‘Devanjali’ : Ritual Rites Reflection 

The Chitrasena Vajira Dance Foundation will present ‘Devanjali : Ritual Ries Reflection, which explores the relationship between the traditional dance and faith, from the demon dancer driven by pulsating drum beats to a homage to Ganesha to more reflective pieces on the qualities of Buddha and the dilemmas of spirituality and achieving inner perfection and oneness with the divine.

This performance will be presented in commemoration of the 10th Death Anniversary of Guru Chitrasena and is choreographed by Heshma Wignaraja, Artistic Director of the Chitrasena Dance Company and a third generation member of the Chitrasena family.

Devanjali had had its international premiere in Australia at the prestigious Sydney Festival and at the Canberra Theatre Centre in January 2015 to international acclaim. It was also performed at the Swami Vipulananda Institute for Aesthetic Studies in Batticaloa to a packed audience of over thousand people followed by the performance at the Weerasingham Hall, Jaffna in May.

Maestro Chitrasena is credited for rescuing our dying arts by reviving and refining elements of ancient rituals and introducing Sri Lankan traditional dance to national and international audiences. He founded Sri Lanka’s pioneering company of Traditional Dance, Chitrasena Dance Company in 1943 and Sri Lanka’s first school of Traditional Dance, Chitrasena School of Dance in 1944.

Dates : July 18 & 19
Venue : Lionel Wendt

Tickets can be purchased at : the Chitrasena Kalayathanaya, No. 590, Elvitigala Mawatha, Colombo 5 and on www.ticketslk.com from June 29-July 5. Tickets will also be available at the Lionel Wendt from July 7 onwards.

By Kamanthi Wickramasinghe
Photographs by Nisal Baduge