A giant did not fall on the 18th of July,
2005. A giant went his way, left stage
as gracefully as he always had, left a signature as formidable in its absence
as in its presence. That was Chitrasena;
Deshamanya Chitrasena, the honorific probably not one which he would care much
for today if he were a live considering the kind of people it has been
conferred upon.
Nine years is a short period in the time-scales of
tradition, but glitter and frill, the subterfuge of costume and other trappings
readily available for the camouflaging of sloth and mediocrity has certainly
done its destructive work. This is a
world of short cuts and get-by-as-we-cans.
Chitrasena probably saw it coming, but like all true students of art
forms to that which he held sacrosanct he was devoted and so too the more
gifted of his students, ‘gifted’ not only in the exercise but in the ability to
comprehend the sacred embedded in the art.
Not many among those present today would have heard of
Maurice Dias Amaratunga. Some still know
the name Chitrasena. Few, though. He was described as follows a short while
before he died: ‘Chitrasena was the teacher of teachers. The guru of Arjuna of
the Mahabharatha; in fact one of Chitrasena’s most memorable performances was
of Arjuna; a great teacher who use(d) a variety of languages, all of them,
where appropriate, subsumed in dance.’
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| Chitrasena as Othello |
Today there are some 350-400 students attending classes at
the appropriately quaint kalayathanaya
on the corner of Park Road and Elvitigala Mawatha, Monday through
Saturday. The classes begin at 9 in the
morning and end at 6 in the evening except when there’s a performance in line,
in which case time is not a factor.
Upekha, Chitrasena’s daughter, and Janaki, his
daughter-in-law, who spoke with The
Nation have no illusions about young students staying on and on and on
until they are possessed by the dance to a point it becomes part of their
everyday. Typically, children or rather
their parents try out this and that at that age. Some stay, some move to other ‘interests’. While they are here, though, they have fun
and they interact with children from all kinds of social, cultural and
religious backgrounds.
Then there are students who are at the O/L and A/L stages in
their formal education. At school they
learn a lot of theory but for obvious reasons cannot spend as much time on ‘practicals’.
On the other hand, there are about 15-18 students who are
different in terms of life goals, dance goals and the commitment of time,
resources and energy. They are all
scholarship holders, courtesy HSBC. The
majority of them are university students.
It is a continuation of a tradition in a sense for the great guru also had students he didn’t
charge. He could not give them an
allowance. Times have changed, but to the credit of the current custodians of
his legacy, these students, many of whom are from places far away from Colombo,
do not have to worry about food and other expenses.
‘It is about performance and it is about teaching,’ Janaki
said. When Chitrasena was in his prime
there weren’t many dance troupes, but they started mushrooming in the eighties,
she said. Quantity in these things has
an inverse relationship with quality, it seems.
The Foundation will not take short cuts, though. This is why they want to focus on both
performance and teaching. The objective
is to develop a critical mass of accomplished dancers and a set of teachers who
can pass on the knowledge from one generation to the next. All this is captured in the twin notions
‘Gift of Dance’ and ‘Preserve the Dance’, the former being the scholarship
program mentioned above and the latter a program to ensure that professional
dancers and teacher are assured of a decent livelihood.
To this end, they plan to develop the Centre. The Master Plan, once implemented, would see
better facilities including rehearsal rooms, a mini theater and hostels.
It is no easy task and yet, watching the family, the
students and teachers go about their work, it seems that these goals do not
weigh any of them down, not the matriarch, Vajira, not Upekha or the obvious
heiress apparent to the legacy, Thaji.
It is almost fashionable to say at the passing of great
personalities that there will not come such another. The stature of Chitrasena is such that few
would find fault with that kind of prediction.
Indeed, this is perhaps why they have not even toyed with the idea of
performing Karadiya. There was Vajira and then Upekha and now her
niece Thaji to do just to the female portrayal, but both Upekha and Janaki
freely admit that they are still struggling to develop a strong male character. They have no doubt of course about the
abundance of dancing talent. It’s the
commitment over which there are question marks.
No one can tell when another Chitrasena will grace this
earth. But it is the nature of
reincarnations to seek fertile birthing ground.
The Chitrasena Vajira Dance Foundation is putting things in place. The rhythm, grace of movement and ambience
certainly make a habitable home for such a resurrection. In time, as value accrues to the gift of
dance and when dance itself is preserved to a point that it cannot be robbed of
divine grace, there will be a rebirthing of excellence, one feels. Others, the slothful and mediocre included,
will naturally profit.
msenevira@gmail.com
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