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| Sunday, 13 October 2002 |
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Full of the joy of life Danielle Violi was happy to be in Sri Lanka with her three dancers to experience the lifestyle of Sri Lankans which she had absolutely no inkling about. This was her first visit to the East and when we met up, she said she was eager to be back again to rapport with the many friends she made here. The foursome from Melbourne calling themselves the Australian Entertainers were performing at the Taj Samudra in connection with the successful Australian Food Promotion that was held during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket season. Their dance acts were extremely entertaining complete with colourful, costume changes and pleasing choreography. The highpoint of their presentations was the catchy Moulin Rouge routine which was a rage globally. "We had to shorten the routine because of stage limitations" says Danielle, "but the costumes stayed close to the original. How did the foursome get together for regular performance? Actually it was by word of mouth" reveals Danielle. "My sister Louise was interested in dancing. Tanya Sayars and I, we have had formal training in ballet at the National Theatre Ballet School in Melbourne, and Hayley Fischer the 'baby' of the team was keen and enthusiastic. We rehearsed under the strict eye of choreographer Jody Davis Smith for a period of six months before we launched out on professional gigs. We now perform regularly on Saturday nights at the Dragon Fly restaurant in Melbourne. There's stiff competition in the dance field, we work with an agent, but to get to places, I guess you need to know the right people at the right time." Danielle is a personal assistant in a finance company, her sister Louise is a personal assistant in a law firm while Tanya is a dance teacher of modern jazz ballet and hopes to establish her own studio one day. At the Taj the Entertainers performed two sets - one at the food promotion venue and the other at the Mix. Their colourful sensuous dances included mostly Latin American routines, the Can Can and of course the Moulin Rouge, which lasted for about one hour each set. In Melbourne they have seven dancers, including two singers and call themselves Latino Viva. They perform at many corporate functions. They've been trained to do their own make-up and the different costumes that adorn their svelte figures are from Jodi Davis Smith's studio. "Sri Lankan audiences are laid back in appreciation unlike the Melbourne audiences who clap loud and enthusiastically no sooner we come on to the floor" comments Danielle "however its an experience for us, we know they liked our performances!" The foursome had their fair share of sight seeming including Kandy, Pinnawela and Mount Lavinia and more than a fair share of shopping sprees! Danielle is a collector of hand bags and she confessed that she will be going back with fashionable hand bags she couldn't resist from purchasing in Sri Lanka. |
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