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| Sunday, 17 August 2003 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Power of dance by Farah Macan Markar
A fusion of dance from east and west, with a novel touch, "Narthanaye Vismaye-Power of Dance" presented by Arpeggio Dance Academy will be held at the Tower Theatre, Maradana on August 24 Choreographed by Academy Director Nilan Maligaspe, the show will see creations of "Rhythm" and "Movement", from the Jungles of Africa to the Deserts of Arabia, Rock n Roll, "Veddha" Dance, Ballroom, Modern Ballet, "Udarata and Pahatha rata" dances. "I have given dance a modern touch. What you see on stage will not be the typical dance show you'd expect, but a whole new world music and non verbal drama," says Nilan speaking passionately of his show, which will have 16 items, three of which will be his own solos, a Jackson style "Remember the time", a Tamil dance and a Modern Ballet. A language which is universal and expressive of human emotions, to the core, "Power of Dance" is an expression of love, hate, jealousy, betrayal, hurt, rage, control and power. With every movement telling a story Nilan says a lot of planning, practice and hard work goes behind it. Doing the set and costume designing, getting the lighting and music right, says Nilan. "In a live dance show, with so many quick changes, coordinating everything is not easy, but I do a different pieces of artwork for each dance, to make it all the more interesting. I don't believe in doing a cheap production which destroys the beauty of the art. It is important when doing something artistic, to give it the best in all aspects".
A disco dancer at the age of ten, to music video's he'd get home, for Nilan dancing is something in his blood, nurtured with a lot of "practice". Knowing the difficulty he had in getting through with it, Nilan wanted to pass the art on, through being a teacher. In 1992 he experimented in it, with four students, little dreaming it would be the Academy it is today with over 40 students. Dance, revolving around music, he named his Academy "Arpeggio". An actor in drama and tele drama, winner of the 1998 Modern Ballet Award, Nilan feels it is time society accepted out-of-the-country-dance, as an art, equally skilful as local dance. "This is another reason for my show. I want to dispel the prejudices society has built against foreign dances. To value our own dances does not mean discriminating against others. Dancing is an art of which there is much to learn, each country having many different forms of it. It is essential to keep an open mind, cause otherwise there would be no progress in it," says Nilan. ###### God Visvakarma dominates Tissa Ranasinghe bronze exhibition
The name Visvakarma means omnificient. He is regarded as the divine artificer and creator of the universe in Hindu Mythology. He is also the architect of the gods. Visvakarma built the heavens of all the gods and their palaces as well, including Ravana's Lanka. Visvakarma taught architecture to men. The title is of any strong god. He also produced animals and weapons, Shiva's trident being one of the latter. (From Hindu Mythology by Veronica Ions) by Karel Roberts Ratnaweera Dominating Tissa Ranasinghe's exhibition of bronzes at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery is the cast of the God Vishvakarma-appropriately-because this unique being is the ancestor of all craftspeople which includes all those who work with precious metals. The exhibition had its preview on Thursday at which the Chief Guest was Christopher Weeramantry,Judge, and distinguished former Vice President of the International Court of Justice, The Hague.The exhibition was open to the public from Friday, August 15th and will continue till the 24th from 10.a.m.to 7 p.m. daily. Tissa Ranasinghe needs absolutely no introduction to those who are conversant with art and sculpture in this country, except perhaps to today's generation who know very little about who is who in these fields. His name as an artist has commanded respect ever since he first came into the limelight wayback in the fifties as a painter. Since then, he has been in and out of the country and from 1954 to '58 studied at Britain's prestigious Chelsea School of Art, and later at Britain's Royal College of Sculpture. As this writer waited in the Wendt Art Gallery for the sculptor to arrive the day before the formal opening of his exhibition, with artist Noeline Fernando for company the Viswakarma sculpture seemed remarkably to grow in stature. Weighing in' at approximately 300 pounds, it has five faces, representing his five sons, the eldest of whom was a blacksmith, and ten hands. The sculptor explained that he did not want to outwardly extend the five pairs of hands as in Indian sculptures of the deity-who is not really a deity in the conventional sense in that he is not worshipped- but instead has 'moulded' them close to the body. In a tribute to women craftspeople-the famous British Civil Servant who served in colonial Ceylon, H. W. Codrington, in a Paper presented at the Royal Asiatic Society several decades ago,recorded that a woman had come forward and made the king's regalia-Tissa Ranasinghe has created Visvakarma's left hand as a woman's hand complete with jewellery, and is of highly polished bronze. In the eyes of the beholder, the bronze could even be a soldier from the 'US 33rd,' a crusader from the Middle Ages or an astronaut; he wears a helmet which covers half his face and this too is of polished bronze. It took the sculptor several months to cast and must surely be one of Tissa Ranasinghe's monumental works. There are several other arresting bronzes on view, of which some of Gotama Buddha are outstanding. Among others are Triple trident, Peacock and Rider, also with polished bronze blending in with the natural green patina, Ganesh, Lord of the Mouse and so on. People were coming into the gallery and having to be told that the exhibition would only open the next day; one man said he was an Indian art collector who was disappointed at not being able to buy anything on the spot. However,he would come to the exhibition. In answer to my question is there a booming art market in Sri Lanka, tissa answered in the negative. He said that a work of art is a luxury. The art market has not got off the ground in Sri Lanka, he said. He said that young people must experiment if they were to be artists and that art must move on if it is to gain anything. Tissa Ranasinghe also said that during the month of Vesak, the whole country becomes an art gallery with the pandals and light sculptures and 'the wonderful works of art' that mark that time of year. ###### Sulang Kirilli : Unmasking Sri Lankan hypocrisy by Vimukthi Fernando "I do not have the right to my child's life. I do not even have the right to my own life. It is the law that determines our fate. And, it is the law, which deems my child illegitimate, just because a space in a certificate is kept blank.
That is what Sulang Kirilli (The Wind Bird) the latest film in the Sinhala cinema talks about. "While the civil society decries illegitimate, and the criminal law prohibits abortion, an unmarried woman caught in this dilemma cries the last plea for her unborn child" says, an introduction to the film. The maiden attempt of Director/Producer Inoka Satyanganie Keerthinanda, Sulang Kirilli is not only the portrayal of the life of one unmarried woman's struggle with unwanted pregnancy and its consequences. It is the voice of hundreds of unmarried women who risk their lives at the hands of quack doctors, to save their face, to rid of the consequences of the 'sin' or the 'crime' they had indulged in. A sexual relationship. An extremely sensitive and a disciplined interpretation of the life of two categories of Sri Lankan youth, most susceptible and misunderstood - the garment factory workers and soldiers in the armed forces, Sulang Kirilli is an unmasking of the hypocrisy of the Sri Lankan society. Sulang Kirilli focuses on the life of Rathi (Damitha Abeyratne) a village damsel employed as a garment factory worker in the free trade zone. Opening with a scene where she learns that she is pregnant by Shantha (Linton Semage) her lover, a soldier whom she knows very little about, it depicts the calamity in her mind in the next few minutes. The director takes the audience through the gamut of challenges, adversities that await Rathie in her new found situation, as well as her dreams and hopes for the future. A lone woman in her time of need, Rathie makes the audience realize the bitter truths about the ignorance of sex education among Sri Lankan youth, as well as the contrasting values in Sri Lanka's social and legal systems. Though surrounded by gloom and doom, caught between giving birth to a child who would be stigmatized for life and carrying out an illegal abortion Rathie stands determined and strong, for her own self and that of her child. Inoka Satyanganie should be given due praise for her maiden attempt. Her strong screenplay takes its dialogue to a level - binding the audience involvement. The play between the light and shade and the sound track enhances the mood of the film. The colours used, earthy and simple, depict the mundane quality of the lives of the people it talks about. The cinematographer and the director have been very successful in using symbolism and obtaining from glamour, colour, song and dance. These qualities heighten the reality and seriousness of the theme. Running on two plains, reality and fantasy, Sulang Kirilli could be noted a call for Sri Lankan society to face its reality. ###### Re-creating the music of the woods by Jayanthi Liyanage
Poet W.H. Davies wrote that water swamps and thickets wild, called "Nature's Slums", were to him more than courts where fountains played. He rejoiced, "For I could sit down here alone, and count the oak-trees one by one." Which is exactly what Karunasiri Wijesinghe does. And has done for the last 19 years since having acquired an education on aesthetic studies. "I go to a forest and sit for hours, looking at trees," says Karunasiri. "I hear the wind, the rustle of the leaves, the singing of water and the chirp of birds - it creates music in my mind. This music is what I reconstruct in my drawings."
The exhibition ,"Tree Life", by Karunasiri Wijesinghe opened to the public yesterday and goes on till 31 August at VAFA Gallery, Sarvodaya Centre, Kotte Road, Ethul Kotte. ###### Sonduru Dadabima : A pleasurable hunt Anura Horatious, the versatile journalist author of 'Gini avi-gini keli' which Udayakantha Warnasooriya made into a very successful film, has ventured into new territory with his film Sonduru Dadabima (A pleasurable hunt) which portrays the realities of a corrupt society under cover of beauty and quietness.
Anura found inspiration to direct the film when he saw how his book was made into a successful film by director Udayakantha Warnasooriya. Anura joined the Sinhala daily 'Divaina' in 1982 and his forte was exposing vice rampant in society. He is presently attached to the 'Lakbima' editorial. He has authored an English book titled 'Political Murders in Sri Lanka'. He told Sunday Observer that he got the idea of doing a film, when he understood the growing need for films which could be viewed together as a family. "People are looking for good films. They wanted to go back to the cinema halls as a 'family' and enjoy the time forgetting their worries for a while. They are not crazy or fool-hardy to enter a film hall to view low grade films", he said. Sonduru Dadabima produced by Saman Samarawickrame tries to expose the severe crisis of civil society in the face of unethical practices of the law enforcement forces with the backing of the politicians. "The unexpected assassination of one of the best and the top ranking army officers was the culminating point and it exposed the alleged politicisation of the forces and how they operate to make political advantage of the incident. What I wanted to do was to raise their consciousness, so that they would cry out into the open instead of continue to suffer", he said. Another important aspect of the film is the role played by the journalist. It is a fashion today to say that journalists could be bought and the film portrays a journalist who refuses to succumb to the demands of the mighty who make attempts to 'buy' him. Anura said that he was of the view that he had directed a film that a family could view together without embarrassment. "There is no sex at all", he added. The story, dialogue and script are by Anura and music is by maestro Premasiri Khemadasa. Cast include Tony Ranasinghe, Rex Kodippily, Mahendra Perera, Wilson Karunaratne, G.R. Perera and Srinath Maddumage. WIRUMA ###### 'Battleship Bismark' on Rupavahini James Cameron's 'Battleship Bismark' his second epic production after 'Titanic' will be telecast on Rupavahini on Sunday August 17 at 9.50 p.m. 'Bismark' the battleship was built and set on sail by Hitler during the 2nd World War with the intended purpose of sinking British trade ships plying the North Atlantic waters. But unfortunately for Hitler the Allied Forces sank the mighty Bismark on May 27, 1942. Now 60 years after the sinking of Bismark, James Cameron has made alive the history associated with the warship. James Cameron used the ship Cavendish to reach the exact location of the Bismark in the North Atlantic Ocean, and coincidentally the Cavendish was the ship that took him to survey the location where the Titanic sank. |
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If the very same law which prohibits me to take my life labels my child
an outcaste and maims him for life, what is the use of that law?"
questions Rathie (Ratnawali) from her friend Vijitha. A women's counsellor
had just told her that both abortion and suicide are against the law. In a
society that deems unmarried mothers and their children 'outcastes' or
'sinners' what other options could await an unmarried woman who had just
found out that she is pregnant?
"Karu is one of the two specialised artistes on tree life that we
have," says Chandragupta Thenuwara, Director of Vibhavi Academy of
Fine Arts where Karunasiri initiates novice artistes in the art of
appreciating forests and reconstructing them. "The other is Lucky
Senanayake. Karu's speciality is his manoeuvre of fine lines, space and
shapes of tree life. Instead of replicating woods, he often tries to
reconstruct woods by adding one more leaf, trunk or branch."
Karunasiri goes everywhere, from Raja Rata to Ruhunu Rata, from the rural
to the urban parks, and sees the hidden nooks and crannies hiding the
minuscule marvels of nature. Sinha Raja forest is a favourite haunt of
his.
The sole producer of his drawings is a felt pen, by the aid of which he
construct different tones, shades and shadows of gnarls, flutes,
buttresses and furrows of the trunks and creepers his fascinated eye rests
on. "Drawing trees give me a spiritual fulfilment," says
Karunasiri, somewhat expressing dissatisfaction with all the drawings he
has done so far, in his relentless search to capture all the unseen
nuances of tree life, hidden in rock crevices, night fall and moon shine
permeating through patterns wrought by night shadows. "Then, I can
elicit its meaning and present it in a less complicated and specialised
drawing."
