Dance Fest 2014, organised by Alethea International School, was held at the Bishop’s College Auditorium this year from the 3rd to the 7th of March. Many schools took part this year, bringing a wide range of styles to the stage.

Tuesday the 4th – Traditional and Folk

The troupes in the junior categories were overwhelmingly endearing, their charming toothy grins were proof that they enjoyed dancing as much as we enjoyed watching them. It was with the senior categories that business started however, and what a treat it was to witness some truly elegant routines that celebrated the traditional and folk varieties of the country. There were dances based on both Sinhala and Tamil culture (including a few that were an amalgamation of both) involving various props that reflected village life.

One dance had an intricate sequence involving a maypole that was very well carried out. A few dances in particular had a high level of energy and were exciting to witness. The judges were extremely gracious in their praise, grateful that these schools were progressing the art of dance of the country. They said that there was room for improvement, that polish was needed, but that there were sparks of beauty in every performance. Overall, they said that the dancers managed to capture the hearts of the audience and that in itself was a fantastic achievement.

Thursday the 6th – Western, Fusion and Bollywood

The Western dances were interesting, but lacked a certain dynamic edge to carry the performances through. We did get to see flashes of budding talent however, with some popping and locking here and there. The Fusion dances were mostly lovely. Watching graceful moves executed by dancers who were clearly so happy to be dancing is always a pleasure. One dance in particular was different and captured the imagination. Clearly inspired by African tribal dances, the interesting number had the audience clapping along appreciatively.

The Bollywood dance category clearly was the winner where the audience was concerned however, high energy routines and thumping loud music being a recipe for success. There was one in particular, performed by the younger kids, that at first had us roaring because of how cute they were, but mid-performance came the realisation that this was a difficult routine that really took advantage of the flexibility of the children ; it was definitely my personal favourite of the evening. The night ended well with a fun performance of ‘Lungi dancer’ by the host school themselves.

Overall, the competition stays a wonderful opportunity for students of both international and state schools to express themselves on stage by whatever type of dance they choose to use.

The winners are as follows,

Traditional Junior    Alethea International School
Traditional Senior    Leeds International School
Folk Junior    Wycherly International School
Folk Senior     Gateway College – Rajagiriya
Indian Classical Dancing    Regent International School
Overall Eastern Category Junior    Wycherly International School
Overall Eastern Category Senior    Leeds International School
Overall Western Category    Alethea International School
Overall Mixed Category    Asian International School
Overall Bollywood Category    Asian International School

Comments

Nadishma – We really liked it when the audience joined in. We were all very excited. We’ve won the last few times so we want to win today.

Mariam - The dances are really amazing and inspiring.

Ragu Shankar - All the dances are good, as well as different. Some I will keep in my mind because they were special.

By Marissa van Eyck

Pics by Kithsiri de Mel