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| Sunday, 7 September 2003 |
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The Seniors of the Deanna School of Dancing will stage "The Temple Dancer" - based on the famous ballet, "La Bayadere" - on September 13 & 14, at the Bishop's College Auditorium, Ran Akama and Anika Amalean will take the lead female roles.
"La Bayadere", originally choreographed by the great ballet master, Marius Petipa, was first performed in St. Petersburg in 1877 according to a media release from the Deanna School. The ballet (which contains some awesome music written by Ludwig Minkus) combines a strong Romantic tradition with a rich classical superstructure that gives the dancers ample opportunities to demonstrate their technical and artistic skills. The ballet lays as much emphasis on acting as on dancing and is designed to exploit the full range of human emotions. For its storyline, the creators of "La Bayadere" leaned heavily on the Indian classics by Kalidasa, such as Sakuntala and The Cart of Clay. The ballet is set in legendary India. Nikiya (Ran Akama), a temple dancer, is having an affair with Solor (Nishan Peiris), a noble warrior. However, the Rajah (Michael Philip), who is unaware that Solor has a lover, wants him to marry his daughter, Gamzatti (Anika Amalean). When Solor meets Gamzatti, he forgets all about Nikiya and promptly accepts the marriage proposal. The Rajah is delighted and sets about organizing his daughter's wedding on a grand scale. Later, the Brahmin (Seneka Abeyratne), who is also in love with Nikiya, visits the Rajah and informs him that Solor has two lovers. The Rajah is enraged and decides to have the Bayadere (Nikiya) killed. Gamzatti has a secret meeting with Nikiya and tries to persuade her to give up Solor, but Nikiya refuses and tries to attack her with a knife. In retaliation, the princess also decides to have the Bayadere killed. The big day arrives; the wedding celebrations are in progress; Nikiya, who has been summoned by the Royal family, performs a beautiful dance, unaware that she is about to become the victim of a diabolical murder plot. With its lavish costumes, soul-stirring music, and splendid choreography, "The Temple Dancer" is certain to keep the audience entertained from beginning to end. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
Students
playing key supporting roles include Ayumi Ratnakumara, Nalakini
Wickremasinghe, Mayuri Munasinghe, Sumaya Ramanayake and Natasha
Jayasuriya - Deanna's younger daughter, who currently resides in London
and is an experienced classical and jazz dancer. The male dancers include
Nishan Peiris, Mohan Sudusinghe and Keith de Silva.
