Arts

Masterly adaptation into Sinhala theatre

Macbeth the oriental ballet:

By Ranga Chandrarathne

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“Macbeth shall never vanquish’d until Great Birnam to high Dunsinane hill “-Witches.

Perhaps, it is only Ravibandu who could dissect the Shakespeare’s master piece Macbeth into episodes that would go into making an oriental ballet.

It is this quality of amalgamating of entirely Western tragedy into the tapestry of oriental ballet that would stand the test of time and would make Ravibandu’s adaptation of Macbeth into Sinhala theatre a unique and enduring piece of choreography.

Shakespeare wrote the play between 1603 and 1606, ever since its original enactment, Macbeth has been staged over and over again in diverse parts of the world and has been influenced many works of art.

In a rare show of talents, here Ravibandu employs his years of experience. In theatre and Sri Lankan traditional dance motifs similar to symbolic character of diverse traditions such Noh or Kathakali in designing a unique style for the ballet. It is oriental ballet at its best with Sri Lankan flavour and character.

However the ballet takes a modern approach both in the use of costumes which reflect contemporary social reality drawing parallel with modern war or conflict and the modern techniques of theatre. For instance the Macbeth the audience encounter is not the one in the play but a modern soldier with red shawl who is armed to the teeth with equally modern weaponry.

Lighting and visual effect have also been exploited to the maximum in order to create an eerie atmosphere throughout the ballet.

As there are no dialogues in a ballet, movements of the body has been employed as a main mode of expression against the backdrop of masterly crafted music composed and directed by Pradeep Ratnayake.

It should be mentioned here that Pradeep has also used a rhythmic cycle of 7/8 and 5/8 unlike other creations where traditionally the rhythmic cycle of 4/4 is used. Basically Pradeep has used Sri Lankan traditional instruments such as drums of Sri Lanka and the only Indian instrument used is bamboo flute.

Sitar has primarily been used in composing music score for the ballet and it would have been a challenge for Pradeep to compose a unique piece of composition for the ballet as it should not only sound Sri Lanka but also be different from previous adaptations of Macbeth.

What strikes the viewer as the story meanders through the unknown territory of insatiable lust for power is that destiny of Macbeth is the destiny of a tyrant irrespective of time, land and the nature of leadership. Though Macbeth fought hard with the fate, the fate conquered him bringing unprecedented toil on hapless population who were caught up in the fight.

The ballet draws parallels with modern warfare and depicts Macbeth as a modern soldier who is armed to the teeth with modern weaponry.

What Ravibandu wanted conveyed through his ballet is, perhaps, the universal truth that war is destructive and would ring about misery to all parties to the conflict. It is the story of a perennial struggle for power and to retain power. Any leader can get into that situation.

However, it should not be mistaken that ballet is a reenactment of Macbeth in dance. Ravibandu has derived the essence of the play and only taken characters and dramatic situations suited for a ballet. Macbeth has been chosen for the ballet considering its dramatic quality and that it can be adapted to Sri Lankan dance culture.

For music though heavily dependent on percussion instruments and entire department of strings in a Western orchestra has been used.

Themes for the music score composed by Pradeep Ratnayake have been derived from diverse sources such as Indian Ragas, folk melodies. For the choreography primarily Sri Lankan dance forms have been employed although flavours from other traditions such as Kathakali have also incorporated into it.

The costumes are also based on the traditional costumes of low country dance rituals while some characters will wear grotesque masks.

The deco is made of blend of forms that creates gloomy and mystic atmosphere of the story.

Twenty five professional dancers of Ravibandu and Samanthi dance ensemble perform diverse characters of the drama. The cast includes Ravibandu and Samanthi Vidyapathy, Ranjith Priyanga, Ajith Amasasiri and Saranga Abhayasinghe.

Ravibandu Vidyapathi is the Artistic Director of the State Dance Ensemble under the Department of Cultural Affairs Ever since its inception in 1984, Ravibandu-Samanthi ensemble earned invincible reputation of being innovative and extremely creative in its numerous endeavours. Owing to its unique style of performance and ability to exploit the subtle nuances of movements, it has been recognised as an inimitable ensemble universally.

Versatile musician from Moratuwa

by Annesley Fernando

Ivan de Silva of Moratuwa is a versatile musician who has been for many years abroad. He plays keyboards, piano, piano accordion, lead guitar, bass guitar, rhythm guitar, drums and octopod and is also a good vocalist. In Bahrain he has played for Big Bands like Impressions. Sensations Nightingales and the one and only Sri Lanka Band “SATHSARA”.

He is also a talented music teacher who teaches all the musical instruments mentioned above to both young and old. He has an experience of 40 years. He studied at St. Sebestians College, Moratuwa.

He has been a maths’s and science teacher attached to the Ministry of Education for 18 years till he went abroad.

He had performed in the TV (TNL) on many occasion with the all girl band “Esteem” and also with Sakura Flowers.

He lives opposite the Moratuwa Police Station on the Moratuwella 1st lane. He offers his services to anyone who needs it.

He is on the Tel. 2646010 and 0776210245.

Ivan is a self taught musician who learnt all these instruments all by himself during his small days (7 yrs) his sisters Piano Teacher punished her for the mistakes she makes. After the teacher goes away Ivan teaches the complete lesson to her without he being taught by the Piano Teacher. So next day she never gets any punishment.

When Ivan was doing his A/Level his classmate wanted to learn the Piano Accordion and play for a college program with Ivan’s group. So he requested Ivan to teach him. But Ivan himself didn’t know how to play it.

So both of them went to a music shop (Harmonics) in Colombo and purchased an expensive Piano Accordion. They came straight to Ivan house and left the Accordion in Ivan’s house. Before the next day Ivan mastered the Accordion and taught his friend to play it and within a month he played for the college program in the College Hall with Ivan’s group.