You hear El Jude before you see it. Its music fills the streets around Mario de Moya’s cantina in Malambo, an hour outside the Colombian port city of Barranquilla. Mario has just returned from a two-hour stint at a local radio station. A big bull of a man, Mario is a DJ, but could easily … Continue reading
I could not remember the last time I sat in darkness so absolute. With every door and window barricaded in the room at the University of Visual and Performing Arts in Colombo, I would not have been able to see my hand if I held it in front of my nose. It was so utterly … Continue reading
With white sarongs draped around their waists and white turbans on their heads, two bare-chested traditional Sabaragamuwa dancers perform on stage. In the background is a contemporary jazz trio improvising music that echoes and weaves through the ritual chant. This is a juxtaposition not often seen in Sri Lanka, making the Baliphonics group compelling enough … Continue reading
“What is your dream?” Startled and amused, Donald Byrd looked at the little Bangladeshi boy, an answer already on the tip of his tongue. Now in his sixties, the artistic director of The Spectrum dance Theatre had already led his own company for more than 20 years, establishing himself in the process among the ranks … Continue reading
Ravibandu Vidyapathi dances alongside the ghost of his father. Their shadows follow the two dancers as they leap and twist and then fold into each other. A little later, when Somabandu Vidyapathi’s sketches are projected onto the large screen at the Punchi theatre, they fill the space with dancers dressed in glorious costumes, frozen as … Continue reading
The 12 women in Venuri Perera’s weekly movement class at the Halfway Home in Mulleriyawa are getting used to dancing without music. Diagnosed and treated for mental illnesses, they are in recovery from conditions that range from schizophrenia and depression to the milder learning disorders. Venuri is only a few classes in, but she knows … Continue reading
Maya Krishna Rao is pleased to find herself here, on the isle of Ravana. She’s been in pursuit of this elusive king for years and yet his essential nature continues to elude her. “It’s special to be here because in Sri Lanka, you’ve feted the man, and given him all the status that he actually … Continue reading
Christobel Weerasinghe née Kotalawala was born on the day her father became a member of the Legislative Council. It was the beginning of the 1920s and the life she inherited was one of extraordinary privilege – her family could trace their genealogy back to the kings of Kotte and in the present her father, Sir … Continue reading
Consider Upeka’s pottu: it is self expression uncluttered by symbolism – where women traditionally wore it as a badge of matrimony, she began wearing it as a single woman. Where women were presumed to be Tamil if they wore one, this Sinhalese woman felt comfortable keeping hers firmly glued on. “The only time I was … Continue reading
From a framed photograph on the wall, a benevolent Chitrasena looks on as his legacy is given new life. On either side mirrors reflect two lines of dancers clad in unrelieved black. Foremost among them is Chitrasena’s daughter Upeka, who in recent decades has been the company’s prized soloist. Just behind her, waiting in the … Continue reading
Smriti Daniel 