged her show in 2008. She has also completed her B.sc. degree in IT at SLIIT with a First Class. She is now a staff member of SLIIT computing. She is reading for the Masters of Business studies at Colombo University.

Pictures by Thushara Fernando