PETER SURASENA & KANDYAN DANCERS

October 25th, 7:00PM, Olin Arts Center

Peter Surasena is a grandmaster of traditional Kandyan dance whose ancestors performed in the royal court of Kandyan kings. As a youth, his natural and inherited proclivities for dance were recognized and cultivated by legendary instructor of Kandyan dance, Heen Baba Dharmasiri.

Every year since 1978, Surasena has been awarded a gold medal at the Sri Lanka National Dance Competition. During the same time, he has performed as the lead dancer in the annual ritual processions of the Kandy Asala Perahera, the most well-known public ritual event in Buddhist Sri Lanka. A devoted and talented teacher, he has been a dance instructor for students in the Intercollegiate Sri Lanka Education (ISLE) Program for ten years. Some of these American students have returned to Sri Lanka to continue their studies with Surasena on fellowships provided by Rotary and Fulbright.

In 1959, Surasena went to India and participated as a ves dancer in the first ever cultural exchange coordinated between the governments of India and Sri Lanka. In 1962, he travelled with his troupe to Latin America to dance in the World Fare of Folk Music and Dance. In 1965, he was a Commonwealth Fellow giving performances in London, Switzerland and Sydney. In 1974, he performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City. In 1976, he performed at the World's Fair in Canada. Among other international experiences, he has also given performances in Dubai (1979), Jerusalem (1989), and at the Film Fare Festival of India in 1998.

Traditional Sri Lankan dance is generally divided into two styles: "Low-country dancing" which is found in coastal regions and is generally used in exorcistic ceremonies, and "Up-country dancing" which flourished in the hill region around the ancient capital of Kandy, and so is often called "Kandyan dancing". It is to this latter style of dancing that Mr. Surasena and his troupe belong. Kandyan dance is currently featured at one of the great summertime Buddhist festivals of Sri Lanka, the Esala Perahera, but is also a part of any number of ritual occasions. A leading expert on Sinhalese dance has described it in the following manner: "Attired in frilled costumes, their beads and breastplates glistening and their anklets and headdresses sparkling in the mysterious light of torches, the dancers pirouette, skip and whirl to the beat of the drums, executing astonishing acrobatics in mid-air. The performance culminates in a gesture of obeisance performed with hands folded in worship before the altar of the god. In this scenario, the dancer doubles as a shaman or priest who has expressed his devotion to his god in terms of rhythm and movement."

One of the special features of Kandyan dancing is that it is taught to girls as well as to boys. Indeed, Mr. Surasena's troupe consists of himself, two female dancers, and two male drummers.