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| Sunday, 31 July 2005 |
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Ciceronianus dancer from Sri Lanka by Indeewara Thilakarathne and Ranga Chandrarathne
The singular contribution of Chitrasena to the existing traditional dance forms, at a time we were losing our social relevance to rites and ritual, was to give them life and vitality and infuse modern theatrical techniques into them to make them relevant in the modern context. He will also be remembered as the maestro who introduced the ballet form of dancing into Sinhala theatre. The best known among his ballets are Karadiya (Salt water) and Nala Damayanti, a ballet based on a poignant love story from the Indian legend Mahabharatha. Karadiya, is a story woven around a love affair between a fisherman and a girl in a typical Sri Lankan fishing village where the villagers are under the influence of the elements of nature and the economic hegemony of the Mudalali, the powerful businessman to whom the catch is sold. Mudalali exercises his feudal will over the girl, resulting in a social unrest in the village and causing a tragedy of the lovers. Born as a son of a Shakespearian actor, Chitrasena had dancing in his veins. After meticulous studying of diverse dancing traditions and training under the great teachers of all the ancient traditions, he mastered every existing traditional dance form to transform traditional rhythmic movements into modern theatre performances. Nirtrhanjali (Dance offering) which was produced in 1967, a fast moving spectacle of people's rhythms, was one of the most important works of this attempt. This is a unique piece of art where Chitrasena showed his artistic genius in exploiting to the maximum, the art of presentation transforming the dance form into subtle dazzling gems of theatre while preserving their intrinsic folk quality. It was also one of the occasions where Chitrasena's superb theatre sense was demonstrated. Behind his gigantic stature and artistic genius, was a man generous and amusing who no one would get bored listening to. Even at the late age of 85 he enjoyed a healthy life and even drove his car. Visitors and close friends, who attended the party the maestro hosted a few days before his death, observed that he was full of verve. Chitrasena was an artistic ambassador who brought honour to the country of birth and marked it on the world map. He received many awards from various countries for his artistic genius. France, in recognition of his unique contribution to the Sri Lankan theatre, made a special presentation to him at his home. One of the illustrious students who studied dancing under the tutelage of the maestro, was President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. Once Chitrasena had to wait for about one hour at the Presidential Secretariat to meet the President. Clifford Ratwatte phoned the President and said that Chitrasena was waiting for her. On hearing this, the President who was in the midst of an important conference rushed to him cancelling the meeting, and to the amazement of the onlookers, fell down before the maestro and said, "you remind me of the dance lessons and I felt like dancing". Maestro Chitrasena was a man of principles who never compromised on his stand. He refused to get on to the political platforms. At the time, he lives in a spacious house on Galle Road, near Kollupitiya junction, which was haven for many artists including Amaradeva, Sunil Santha and Ananda Samarakoon, the composer of the national anthem. Chitrasena had lived and danced for almost half a century when the UNP regime of the time ordered him to quit the premises because a film magnate wanted to buy it for a commercial purpose. Chitrasena was given 48 hours to get out and when he delayed to do so, his brand new Opel Kapitan wagon that he had bought with the proceeds of a highly successful dance tour in Germany was set on fire. Friends advised Chitrasena to leave before his life too would be in danger. The house was the local Shanti Nikhetana where several artist lodged and rituals extolling the god was almost a daily occurrence. Chitrasena will be remembered for his Ciceronian dancing that dominated the dancing scene in the golden era of the revival of arts in the country. The greatest tribute that one can pay to the maestro is to help preserve
the form of art that he dedicated his life to. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
With the demise of Chitrasena, Sri Lanka's most acclaimed dancer of our
times, Sri Lanka marks the end of an epoch in the arena of performing arts.