Lavishly
costumed performers leap & swirl in frenzies of acrobatic movements. Their
feel bounce off the ground in intricate patterns that reflect the complex
rhythms of drum beats. Hips swing, hands swag, shoulders shrug. Heads, heavy
with mask or make-up, tilt torsos, fringed with frills & fancy ornaments,
move constantly such is the essence of dance & drama in Sri Lanka. In all
its verve & colour, it dazzles the eye & excites the senses. It
remotely resembles two forms of classical Indian dancing. The bharatha natyam
& Kathakali. But the dances of Sri Lanka are inimitable inventions of the Sinhalese
& soul, Unique in the repertories of the world.
THE ELEMENT
OF SINHALESE DANCE
The famous
Sanskrit treatise on dance & music composed by the sage bharata, sometimes
between 2nd century B.C & the 3rd century A.D,
distinguishes between a pure dance from (nritta), expressive dance (nritya)
& drama (natya) by bharatha’s definition, Sinhalese dance can be considered
(nritta), Which fit into the category of ‘’Nritya’’.
The two
Indian dance forms are primarily employed as media for story-telling & for
expressing a wide variety of emotions through the use of symbolic gestures
& facial expressions familiar to the audience. In contrast Sinhalese
dancing. Relies on the use of symbolic body movement’s expert foot work &
strenuous acrobatics to tell its tales.
Bharata
also classified dance into two other categories: tandava, its vigorous,
masculine manifestations, & lasya, the graceful, feminine form. Sinhalese
dancing more closely fits the description of tandava, since it is usually
performed by males who can do justice to its dynamism.
Sinhalese
dance separates neatly into two stykes, ‘’ Low country dancing’’ refers to the
form practiced throughout the coastal belt south of Colombo; this is often
broadly called ‘’devil dancing’’ because of its exorcist nature. ‘’ Up
country’’ also known as the Kandy school flourishes in the provinces of the
former Kandyan Kingdom.
While both
forms exhibit the vigorous movements common to all dances in Sri Lanka, Kandyan
dancing has been taught to girls as well as boys. Today it is often performed,
particularly for tourists. By women – a development that has softened some of
the masculine moves integral to a successful performance.
THE
KOHOMBAOF KANDY
Both forms
of Sinhalese dancing originated in the folk rituals of the island & still
exhibit those roots. The dances of kandy date back to the rituals of god
khomba, an all-night ceremony for the purpose of appeasing that god & his
spiritual associates.
The
aesthetics of kandyan dance, and the meaning of its movements, can be most
fully appreciated during performances in its original setting: The khomba
kankariya, an assortment of ceremonies in honour of komba. In a magnificently
decorated pavilion, about 50 dancers fill the stage. Attired in frilled
costumes – their beads & breast plates glistening light of torches – the
dancers pirouette, skip & whirl to the beat of 10 drums, executing
astonishing acrobatics in midair.
The
performance culminates in a gesture of obeisance performed with hands folded in
worship before the altar of the god. In this scenario, the dancer doubles as a
shaman or priest. The yakdessa who has express his devotion to his god in terms
of rhythm & movements.
Such ritual
dance gave rise to a kind of secular dance entertainment known as vannama. As
the appellation suggests, these are descriptive dances manned after the animals
& birds whose movements they mimic. In theory, it appears this form denotes
a leap from nritta to nritya. In reality the form remains pure rather than
expressive dance.
The
‘’Vannama’’ usually marks only a superficial attempt to portray the movements
of the animal or bird for which it is named. The gajaga vannama or dance of the
elephant is a perfect example of this idiosyncrasy. The dancer begins by
singing the ‘’Song of the elephant’’. The words describe a fabulous beats that
has eight long tusks & 16 trunks & lives in heaven as he sings, the
dancer moves his arms in the sweeping style characteristic of kandyan dance. He
does littlie actual dance. The slow, dignified rhythm of the song suggests the
majestic gait of the elephant. But when the song ends, the dancer vaults into
action, bounding & bouncing to a frenzied rhythm in a manner that bears no
resemblance what so ever to the lumbering gait of an elephant.
The other
17 traditional vannams follow the same peculiar patters. The opening rhythm
imitates the trot of gallop of a horse or the swoop of a hawk, but the dance
that follows leaves the beat being in a delirious fit of pure, ecstatic
movement. Interludes of vannama dancing often accompany performance of a
traditional kohomba kankariya. Dancers from various schools that practice
differing interpretations of the vannama often compete with another during
these sessions, providing exhibitions of rare virtuosity.
Kandyan
dance can be enjoyed in all its primitive grandeur at the esala perahara, the
annual festival in Kandy.
