‘Mihamba,’ a dance drama produced by the Sinhala Literary Society of Ladies’ College, Colombo, will be performed at the school auditorium on Friday (30) and Saturday (31). It will be the fourth of a set of five productions to commemorate the school’s 125th anniversary.

Principal Deepika Dassenaike said that all events associated with the celebration had been carefully designed to offer the perspective of the child.

“It’s for children, with children, and through the eyes of children,” she said, adding that the events were framed by the concept of ‘the past propelling the future.’

“We have already produced a Tamil dance drama called ‘Penmaiyai Pottruwom’ (In praise of womanhood) presented by the Tamil Manavar Sangam, a water ballet titled ‘Everland’ based on the Peter Pan story but with a Ladies’ College twist, and ‘The Splendour of Easter’ a 125-voice cantata.

“There will also be a four-day music festival celebrating past musicals produced by the school,” Dassenaike added.

‘Mihamba’ is an original script written by the school’s drama and theatre teacher Wasana Dharmadasa. It is the third dance drama she has directed, following ‘Sakuntala’ (2013) and ‘Lavinia’ (2015).

“The story revolves around a ‘siththara’ or painter who likes to draw the female form. The idea for the plot was given to me by Ravibandhu Vidyapathy who, along with Sarada Chulasinghe, composed the music. Our dancing teacher, Pushpika Dissanayake, spent countless hours training the girls and a lot of credit should go to her,” Dharmadasa said.

She further explained that in line with the celebration of the school, the production drew heavily from the natural environment of Ladies’ College. She added that the story itself spoke to and championed the natural world in all its enchantment and beauty.

Sinhala Literary Society President Duvini Coilpillai, who plays the painter, spoke about the hard work the girls had put in to “get it right” and thanked Dharmadasa who, in addition to writing the script, had handled the entire choreographing aspect, as well as Dissanayake, who had sacrificed much of her time to make sure the girls got their steps right. 

The society’s Vice President Suhasha Wijesinghe said that it had been a wonderful experience and that all the girls involved had not only enjoyed the rehearsals but had discovered new skills as well.

‘Mihamba’ will be shown at the school auditorium on Friday to cap the annual Sinhala Day, with a performance for the public on the following day.