Dance Archives

KALASURI CHANNA WIJEWARDENA UNDISPUTED KING OF CHOREOGRAPHY HEADS CHANNA UPULI DANCE TROUPE TO UNPRECEDENTED TALL ELEVATIONS FOR OVER FOUR DECADES – by Sunil Thenabadu Image Source : facebook Kalasuri Channa Udayprem Wijewardena , awarded a doctorate for his work on arts from a university in USA ,was born in Rangoon in Myanmar where he had lived only for ten months before the family moved to London for five years as his father was a diplomat attached to the foreign service ,Channa could recollect his younger days living in London ,how the VIP’s were invited to dinner enjoying the delicious curries his mother had prepared. He also remembered his tenure in primary education in the UK at K9 class when he initially learned the steps for ‘chalana’ ,flexibility ,body what one could perform what the body could do.Channa had learnt from his early age how one should stand,walk and sleep in the ...

Sri Lankan Healing Dance Rituals vs Psychotherapy – By Chalanka Athalage Source : srilankanz Digging deeper into the Dance Rituals and practices in Sri Lanka, the writer intends to explore the healing capacity of dance rituals alongside western counselling psychology. Dance is one of the earliest forms of expression and communication, and the writer was intrigued to learn how it comes alive in many cultures worldwide as a healing ritual. This is evident in the first nation-people of Australia, the Māori communities of New Zealand, several African nations and many more countries across the globe. In Sri Lanka, Bali and Thovil are considered to be two incredibly powerful forms of healing dance rituals that have somehow survived the test of time and remain the most common forms of healing rituals even today. We found Bali and Thovil to be fascinating reflections of how humans inherently resort to dancing in search of ...