History & Legend of Sri Lankan Dance

Prior to starting my Module 3 with MA Professional Practise in Dance, I thought I'd have a quick recap of my specialty: Kandyan Dance.

As we all know, I am all things Kandyan dance. I perform it, teach it, choreograph it and conduct workshops around the country and now I am researching it - we will get to that later.

Let me tell you a little bit about the history and legend of the country..

The name: 
Ceylon - now known by as Sri Lanka is often referred to as an independent island; because of its jewel-like shape, its also been called the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. The Aryan Prince Vijaya, when he landed in the island 2500 years ago called it Thambapanni - the red land which the Greeks later adapted to Thaprobane.  It was also known as Serendib by ancient Arab navigators who believed that our most sacred mountain, which they named Adam's Peak, was the one on which Noah's Art rested. Lanka was known to King Solomon of Israel, to the ancient Egyptians and records prove that we had Ambassadors in the Court of the Roman Emperor Augustus in 22 B.C.

Set like a jewelled penance on the Southern-most tip of India, and providing a variety of landscape beauty which few countries in the world can equal, Sri Lanka with its golden, sun-kissed beaches, its mountains cascading waterfall, is one of the most attractive tourist sports in the world today.

King Vijaya:
The recorded history of the country begins with the arrival of the Aryans in 500BC. The ancient chronicle the Mahawansa, tells us that when Prince Vijaya landed on our shores, he found the Yakka queen Kuweni who ruled Sri Lanka at the time, weaving on her spinning wheel.

This is indicative of a highly developed civilisation prevalent in Sri Lanka at that time. He also heard music, drumming and singing coming from a wedding ceremony in the distance, which tells us that this was an important aspect of our ancient heritage.

I look forward to blogging more about Sri Lanka, it's heritage and the connectivity to traditional dance over the next couple months!

Excited to start the next term!

Dilini
- The Kandyan Dancer

First and foremost..

Friday 14th 5pm 2018 - Skype

It was a pleasant way to begin the MA Dance (Specialisation) journey where I was greeted by the module leaders of the course via Skype. We were told that this was the beginning of many sessions where we will be talking all things dance.. how exciting!

After going through Dr Adesola's screen of MyUniHub page (https://myunihub.mdx.ac.uk) and navigating through different sections, getting ourselves familiar with how to use the portal - we were told how these sessions will continue every first Sunday of the month. That we will initiate discussions amongst ourselves and then reflect on what was being said through our blogs.

Though it wasn't clear who on the call will be doing what, there were at least 10+ students on the call.  Each with different dance stories, backgrounds and knowledge. This is what will be the most exciting this about this course; how dance will connect everyone with different backgrounds and experiences under one platform.

I look forward to starting this new chapter of my dance life!

Everyone else, Welcome to Middlesex University :)

Until next time,
Dils - The Kandyan Dancer