Last weekend a small group of us visited one of Sarvodaya’s children’s homes in Galle. Within five minutes of walking through the doors we had tens of small girls hanging off our arms as we played games, sang songs and ran squealing around the grassy yard. Even after a tiring week planning lessons, painting murals and teaching students from a wide spectrum of ages, we still relished the opportunity to use our weekend to run around with these girls who had seemingly endless supplies of energy.During the afternoon I contemplated just how many times in the past month I had sung and danced the hokey kokey with a different tiny hand clutching my own as we ran, faces beaming into the circle. Song and dance had yet again proved the ideal ice breaker with people of all ages.
At Moraketiara we are currently rehearsing some musical pieces which we plan to perform in a cultural show near the end of our stay. I am personally working with the eldest students, with whom we are producing ‘The Circle of Life’ from the Lion King. It was hard to explain to the girls exactly what we were trying to achieve as neither our Sinhala nor their English quite stretches to the level necessary to explain the intricacies of an African pride. Instead I launched straight into teaching the girls a short sequence that I had choreographed earlier, explaining everything through actions and repetition of movements. They picked it up exceptionally quickly and learnt some language along the way, even if it was only ‘in and out and turn around’! By the end of the session dance had provided the best medium for teaching, asking questions, making jokes and forming friendships.
Dance and Drama are also proving integral to forming relationships and teaching the University students at Ruhuna. This week we ran our first dance and drama session on Monday evening and were over the moon to end up working with twenty five enthusiastic and talented students.
In many classes in the University we find that the male students tend to dominate the discussions and more often than not the Sri Lankan girls are quiet and reserved by our standards. It was refreshing and really encouraging to see both girls and boys standing up and having a go at learning western dance. The two hour session ended surprisingly quickly and we look forward to seeing if the class numbers grow for next week.
A few days later the tables turned as I struggled to get to grips with some Sri Lankan dance moves. I attended a two hour dance class; in the traditional cultural Kandian dance style. The class started with the traditional prayer before we could begin dancing. There was one other Sri Lankan girl in the class who tried her best to explain to me what I was required to do as the lesson progressed and the movements became more and more complex. The style and the movements are so different to western classical dance and it was a really interesting but exhausting experience, which seemed at times to resemble more yoga than dance! The two fans whirled around unenthusiastically in the midday heat as the teacher increased the pace of the movements and beat faster and faster rhythms on the long wooden drum. By the end of the lesson I had conquered one and a half routines, with very questionable technique, but at least I could remember the steps. Before leaving I had to kneel and bow at the teachers feet, which until now was an experience I had only experienced from the receiving end.Laura Daykin