Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Legendary high priest of dancing steps into eternity
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Chitrasena, a legendary dancer who won the hearts of not only Sri Lankans but millions of dance lovers the world over died yesterday at the age of 84.
In line with his wishes Chitrasena was cremated last evening at the Borella cemetery and he stepped into immortality in the simple and humble way he lived.
His dance performances during an unparalleled career spanning more than half a century have placed Sri Lanka on the world map. He did for Sri Lankan dance what Uday Shankar had done for Indian dance.
Son of Seerbert Dias, an actor and director of Shakespeare plays who is remembered for the role of Shylock, Chitrasena was encouraged by his father to learn dancing and acting from a young age. He was sent to Santiniketan where his talent flowered. And the handsome, young and gifted Chitrasena later on studied Kathakali from Guru Gopinath and introduced the element of rasa, and the flavour of story-telling into Sinhala dances, transforming the traditional ritual dances into stage presentations of great beauty.
"I intended to make them contemporary. The vitality, the strength and the beauty of the native dance-forms presented in nightlong perfor-mances had to be made stage worthy for people to relish them", Chitrasena said at the age of 82 last year still with fire in his belly. At the National Gallery when an exhibition was held last year Chitrasena got up and joined his dancer-wife Vajira, daughters Anjelika and Upeka and grand-daughters Heshma and Thajing and his students of Chitrasena Kalayathanaya, and executed some movements with indefinable grace. It was sheer magic.
The dancers' leaps, whirls and perfect landing on the beat of a time cycle, to the brilliant drumming by six drummers and the energetic execution of movements kept the vast gathering at the edge of their seats. The Kohomba Kankaria, the Perahera, the processional dances with dancers in silver hats and ornaments, their shining black bodies and fantastic energy, all imbued with contemporary elements, transformed by the genius of Chitrasena, are now famous worldwide.
Chitrasena, along with wife Vajira and their daughters, had dedicated his life to the cause of dance. He has travelled and performed all over the world. His famous ballets Karadiya, Nala Damayanti and Kinkini Kolama are remembered in several countries. Travelling down memory lane, one recalled the truth in the words of Nirupam Sen, the Indian High Commissioner: "Countries like the GDR, the U.S.S.R. and others are no more, nor are their ideologies. But artists like Chitrasena transcend time and space and geographical boundaries, performing and giving delight to thousands of people the world over." It was no exaggeration.
Chitrasena rightly belongs to the select class of pioneers in Sri Lanka, as Prof. Bandula Jayawardhana perceptively put it: "What Wickramasinghe was to literature, Ediriweera Sarathchandra to drama, George Keyt to painting, Lester James Peiris to films, Amardeva to music, Chitrasena is to dance." For Chitrasena dance and life are not separate. And he has passed on this message to one and all. His love for India and his respect for Indian classical dance traditions and its exponents is also transparent. He drew inspiration from Uday Shankar and his own performances of Arjuna are a tribute to Uday Shankar. Looking at the photos of Chitrasena and his wife Vajira leaping in the air one feels it is suggestive of a symbolic leap-- the leap to liberate Sinhala dance from its shackles and to extend the scope of the tradition with contemporary life.
There was an unfortunate incident in Chitrasena's life when, on account of political shenanigans, his house where hundreds of his students studied dance, was pulled down. He was heartbroken! However the Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who was at one time his disciple, gave him a lovely plot of land to build his Chitrasena Kalayathanaya. He is a never-say-die artist and to quote a well-known critic: "Like a high priest whose temple lies desecrated, he waits in quiet dignity. He awaits the fruition of his dreams, the rebuilding of his temple of the dance. Beneath the calm exterior lies a restless spirit, a dynamo that waits to be unleashed. A creative artist of his stature is bound to realise his dream".
Chitrasena, a legendary dancer who won the hearts of not only Sri Lankans but millions of dance lovers the world over died yesterday at the age of 84.
In line with his wishes Chitrasena was cremated last evening at the Borella cemetery and he stepped into immortality in the simple and humble way he lived.
His dance performances during an unparalleled career spanning more than half a century have placed Sri Lanka on the world map. He did for Sri Lankan dance what Uday Shankar had done for Indian dance.
Son of Seerbert Dias, an actor and director of Shakespeare plays who is remembered for the role of Shylock, Chitrasena was encouraged by his father to learn dancing and acting from a young age. He was sent to Santiniketan where his talent flowered. And the handsome, young and gifted Chitrasena later on studied Kathakali from Guru Gopinath and introduced the element of rasa, and the flavour of story-telling into Sinhala dances, transforming the traditional ritual dances into stage presentations of great beauty.
"I intended to make them contemporary. The vitality, the strength and the beauty of the native dance-forms presented in nightlong perfor-mances had to be made stage worthy for people to relish them", Chitrasena said at the age of 82 last year still with fire in his belly. At the National Gallery when an exhibition was held last year Chitrasena got up and joined his dancer-wife Vajira, daughters Anjelika and Upeka and grand-daughters Heshma and Thajing and his students of Chitrasena Kalayathanaya, and executed some movements with indefinable grace. It was sheer magic.
The dancers' leaps, whirls and perfect landing on the beat of a time cycle, to the brilliant drumming by six drummers and the energetic execution of movements kept the vast gathering at the edge of their seats. The Kohomba Kankaria, the Perahera, the processional dances with dancers in silver hats and ornaments, their shining black bodies and fantastic energy, all imbued with contemporary elements, transformed by the genius of Chitrasena, are now famous worldwide.
Chitrasena, along with wife Vajira and their daughters, had dedicated his life to the cause of dance. He has travelled and performed all over the world. His famous ballets Karadiya, Nala Damayanti and Kinkini Kolama are remembered in several countries. Travelling down memory lane, one recalled the truth in the words of Nirupam Sen, the Indian High Commissioner: "Countries like the GDR, the U.S.S.R. and others are no more, nor are their ideologies. But artists like Chitrasena transcend time and space and geographical boundaries, performing and giving delight to thousands of people the world over." It was no exaggeration.
Chitrasena rightly belongs to the select class of pioneers in Sri Lanka, as Prof. Bandula Jayawardhana perceptively put it: "What Wickramasinghe was to literature, Ediriweera Sarathchandra to drama, George Keyt to painting, Lester James Peiris to films, Amardeva to music, Chitrasena is to dance." For Chitrasena dance and life are not separate. And he has passed on this message to one and all. His love for India and his respect for Indian classical dance traditions and its exponents is also transparent. He drew inspiration from Uday Shankar and his own performances of Arjuna are a tribute to Uday Shankar. Looking at the photos of Chitrasena and his wife Vajira leaping in the air one feels it is suggestive of a symbolic leap-- the leap to liberate Sinhala dance from its shackles and to extend the scope of the tradition with contemporary life.
There was an unfortunate incident in Chitrasena's life when, on account of political shenanigans, his house where hundreds of his students studied dance, was pulled down. He was heartbroken! However the Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who was at one time his disciple, gave him a lovely plot of land to build his Chitrasena Kalayathanaya. He is a never-say-die artist and to quote a well-known critic: "Like a high priest whose temple lies desecrated, he waits in quiet dignity. He awaits the fruition of his dreams, the rebuilding of his temple of the dance. Beneath the calm exterior lies a restless spirit, a dynamo that waits to be unleashed. A creative artist of his stature is bound to realise his dream".
