International Dance Day is marked on 29 April annually, and is a celebration of dance and its universality. This enables people from different cultures to share a love and passion for dancing, and this year, the spotlight is on mother-daughter duo Ruvini and Taalya Ramanayake, who share a special connection through dance.
Their story is one that connects the past with the present, taking us from 2022 to 2001. Ruvini Ramanayake carried out her maiden performance in Bharatanatyam, also referred to as Arangetram, on 23 December 2001, at Elphinstone Theatre Colombo, under Guru Padmini Dahanayake.
Twenty-one years later, Ruvini’s daughter, Taalya Dineali Ramanayake, had her debut on the same stage as her mother, on 30 October 2022 at the young age of 16, under Guru Dr. Nirmala John of the Nirmalanjali Academy of Bharatanatyam. Taalya is also a student of Colombo International School.
The mother and daughter duo had the same English compere Faizal Bongso, violinist Thibaharan, flautist Priyantha Dassanyake and costume designer Nehara Ratnayake.
Taalya also wore the same dance jewellery her mother wore 21 years ago along with one of her mother’s dance costumes that had been kept in pristine conditions.
Renowned dancer Dr. Subashini Pathmanathan and Bharatanatyam dancer from Chennal Simran Sivakumar graced Taalya’s Arangetram as the chief guest and guest of honour respectively. She said she was incredibly blessed to have her mentors Jerome De Silva, Soundarie David and Dr. Ravibandhu Vidyapathy attending the Arangetram as special invitees. She also got blessings from her mother’s Guru Padmini Dahanayake Ariyadasa.
The mother and daughter have performed together at several dance events, and said they hope to continue their special journey together.
About International Dance Day
International Dance Day was founded by the International Theatre Institute (ITI) in 1982, and marks the birth anniversary of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), the creator of modern ballet. International Dance Day aims to celebrate dance, revel in the universality of this art form, cross all political, cultural and ethnic barriers and bring people together with a common language – dance.
Every year, the ITI Executive Council, in partnership with the ITI Dance Committee and World Dance Alliance, chooses an outstanding dance personality to write the message for International Dance Day. This year, the International Dance Day message is being shared by Yang Liping, who is a Chinese dancer and choreographer.
“Body language is humanity’s most instinctive form of communication. As new-born babies we can use our hands and feet to make dance-like gestures even before we learn to utter a word, and then dance arises from this primitive tongue,” Liping shared.
She added that dance is closely connected to nature and life, and that this is the true essence of dance. “Some people come to this world to carry on their lineage, some come to enjoy life, some come to seek experiences. For me, I am an observer of life. I come to see how a flower blooms and withers, how clouds float, and how dew condenses... Therefore, all my creative inspiration comes from nature and life: the brightness of moonlight, the display of peacocks’ plumage, the transformation of a butterfly from a cocoon, the way a dragonfly skims the water’s surface, the way a caterpillar wriggles, the way ants form a queue...”
Liping’s International Dance Day message goes on to read: “Dancers and choreographers need to listen more attentively to the joys and sorrows of the world, using dance to complete the dialogue we have had with nature, and life which has lasted for thousands of years.”
She concludes by saying that life never ends and dance never stops.