Jacqueline Sharp talks to Janaki Hill, Co-founder the Arakavila Dance & Theatre Foundation

 

Q             Explain to me who Peter Hill is and his idea behind your venture to run workshops in various rural areas of Sri Lanka, has this developed?

A             Peter is my husband, he is British and we live together in Sri Lanka.  We met when I was a dancer and actress.  He was inspired by Sri Lanka culture, especially theatre, drumming and dance.  Together we set up the Arakavila Dance and Theatre school.   We have taken workshops to 250 workshops in rural areas in Sri Lanka, working with the young, which has really taken off.   This was funded by my husband and Sri Lankan Airlines, we have bought land to build a theatre, dance school and currently we are seeking funding for this project with the hope we can expand our workshops.  If anyone wishes to fund please contact me on www.adtfsrilanka.com

Q             I love the Sri Lankan drum sounds very much, from your production, Ranganika, what are your drums made of and what makes their unique drumming sound?

A             Sri Lankan drums are made of traditional wood such as Sandal, Jak, Kohobha, Ehela, Kohomba, and Kos from Sri Lanka, combined with cow and buffalo skin.  Our drums are 4 feet wide, the drummers drum on both sides.

 

A             Janaki laughs and proudly takes credit for being the choreographer.

 

A             I designed the costumes, the students helped stitch them.  Bright colours are tradition in Sri Lanka, especially red, blue, orange and yellow in our village of Arakavila.

 

A             Yes, in Sri Lanka, and especially our schools, children from a very young age are introduced to the culture of drums, theatre and dance.  These traditions are an important local tradition in rural areas.  When children leave school these traditions are continued for special celebrations, rituals, such as Thovil, to chase away the evil spirit.

                Lastly, I want to add that dance, drumming and theatre are a combination of harmonious union of body and mind, all three combined deliver a union of a disciplined mind, similar to meditation.

A             This was mainly due to Health & Safety; it just wasn’t practical from safety point of view

 

A             In our culture part of our tradition is role play, quite often, similar to Shakespeare, the men will perform as females, this is taken in jest, and it is humour, comedy.  Sometimes females take on male roles, in comedy, but this is less so. 

                In the particular performance you are talking about, there is a family of four, they wear Kolama, (comedy) masks, this is known in our country as Anabera Nonchi Kolama, which is one of the all time favourites of Low Country Dance.  All the performers wear masks and so can only use their hands and bodies to express their emotions. 

                Kolama masks are meant to intimidate evil spirits!

 

A             To ancient times, dance, theatre and drumming, are practiced in schools.  Dance is performed at rituals, such as Thelmay, in honour of the God Dholaha, which is low country dance tradition, the main dance ritual performed in a specially constructed hut in the village.  Other rituals incorporate dance, such as Thovil, ritual which is to chase away the evil spirit. 

                In our villages in Sri Lanka most of the dances are based around agriculture, as it is as farming is a huge part of our tradition.  The dances are Goyam Natum, Kalagedi Netum, Lee Keli, (dance with sticks) and See-Pada.

 

A             Yes, it was called the Devil Dance, it is part of our culture, we do these rituals when people get sick, it is quite often women possess evil spirits, men less so!

                The Thovil ritual chases away the evil spirit, sometimes they work, other times they don’t, evil spirits may come back!

 

A             In Sri Lanka, all dances are performed in bare feet, always, the dancers never wear shoes, and yes it is quite common for them to hurt their feet.

 

A             We bought land to build recording studio, theatre, dance school, workshop centre; however this depends on external funding, as we rely on funding to expand our ideas.  If there are any funders out there please get in touch, www.adtfsrilanka.com

 

A             Arakavila is a small rural town, with around 2,000 villagers.  Culture, farming and tradition are a huge part of our lives.  We especially love dance, theatre and drumming in our village and our dance and theatre school is the platform for young students to be creative.

 

A             Due to funding, not likely, however if any funders want to get in touch, anything is possible.

 

A             Again, due to funding, not likely, unless there are any music producers, record companies scouting us, we are open to suggestions, anything is possible.

 

A             The drummers from Ranganika are our students from Arakavila Dance and Theatre Foundation; they get inspired by tradition when creating their traditional tunes and melodies.  The sounds are a fusion of traditional and contemporary rhythm and beat.

 

A             They are Pabula Erange, Chathuranga Chitrajith, Ranga Nuwantha, Buddika Hasantha, they are our students.

 

A             Again, they are our students, they are, Ruksala Roshani, Kosala Harshani, Kosala Harshani, Lakshani Sandarenu, Jayani Koshila, Kushmanthhi Thilini, Nilantha Sanjeewa, Randika Kasun Nilakshana, Isuru Chathuranga, Janaka Maduranga, Suchitha Mangala, Asiri Madusanka, Denesh Madushanka.

 

A             Thank you and I welcome people to come along to our production Ranganika, Island of Dance, which is part of Edinburgh Fringe, from 6^th to 30^th August 2009, held at The World at St George’s West.