Shaap Mochan

Performances of Prabhu Amar Priyo Amar, a combination of Manipuri and Kathak dance forms, organised by Indian Cultural Centre, Colombo will be held in Colombo, Galle, Kandy and Jaffna from November 22 -28. The Colombo performance will take place at 6.30 p.m. at the Bishop’s College Auditorium, Perahera Mw., Colombo 3 on Tuesday, November 22.

A Tricentenary Journey

The Chamber Music Society of Colombo under Artistic Director Lakshman Joseph de Saram will present A Tricentenary Journey, on Sunday November 13 at 7:30pm, at the Sri Lanka Foundation Auditorium, off Independence Avenue, Colombo 7. The concert is sponsored by Concerts Norway. The Implementing Partner is the Sewalanka Foundation, Colombo.

As the name suggests the concert will include offbeat repertoire and rarities spanning three centuries, while exploring repertoire mainly from around Europe. The journey begins in Troldhaugen, Norway in 1880, with Grieg’s Elegiac Melodies, containing some of his most profound, moving music for string orchestra. From there we head to Wiesbaden, Germany in 1891, for Reger’s “Dream of Love”, a beautifully sustained romantic miniature.

That same year, Kalinnikov’s sonorous student Serenade takes us to Tsarist Moscow. Bartok’s Six Romanian dances are next, each under a minute in duration, taking us deep into Eastern Europe around 1917. A patriotic little Finnish masterpiece, Sibelius’ Andante Festivo from 1922 follows. Rolf-Erik Nystrom from Norway is the soloist in Glazunov’s 1934 Saxophone Concerto, written by the Russian composer in Paris. Next we survey the destruction of 1945 Warsaw in five very Polish melodies by Lutoslawski. Nystrom performs his own work which changes for each performance, “Concept of Sorrows & Dangers”, for solo saxophone. Stephen Allen, our American composer in residence completes the program with “Of Blood and Honey”, a work for solo saxophone, strings and percussion composed for the Society earlier this year, which will receive its world premiere performance.

Jeet Kune Do Martial Art Workshop

Jeet Kune Do Workshop to commemorate the 71st birth anniversary of JKD founder Bruce Lee will be conducted by Mark Stewart from USA on November 10, 12 and 13 at Ananda College, Colombo 10.

Sifu Mark Stewart will conduct a Jeet Kune Do Workshop (JKD) in Sri Lanka on November 10 at Ananda College, Colombo 10. This first open workshop by Sifu Mark from USA is organized by “International Jeet Kune Do Federation Sri Lanka”, which is the Sri Lanka unit of International Jeet Kune Do (IJKD).

(Further info: ijkdfsl.com and ijkd.com). On November 12 and 13 the workshop will be for IJKD members.
 

Henry Jayasena remembered on second death anniversary :

Theatre was his forte

by Nimal JAYASINGHE

Two years have passed since his departure to the land of no return. His final curtain call.

Usually with the lapse of time,we tend to forget those who have departed for good.

But how can one forget a person of the calibre of Henry Jayasena,who had contributed immensely to the uplifment of Sinhala theatre in this country.

Having started his career as an English assistant at a remote school in Padiyapelella,he staged his first drama Janaki (based on the epic Ramayana) to help the needy children of the school to buy their stationery.

Premchand Fellowship of India for Sri Lankan writer

Poet and author Sumathy Sivamohan has been awarded the prestigious Premchand Fellowship 2011 by the National Academy of letters, India (Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, India).

Sahitya Akademi has instituted the Fellowship in the name of the great Indian writer on the occasion of 125th birth anniversary to be annually offered to persons of eminence in the field of culture and literature from SAARC countries. The period of Fellowship is 3 months and the recipient will be the guest of Sahitya Akademi during the period.

Sahitya Akademi decided to offer its Premchand Fellowship to Prof. Sumathy Sivamohan in view of her eminence in the field of literature and culture. Prof. Sumathy Sivamohan holds a Doctorate from the Washington State University, USA. Her research and academic involvement includes publications and conference presentations on postcolonial literature and theory, women’s movements in Sri Lanka, Performing Arts (theatre and film). She has authored Thin Veils: In the Shadow of the Gun & Wicked Witch Performing Act/ivism (2003), Militants, Militarism and the Crisis of (Tamil) Nationalism. Monograph, Marga (2003), like Myth and Mother: a Political Autobiography in Poetry and Prose. Colombo, Sirahununi (2008).

She has also translated books such as A Tale of Three Cities by Kalamogan from Tamil to English. She was a member of the Drama Panel of the Arts Council of Sri Lanka and the Member of Performing Arts Society in Sri Lanka. She has also engaged herself in films such as Oranges (2006) and Piralayam (2005). She has published poetry in numerous Sri Lankan and international journals.