Ravibandu's highly evolved language of movements:

Reflections on Nirmana - mesmerizing facade of genuine art

by Ranga Chandrarathne

Nirmana, a collection of exceptionally poignant verse staged at Lionel Wendt theatre, is perhaps one of the rare encounters of fusion dance in Sri Lankan theatre. Ravi bandu Vidyapathy's forte is his innate ability to forge diverse traditions into a tapestry of poems of movements.

'Two loves I have of comfort and despair.
Which like two spirits do suggest me still.
The better angle is a man right and fair.
The worser a woman coloured ill' - Shakespeare.

He uses a complex but highly evolved language of movements and rhythms to choreograph seemingly impossible and equally diverse subjects. Subject matter for most of his creations was drawn from diverse dancing traditions and on some instances, Shakespearean sonnets.

It is, indeed, a complex business to choreograph Shakespearean sonnets in their entirety. However, Ravibandu has derived a crust of them and translated them into a series of intrinsically interlaced movements with characters symbolising diverse aspects of the original work.

Nirmana commences with the item derived from the Shakespearean sonnet 'Two loves I have of comfort and despair' which Ravibandu came across in the biography of British dramatist Kenneth Mcmillan.

Mcmillan had produced a dance item on the theme 'love' for a Shakespeare anniversary. Mcmillan derived the idea for his ingenious theme from Shakespeare's works including sonnets.

Having taken the essence of the work, Ravibandu created a piece of dance with their characters; A fair one, symbolises by a man and the foul one symbolises by woman. The choreographed piece depicts a woman who plays cello, symbolising the foul woman and the violin, symbolising the fair man. Johan Sebastian Bach's Airs on a G String is played as the background music of the piece.

For this particular piece, Ravibandu has used the novel interpretation of the Bach's piece by Yo Yo Ma and singer Bobby Mc Ferrin. Though almost all the items of Nirmana were drawn from different poems, the themes are mere excuses in creating 'aesthetically satisfying' choreographic pieces for the proscenium stage.

'On the verge of death one revisits the joyful moments of lifetime.

One's eyes are open wide-gazing into the palm, seeing death, life, joy and sorrow With a sense of tranquillity.

This daily studying of the soul, is this the beginning of the journey? -'Kazuo Ohno'. The second item which is entirely different to the first is 'The Message to the Universe inspired by the International Dance Day Message by Kazuo Ohno'. 'Kazuo Ohno' is a legendary Japanese Butho dancer.

Butho tradition of dance is an anti-war dance tradition created in the aftermath of Hiroshima Nagasaki bombing. Butho reflects pangs and anxieties of the victim of war in bizarre acts depicting extremes, either with absolutely slow movements or extremely fast movements on the stage.

Ravibandu's piece is based on a poem by Kazuo Ohno for the International Dance Day held in 2002. The poem is on the them of 'love' 'death' and 'nature'. Choreographed piece contains three characters depicting central ideas of the poem.

In the background on the wide screen runs Vimukthi Jayasundera's series of visuals while the action takes place on white carpet which virtually confines movements to the carpet.

The visuals and the music that run along with the movements serves as a contrast to the movements on the stage while the white carpet provides a special lighting effect with its whiting glow. On another plan white carpet suggests the idea of confinement in the larger tapestry of life.

'These mothers of three different areas, societies and cultures
Yet experienced the same plight'
Lost their sons in the war.

The third item is 'Hecube, Gandhari and Kusumalatha', a ballet to portray repercussions of war through three mothers belonging to three areas. Though the three mothers live in different lands and belonging to different cultures, they have experienced the same pangs and repercussions of war which deprived them of their sons. These feelings are eternal and universal those transcend the synthetic barriers of time, region, culture, religion and class.

Hecube is lamenting over the destruction of Troy and wants to avenge those who destroyed the city.

Gandhari knowing well that her hundred sons died in the war shows total apathy while Kusumalatha is waiting for her sons who went to battle, to return. The three characters also represent different reactions to the war. While the three characters perform on the stage, a large number of people walk across the stage, signifying that despite war, the world will move on with its mundane affairs.

The back ground music for this piece is from a rehearsal piece by Finish composer..

Thana Mana(Mind Quartet)

'Is mind a prisoner of the body' Or body a prisoner of psyche.'

Another important item is Thana Mana (Mind and Body) which is a dance by four girls. The four girls depict different states of mind and different moods. The poem that goes with the dance was composed by Manubandu Vidyapathy. In the poem, a question is raised 'is mind a prisoner of body or body is a prisoner of the mind'

Judas

'The man who committed, the worst betrayal On earth,
Betrayed his teacher (Jesus)
Repented his deeds, suffered and
Committed suicide.
But he was used ?..

Judas' piece reflects upon last moments of Judas' mind before he being committed suicide with a deep feeling of guilt and repentance.

Here the choreographer has rendered a novel interpretation to the story that the priests who persuaded Judas to betray Jesus had also gave him a dagger along with thirty shillings. This has been deliberately included in order to bring about a brutal end to Judas.

That is to die in great suffering.
What movements say....
'What movements say they do not knew themselves.
They gather, they disperse,
Appear, re-appear and disappear.
Some repeat themselves for survival.
Together they construct a dance! - A poem by an eight year old dance student about movement.

The last item of Nirmana is derived from a poem by eight year old boy for the International Dance Day. Here what strikes home is that individuals on the stage of the world do not aware of what their roles are and how long they will play their allotted roles!

Although it is a colourful choreograph and simple in diction, it has a deep meaning and the colourful choreograph ensured a colourful end to Nirmana.

Perhaps, strongest feature of the programme was the Ravibandu's complex but highly evolved language of movements and the matching background music which complements the dance on stage.

It is, indeed, a rare occasion that Sri Lankan audience could witness poems of movements. Nirmana is marked by its highly evolved language and rich blend of diverse traditions and a fusion which perhaps is Sri Lankans' maiden experience.

These original pieces of art are glistening trinkets amidst amber of cheap fantasies in the 'dark unfathomed mine'.

In this cultural desert where press-releases are being reproduced with notes of appreciation and the situation has boiled down to the level of master imitators of cheap fantasies requesting reviewers to write on undeserving merits of their equally cheap work.

The purpose of this engineered publicity is to cheat and mislead the audience. It is noteworthy that Lionel Wendt theatre was packed with a deserving audience for 'Nirmana'.

This reminds me of the packed audience at Bishop's College Auditorium to watch 'Kumbi Kathawa', another master piece in Sri Lankan theatre which was a result of five years practice and hard work. It is the ballet with costume marvels which went in to depict minute characters in the contemporary Sri Lankan theatre.

This is even without parking facilities and at a time, transport was at very low ebb. The audience which patiently watched Nirmana from 7.00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m. vindicated that Sri Lanka still has an audience for value-based work of art.

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Concert

The Kandy Music Society presents a performance by the celebrated artiste/director Ravibandu Vidyapathy and his troupe to the music and dance loving public of Kandy.

The programme will include traditional dance and drumming and fusion works in Ravibandu's characteristically creative style. Included are a setting of a Shakespeare sonnet choreographed to music by Bach and another setting of a poem to music by Ravi Shankar. This programme will also include a lecture demonstration on Sri Lankan drums.

We hope to present this concert on October 28, at Girls' High School Hall, Kandy at 6.30 p.m.

The Kandy Music Society is a non-profit organization devoted to bringing the best of Eastern and Western music and dance to the music lovers and students of Kandy. Several of its programmes are presented as a service to students, such as the annual School Choirs Festival, or the annual Young Performers' Concert.