Sri Lankan Dance Origin

History and Origin
Primitive man lived in communities alone the rivers. they had agriculture based economy. they had a close relationship with the nature. some of the things in nature became their Gods From the beginning the man was afraid of over abundance of nature.
E.G. : floods, drought and wind etc�they thought that there are super natural powers behind these and started offering things. as a results different dancing forms developed.

Concept of dancing in Sri Lanka starts with �Kohombakankariya� in 4th century B.C. during the period of pandukabhaya. people used dancing in retails, to get rid of natural disasters, sickness �etc. during Anuradhapura period also there had been dancing as Mahavamsa
(The great chronicle of Sri Lanka) speak of procession of the tooth relic. At the end of polonnaruwa period lots of Indian influence came in to our dancing. Kandy had an independent form of dancing yet with Hindu influence. In the south during the period of king kavantissa(1st century B.C.) a dancing form was developed and there fore you can see lot of dancing and retails in the south. during the period of kotte also a dancing form developed and we now call it �Sabaragamuwa dance "

Today you can find three main dancing form in
Sri Lanka
1) Kandyan dancing
2) Low country dance
3) Sabaragamuwa dance
4) Baratha Natyam
Only men take part in Kandyan dancing and the drum called �udarata beraya� or �gataberaya� accompany the dance.
Low country (Pahatharata) dance has a lot of dramas in it �maru sanniya�, �giri devi�, �shanthi karma� are some of them. �kolam� too comes under this but with masks. The drum called �pahatha rata beraya� or"yak beraya� or �thovil beraya� accompany the dance.
In Sabaragamuwa dancing mainly men take part and ladies too allowed �sindu mathraya, gaman mathraya, yakpada mathraya, patu thala mathraya are some of them. The drums called �daula� or �thammattama� accompanied the dance
and also have Bharata Natyam in Sri Lanka

MY PROFESSIONAL CURRICULUM VITAE

It is a pleasure to introduce myself; my name is BERNY Vijaya Kaludewa, I am a young Sri Lankan man living in Southern Sri Lanka.
I’m a very talented, creative and versatile Sri Lankan Cultural Dancer.
I finished the A-level successfully after 2 years cultural dancing at the Sumangala Collage dance department in the town of Hikkaduwa in 1999. Following that I obtained my External Diploma of National Dancing of Sri Lanka.
Subsequent to finishing my education, I gained valuable experience as a cultural dancer participating in multiple traditional ceremonies and local events. I am a skilled organizer and choreographer of many kinds of dances as well as being qualified to play Sri Lankan traditional dance instruments such as: Geta Beraya, Pahatha rata Beraya, Dhawula, Thammettama, and Jemby in addition to some African instruments.
As a result of my formal education and experience, I have also developed my own style of dancing involving nature and animal motifs and well as my own interpretation of traditional Sri Lankan themes.
My experience qualifies me to organize all sorts of cultural dance programs for various occasions as such as:
• wedding ceremonies
• Buddhist ceremonies
• festival ceremonies, like the Perahera
• dinner and private parties
• touristic exhibits
Please don’t hesitate to contact me and discuss you wishes. I can help you develop your own ideas as well as execute the event in order that you may better concentrate on having a good time. I guarantee that I’ll give one of the best Sri Lankan performances.

OTHER INTERESTS AND SOCIAL WORK

Given the fact that I am a certified Dance Instructor I teach all kinds of students, Sri Lankan children of all ages as well as tourists or local foreign residents.
My contribution to the Sri Lankan community in the form of charity work has been to work with groups of needy and disadvantaged children. It brings me great satisfaction to convey happiness though dancing to young disadvantaged students who otherwise would have little exposure to such a rewarding activity. Dance and music allows them to momentarily forget their problems, brings smiles to their faces which gives me tremendous joy.