Kandyan Dance Verslag
Stella Wessels 4V5
6/11/2014
Rangahala Kandyan Dance
On my holiday to Sri Lanka one of the must-do’s was to visit the Kandyan dance performance. It was a show where native people would dance the traditional Kandyan Dance. It is a dance form that originated in the area called Kandy but today it had been widespread to other parts of the countryIt was nice to be able to experience the Sri Lankan culture in this way.
The theatre is located in Kandy, one of the biggest cities of Sri Lanka. It was a relatively small theatre so we were lucky that there weren’t a lot of people. The entrance of the theatre and the venue didn’t feel welcoming because of the lack of decoration and certain facilities. Later the energetic and enthusiastic display by the group made up for that.
The decor wasn’t very impressive. It was just a few colored spotlights. However I adored the costumes the dancers were wearing. The detail on the costumes was exquisite. For example the little bells and ruffles. All of the men wore a decorative beaded net on their chest. I thought that it was very unique, I had never seen it before. This sort of a costume is called a Ves costume which are worn by the
Ves dance. (I will come back to that dance later.) They also wore a headdress which incorporated a metallic front which makes the dancer look taller than he is. Headgear is not worn by women because they believe that when they do they will get very sick or have bad luck.
The show started with the blowing of a conch shell. They call the shell a Hakgediya. It is a traditional welcome. We were introduced to the Orchestra which consisted out of five groups of traditional instruments. The drums playing the biggest part. The Kandyan Dance actually is traditionally performed to percussion only. The most common drum is the Geta Beraya. A smaller pair of cymbals knownas he Thalampota is used to keep the rhythm. Another pair of drums is a twin drum
The theater
The costumes of the Ves dance
The Ves dance
called
6/11/2014
Rangahala Kandyan Dance
On my holiday to Sri Lanka one of the must-do’s was to visit the Kandyan dance performance. It was a show where native people would dance the traditional Kandyan Dance. It is a dance form that originated in the area called Kandy but today it had been widespread to other parts of the countryIt was nice to be able to experience the Sri Lankan culture in this way.
The theatre is located in Kandy, one of the biggest cities of Sri Lanka. It was a relatively small theatre so we were lucky that there weren’t a lot of people. The entrance of the theatre and the venue didn’t feel welcoming because of the lack of decoration and certain facilities. Later the energetic and enthusiastic display by the group made up for that.
The decor wasn’t very impressive. It was just a few colored spotlights. However I adored the costumes the dancers were wearing. The detail on the costumes was exquisite. For example the little bells and ruffles. All of the men wore a decorative beaded net on their chest. I thought that it was very unique, I had never seen it before. This sort of a costume is called a Ves costume which are worn by the
Ves dance. (I will come back to that dance later.) They also wore a headdress which incorporated a metallic front which makes the dancer look taller than he is. Headgear is not worn by women because they believe that when they do they will get very sick or have bad luck.
The show started with the blowing of a conch shell. They call the shell a Hakgediya. It is a traditional welcome. We were introduced to the Orchestra which consisted out of five groups of traditional instruments. The drums playing the biggest part. The Kandyan Dance actually is traditionally performed to percussion only. The most common drum is the Geta Beraya. A smaller pair of cymbals knownas he Thalampota is used to keep the rhythm. Another pair of drums is a twin drum
The theater
The costumes of the Ves dance
The Ves dance
called