Kalaeliya maiden dance show at BMICH today:

Dancers in the making

Sri Lanka with its proud history of more than 2,500 years has three distinct indigenous dance forms peculiar to their geographical location. Known to have originated through benedictory ritual, they are identified as 'Kandyan', 'Low country' and 'Sabaragamuwa' dance forms each with its own traditional characteristics.

The art of the Kandyan dance is wholly based on the healing ritual of "Kohomba Kankariya". Tradition has it that the benedictory ritual was performed to exorcize evil influences. Sixty-four ornaments for the dress of the Kandyan dancer. The drums used for Kandyan Dance are known as the "Udarata Beraya" or "Geta Beraya".

'Kalaeliya 2009' of eleven budding young Kandyan dancers of Visha School of Dance, Dehiwela will dance their way into hearts of the audience as they enthral them with their maiden public performance to be held at the BMICH today from 6 p.m. onwards. Chief guest will be Foreign Minister, Rohitha Bogollagama at this special occasion along with 11 other special guests and the participation of other popular artistes.

Visha de Silva needs no introductions to dancing, having danced since she was 11 years, dancing at the feet of Chitrasena and Vajira.

Vimanthi

Dinithi

Shehani

Harshani

Thilini

Vimanthi

Minidi

Thisari

Hiruni

Methsala

As a student of theirs, Visha has been able to understand the finer points of dance and its rituals; she is also able to combine the essence of a traditional heritage with body movement and style that today's fast paced world commands. She specialised in the direction and production of children's ballet and several of them were highly appreciated by the audiences in Sri Lanka. She started her own school of dance and ballet "The Visha School of Dance" in 1984, she has gained the experience in touring number of countries and representing Sri Lanka at many international dance festivals. Visha de Silva is attached to Wycherlly International School. All eleven dancers who participate in the Kalaeliya 2009 are from Musaeus College, Colombo 7. They are:

D. M. Vimanthi Surani Chandima (18) kept her first step of dancing under the guidance of Daya Nellampitiya and presently keeps it developing under the guidance of Visha de Silva. She was a member of the Musaeus College senior eastern band and also participated in 'Miyesi Wasanthaya', `Swetha' and `Thriveni' and took part in the SAG opening ceremony and UN Celebrations held in Colombo in 2006.

Apart from the dancing, she has completed her music level up to "Prathama" and is learning to play the violin.

Minidi Amaya Gamalath (18) started studying dancing since she was as 5 years old and joined Visha School of Dance at the age of 11 years. She took part in the Triveni Concerts, which are being conducted by Visha de Silva. At school, she was a member of both primary and the senior eastern bands. Minidi has acted the main role in school stage dramas. She has also taken part in cultural events at the UN celebrations.

Sasrika Chandrasiri (18) has been involved in dancing activities from her childhood and was also blessed with the opportunity to show her talents as a member of the Eastern band and the dancing troupe of Musaeus College for four years. Sasrika was a member of the dancing troupe which participated in the concert organised by Ryan International School of India.

Shehani de Alwis Dissanayake (18) has been an active student in the school since the nursery stage. `Singithi Sulang' was her first dancing appearance. In 2009, she participated in the All Island Dancing Competition.

Ruwani Maheshika Karunaratne (18) had a passion for dancing from her little age. She learnt the ABC of dancing from Daya Nellampitiya and was a member of "Sama Ranga" dance troupe and represented the school at international folklore festival in Switzerland and Hungary in 2004. In 2007 she became the assistant band leader and later the band leader.

Hiruni Gajanayake (18) was interested in dancing, especially Kandyan from her younger days. She participated in Bharatha Natyam under Mrs. Padmini Dahanayake. Hiruni has participated in the International Dancing Festival held in Andong, Korea. She has participated in many dancing concerts such as "Swetha", "Miyesi Wasanthaya" and "Thriveni" which were organised by the school.

Thilini Navaratne (18) started Kandyan dancing at the age of five and represented Sri Lanka at the 6th International Children's Festival of Performing Arts in 2005 in India and Inter-religious Peace Sports Festival in Korea. She did ballet at the Dean School of Dance and sat for examinations held by the Royal Academy of Dance.

Thisari Panawala (19) started dancing in 1996, and was fortunate enough to learn the first step from Piyasara Silpadipathi and Kanthi. She joined the Visha de Silva School in 2004. She participated in the annual school events as a dancer and a traditional drum player. In 2005 Thisari represented the school as a traditional dancer at the Inter Religious Peace Cultural Festival in South Korea.

Dinithi Doranegoda (18) studied dancing and drama as subjects for her A\Ls. She started learning Bharatha Natyam from Subhashini Pathmanathan and performed her Arangetram in 2007. She was awarded the Bharatha Natyam Diploma. She was the supporting star in `Joanne' of the 'Dangamalla' teledrama.

Dinithi also won the titles of Best Actress in 2003, Best Performance and Best Supporting Actress in 2005 at the School's Drama Competition.

Ruwani

Sasrika

Methsala Wijesuriya (18), a second year undergraduate at the Faculty of Applied Science of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura performed a dance at Navarangahala. While at school, she won special prizes for oriental dancing in 1998 and 2001. She had the opportunity to represent Sri Lanka at the 6th and 8th International Children's Festivals held in New Delhi in 2005 and 2007.

Harshani Chathurika Rupasinghe's (18) dancing teachers helped her a lot at the Musaeus College. When the dancing competitions were held in the school she participated in both Sinhala and English sections. From the age of 11 Harshani studied dancing under Visha de Silva.

In the all island competition, she participated and her group won the first place. She won the second place at the Jathika Narthana Ulela organised by the Department of Sanskrit.