Talented Young Achiever - Ginuli Vonara De Silva

13 year old Ginuli, a student of Royal Institute Nugegoda is an extremely talented girl in the fields of music, art, dancing (Baratha Natyam and Kandyan dancing) as well as performing arts and communication skills - overall she possesses an all-round  'aesthetics' gift of the arts.

1. Music

· She started at the age of 3 years with her aunt as her first music teacher. Studying music involved a series of exams all the way up to the prestigious 'Visharadha' title and Ginuli faced her very first exam in 2005 at just 5 years and passed it with a 'First Distinction'.
· She continued to study music as at the time she was too young to sit for the next level. However, she managed to complete the exams leading to the 'Visharadha' and is now preparing for her "Part 1 - Visharadha" which she hopes to complete this year.
· Apart from studying music, Ginuli was also one of the few students of Mr. Keerthi Pasquel to have released her first very own song. the lyrics were made by her school teacher and the music was done by Mr. Mahinda Bandara.
· Ginuli plays the piano, violin and guitar out of which she sits for Trinity Guildhall examinations in piano. - In 2013 she completed grade 4 Piano and will sit for her grade 5 this year.

2. Dancing

· Her dancing career started off when she was 4 years old and she was trained by Ms. Padmini Dahanayake Ariyadasa in Baratha Natyam. She completed a series of 3 exams, all with straight 'First Division' passes.
· Thereafter she has participated in almost all avurudu and school activities showcasing her Baratha Natyam talent among crowds.
· She was also selected to represent Sri Lanka in 2012 to participate in the "Sabah International Folklore Festival".
· In her short stay in Singapore, she was selected to be on a childrens' program telecasted live on "Vasantham Tv" Singapore. She was given the challenge of dancing to a tamil song to which she had to practice only by the counts because she wasn't familiar with the language being just 9 years old!
· Ginuli was also trained in Kandyan dancing by Ms. Nishali Silva Amarasekare where she completed her diploma level and wiill sit for "Part 1 - Visharadha" this year.

3. Performing Arts and Communications Skills

· She has been taking part in CALSDA and Performing arts exams since nursery and continued it in school. Thereafter she was under the guidance of Ms. Rushika Ratnayake for communication skills. Ginuli became the all-island winner for grade 3/4 Trinity Guildhall Examinations and will be sitting this year for grade 5/6
· On the sidelines, she is also a confident announcer/presenter and trains with Harendra Jayalal's academy.

4. Art

· Ginuli was coached by Mr. Lionel Ranaweera at the very begining.
· After she moved to Singapore, in 2009 she won a prize at the art competition held at the Singapore presidents house, Mr. S. R. Nathan - "Istana Art Competition"
· Thereafter, she came back from Singapore and trained Mr. Jayasiri Semage for abstract art on canvas and oil paintings.

At present Ginuli is in grade 8 and seems to be quite the academic even at school. She has managed to come through as first in the class regardless of her busy day-to-day schedule. We spoke to Ginuli about how she manages to strike a balance between all her extracurricular activities and still maintain academic excellence and here’s what she had to say…

“My parents have always encouraged me in every way. I may sometimes be physically tired but I’m always mentally excited and fit. I finish my daily homework and I stay attentive in class which I think is where I have my plus point. I don’t go for any extra help or tuition. However, I remember what I learn when I teach my friends who don’t understand the lesson – I love teaching! We also asked her about her future plans – “My favourite subject is Maths and I will be choosing to go through the science stream for my o levels. I have not yet made a decision on what I want to do in future but I would love to go along the lines of maths as well as have art, dance and music as a part of me.”

By Hasna Saleem
Pics by Kithsiri de Mel