The True Gift of Dance : Dance Fest 2015
‘Dance Fest’, the 7th Annual All Island Inter School Dance Competition was held from the 8th to the 10th of October at the Bishops College Auditorium.
Organised by Alethea International School, the competition saw over 1000 dancers of all ages from 15 schools in and out of Colombo perform and compete. School’s presented a Senior and Junior team for one or more of the following dance categories – Traditional Eastern, Folk, Fusion, Western and Bollywood.
The judging panel for the competition consisted of Vindhya Warakagoda; lead dancer of the Channa – Upuli Performing Arts Foundation Dance Troupe, Aseka Wijewardana; daughter of famous dancers Channa Wijewardana and Upuli Paneebharatha, Shamitha Hettige; leading male dancer of the Channa –Upuli Performing Arts Dance Troupe for the Eastern, Fusion and Bollywood Dance categories with Kevin Nugara; Director of El Latino for Bollywood and Western categories and Muddrika Swarnathilake; leading choreographer and founder of Muddrika Dance Studio for the Western Category.
The top 4 (Winner, 1st, 2nd, 3rd Runners up) schools selected from each category, both Senior and Junior, performed their respective items for the audience at the Award Ceremony on the 10th of October. It was a vibrant and entertaining evening with cultural effects mixed beautifully and artistically into dance.
The Traditional Eastern dance category showcased dances featuring various rituals and ceremonies found across different religions and cultures. The top 4 Junior groups for this category were from Alethea International School, Gateway College – Kandy, Leeds International School and OKI International school whereas Alethea International School, Regent International School, Leeds International School and Royal Institute School – Kurunegala were the top 4 Senior groups.
The Folk dance category featured dances from Leeds International School, Lyceum International School – Anuradhapura and Wycherly International School for the junior category and Alethea International School, Regent International School, Gateway College – Kandy and Royal Institute School - Kurunegala for the senior category.
The Fusion (open age) dance category saw to eccentric and dynamic performances from Alethea International School, Regent International College, Leeds International School and Gateway College – Dehiwela with OKI International School, Alethea International School, Regent International College and Leeds International School schools as the top 4 schools for the Western Combine category.
The final category for the day was a crowd favourite – the Bollywood dance category, full of colour and energy, performed by Royal Institute – Nugegoda, Gateway College – Rajagiriya, Gateway College – Kandy and Alethea International School.
After days of hard work and strenuous practicing, the judges selected the overall winners for each category;
· Eastern Category (Junior) – Leeds International School
· Eastern Category (Senior) – Leeds International School
· Western Category (Open age) – Leeds International School
· Mixed Fusion (Open Age) – Leeds International School
· Bollywood (Open Age) - Gateway College – Kandy
At the end of the show, we caught up with some of the audience members to see what they thought about this evening of dance,
Nishanka
I think it’s very high standard and I think it’s awesome and they should do it more often.
Hiruni
It was okay. I loved Alethea the most.
Lorenzo
The show was good. The dances are really nice and there were a few schools I really liked. Yeah, I loved the show.
Jethro
It was pretty good.
Nayashi
Interesting. Different categories and different types so it’s kind of like things you don’t see you get to see so it’s interesting.
Kumari
This is a very good show. It's been good all these years, so I really like it.
Vinura
There were some schools with a lot of energy so it was very nice.
Malinka
It was very colourful and a good change.
Rosanna
It was good. The Folk dances were excellent. All schools were equally good.
Buwaneka
It’s a good thing for children and the best way to get out their hidden talents.
Vinoli
I think it’s perfect. Children can perform anything so I think it’s great.
Reviewed by Panchali Illankoon
Photographs by Waruna Wanniarachchi
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