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Sri Lanka Dance Academy in association with Sama Ballet Troupe in Sri Lanka Presents A voyage of Sri Lankan Traditions through Festivals and Practices Date 13th August 2005 Place Victoria University Memorial Theatre This is the second proud feature production of the SLDA in Wellington New Zealand. This Production comes to you as a performance of a collection of Sri Lankan Festivals, Practices and partly Rituals as practiced in the ancient times in which some of these are not in actual existence today. The purpose of the show is to bring the glory of Sri Lankan traditions in the form of dance in a fine mixture of ancient, medieval and modern dance styles put together with music rhythms of such periods. The SLDA has once again put an effort to research through Sri Lankan dances. This time it is a rediscovery of existing and non-existing Traditions and Practices in the motherland through history and to bring forward these in the form of dances. In the preparation of these dances, SLDA took advantage of mixing the traditional styles with modern dance steps. The music, costumes and the dances all have been carefully studied and put together to give the audience a nostalgic feeling closer to one’s emotions. By performing, the SLDA believes the traditions of yester year could be brought to life today with the ambition that the younger performers will pass through these traditions to the next generation. If this happens, that’s when SLDA has achieved its goals.
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Kamath Siritha Practices of the Paddy
Field or Indigenous ceremonies based on the beliefs woven around
agriculture. The arrival of the king, queen and the henchman to practice the first plowing of the field is done in a Kolam Mask dance style. In the olden times, it was the practice that the king plowed first in the field symbolically followed by actual plowing elsewhere. |
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This plowing ceremony takes place at the beginning of ‘Yala’ harvesting
season for paddy in the month of October. Other practices that take place around the field are the Ran-Karal Uthsavaya or the golden paddy spike ritual associated with the first reaping of the paddy. Men and women cut the paddy ceremonially. Aluth Sahal Mangallaya or the Festival of New Rice is another ritual. The ceremonially harvested paddy is offered either to the Buddha or to a Deity in the Province. This ceremony takes place in Kandy to the Temple of Tooth, in the ancient city of Anuradhapura with offering made to 2500 year old Bodhi Tree, at Kataragama to the Deity of God Skanda, or any other provincial Deity. |
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Kataragama Prathibha
The festival in the ancient township of Kataragama |
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Some devotees are in the belief that
bodily harmful activity will lead to better life later. To perform such
activity they pierce their cheeks and tongues or the skin with hooks.
In an extreme case, a devotee would pull a cart behind him hooked to
his pierced skin. ‘Haro-hara’ is the loud voice of every devotee to cheer each other. The final day procession has many performances. These range from ‘Kawadi’ dance, the peacock dance ( peacock is believed to be the God’s transport medium), the ‘Kohomba Kaley’ pot dance (where the dancer would place a pot on head and balance while dancing) to the aborigine Veddah dance. The festival ends with a fire-walk. The God’s image is taken in procession with deafening sounds of drums and trumpets to the temple of Valli Amma to symbolize his re-union with his female companion. The person who proposes to perform fire walking prepares himself for long period refraining from eating flesh. Fire walking is a religious ecstasy of walking over raging cinders carefully prepared. Large scale fire walking is also performed for the purpose of satisfying a deity called Kadawara Deviyo believed to be the guardian of the Main Temple of God Kataragama. Those who partake in this ritual do nothing in preparation like applying anything on their feet. With the devotees shouting Haro Hara to give support morally and divinely to fulfill the fire-walkers’ wishes they want to witness the miracle of the fire walkers walk through the bed unharmed. This is a serious act of religious devotion performed to fulfill a vow. Pandam Paliya, Gini Sisila The dance in action
with fire as a form of remedy |
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Mangala Siritha The Wedding practices |
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Betel leaves are given to elders by the
couple requesting forgiveness. Wedding drums are beaten in traditional
manner when the couple steps down from the special platform. Some break
a full coconut at this very moment to chase away all evil forces and
make sure the coconut is broken at the first attempt.
A traditional lamp is light by the four parents followed by the couple symbolizing four clans of the two families now have got together to bring birth to a new generation. Drums are beaten once again at this moment. Cutting a plate of milk rice has now been replaced by cutting the wedding cake. |
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New Year Festival |
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People stop all work just before no-nekath
period commences. One this has passed, there comes the New Year. People
re-start work soon after. This is also a celebration to mark the
harvest time. This is the time when families pass down family
traditions to the new generations. It is time for many rituals, respect the elders, monetary giving and receiving, exchange of gifts etc. It is time for re-union of the family. It is time to visit friends and relations. The playing of Rabana, the big hand drum is a key activity in the time of New Year. Mostly women and at times the men gather around the Rabana and play it. At times, they play competitively, at times as a group or at times as two sides. |
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Salu Paliya The Devil dance in action |
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Ves Natuma A dance ritual as a remedy |
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Ahikuntika Wadiya The Gypsy Tribe
Ahikuntikas are believed to have come to Sri Lanka from Andra Pradesh in India. They are called nomads since they travel from place to place. 'Ahi' means serpents. This name must have been adopted because they made a living by using snakes, monkeys and palm reading or fortune telling. |
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The men train snakes and monkeys and make a living out of this. Snake charmers or the monkey players would be strolling around streets waiting to be called in for a show. Mostly they travel alone. At the end of the day they all gather in the camp they are living. The gypsies those who opt to live as gypsies keep moving places. Those who opt to live as villagers now have been living a village life. There were also the time where gypsy women went around the streets reading palms as an earning. Some gypsies speak Sinhala while other groups speak Telugu, an Indian language. There’s the olden belief that some deity had cursed the ‘Koothandi’ tribe or the gypsy clan never to settle permanently in any one place but to wander afield as long as sun and moon endure. However, it actually seems that they can't stay at one place for more than seven days or so. This may be true because of their unhygienic lifestyle. Sometimes villagers in the nearby village also would not like gypsies hanging around probably because of their life style. It has been found that yearly they yet hold their great gathering to settle their problems, plan their journeys to come and celebrate their marriages under the stewardship of their traditional chief. |
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Naw Raathri Senakeliya The festival of worship and dance of Goddess Durga
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The mood of NavRaatri is very colourful
and is a festival of pure happiness. NavRaatri is one of the most
auspicious occasions in Hindu belief. When taken as a dance, the choreographical pattern of the dance, the floor designs made by the dancers, has been similar to the paintings seen on the walls of huts in ancient Hindu times. Through these designs whether on the floor or walls, or through paint and colour, or through dance, ritual is held and spirits are invoked. Over time, an agriculture link has also been made to NavRaatri. One such ritual of NavaRaatra is the sowing and sprouting of corn for nine days and has the climax through a variety of dances links agricultural and urban societies. |
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Veddhi Siritha The indigenous
rituals of the Veddah clan |
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However, a very minimal outnumbered Veddah clan or the Wanniyela-Ettho
has been able to preserve their cultural identity and traditional life
style despite continuous pressure from so called development of the
land.
In almost all their religious rites the
arrow takes the central role. There are two types of arrows, long
bladed ordinary hunting arrow and the short handled ritual/ceremonial
arrow. They have many rituals and practices in their day to day lives. |
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Pancha thurya Nada The offering of sound
to the Great One Thelme The glamour of costume
and dance |
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Choreographers Dayani Gonsalkorale Chalanka Athalage Production team Dayani Gonsalkorale Chalanka Athalage Geethani de Silva Jayathri Athalage Nihal Gonsalkorale Vasantha de Silva Cast Junior Girls Akila Azad Amandie Weerasundera Archana Athalage Sulochana Kithulagoda Danushi Peiris Dileni Abeyesundere Dilshini Hettige Dinari Abeyesundere Dushanka Hettige Indira Fernando Ishali Tissera Mishalee Wickremasekera Nayomi Lecamwasam Nimesha Tissera Sachinie Wanasinghe Sulochana Kithulagoda Umaya Ranaweera Upuli Pahalawatta Vinuri Marasinghe
Senior Girls |
Kushani Gunawardena Nathali Weerasundera Niroshi Gunawardena Rosie Senanayake Rushika de Silva Ruwangi de Silva Samantha Senanayake Yassasvie Sundarapperuma Yumantha Alwis
Boys Guest Artists Music, sound and
visual mixing
DVD Co-ordination
Photography
Lighting |
Costume Design Vasantha de Silva
Makeup Stage Props Souvenir Narrators Stage Manager
Co-ordination of Tickets
Video Camera Photo Gallery
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