 Rangika – Rangana dance up a storm!
by Ruwini Jayawardana
 Renowned American dancer and
choreographer Martha Graham once stated that dance is the hidden
language of the soul. It is a well-known fact that dancers are not great
because of their talent, they are great because of their passion. For
choreographer Rangika Jeewantha Vidanage dance is not a mere profession,
it is life’s passion.
Rangika will be engaging in this venture together with his dancer
twin brother, Rangana. The two were the first twin brothers in the
country to establish an institute for professional dancing named Rivega
Dance Studio.
 They also created history as the first twins to attain the level of
Ves, the highest standards of Kandyan dancing. Excelling in the field of
dance Rangika had taken the country’s rich dance tradition to the global
arena. He had taken part in a number of international competitions such
as the Ninth Asia Pacific Dance Competition in Singapore in 2007 and
went to win 14 awards at the annual ‘Dance Drama’ contest organized by
the Cultural Affairs Ministry.
“This is our first performance after four years at the University of
Visual and Performing Arts. As a dancer I strongly believe that we need
to explore new streams of dance techniques. This would be done with
skill as I do not believe in changing the identity of our traditional
dance forms,” said Rangika. Rangana added his views with, “Dance can
bring people together while promoting friendship and understanding.
Though many countries in the Asian zone have been successful in
finding means to combine dance styles to enrich their traditional dance
forms Sri Lanka has fallen behind on this prospect due to lack of
research and resources.” The show will be staged on May 6 at the Lionel
Wendt together with the Nelung Arts Centre (NAC), Nadika Weligodapole,
Nipuni Wijeysinghe and Sachinthe de Silva. |
