SUMMARY
As a Sri Lankan Canadian, I had many obstacles to overcome both in finding my identity and pursuing my dream of dancing professionally. In 2011, I began training at the Dance Theatre of Harlem, a leading multi-cultural dance institution that was created to address racial inequalities. My performance and teaching experience with the Dance Theatre of Harlem School inspired me to broaden this vision to people of my own ethnicity, and women globally.
In 2014, I created The Brown Girl Project, an educational outreach program that would premiere in Sri Lanka. The program was designed to open discussion about expanding opportunities for women of colour and inspiring girls to pursue their dreams. The performance, "Vivartana," will premiere July 2014 in Sri Lanka. It will include a classical ballet performance, a dance class, and a multimedia history presentation at no cost to participants or participating schools.
The presentation, complete with videos and graphic animation, reviews the history of Dance Theatre of Harlem from its inception to present success. Along the way, students make connections to significant events and eras such as the slave trade, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, and the abolishment of apartheid in South Africa.
For more information about "Vivartana" performance dates click here.
BACKGROUND
Growing up as a Sri Lankan Canadian girl gave me the sense that I could live the American dream but that I shouldn't expect to enjoy the same privileges as my classmates. I was too young to understand racial discrimination, but I did understand that even my gender had already defined my role in society. Reclaiming my identity, free from these barriers, took years. This is the main reason I feel the need to compel young women especially of my ethnicity to be a generation of confident, independent thinkers, and community leaders.
Sri Lanka is still a developing nation and poverty forces many girls out of school. Lack of education and a sense of autonomy creates women who cannot defend themselves or help to build a strong community. On the economic flip-side, Sri Lankan girls do attend good colleges, but few choose a male-dominated career. Academic success is determined by two levels of critical exams, and the competition is fierce. Girls, who are already guarded from the world, are even more homebound with their textbooks. What does success look like to these young women? Do they have role models in their communities who challenge their idea of success?
Inspiration for The Brown Girl Project came from my dance training at the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH). The Dance Theatre of Harlem has always strived to challenge the stereotypes of African-Americans in ballet, while also addressing economic and cultural disparity. Their educational outreach program, Dancing Through Barriers, was created during DTH's historically unprecedented tour to Johannesburg, South Africa in 1992. The program toured to various apartheid-segregated townships with lecture demonstrations and master-classes. DTH founder, Arthur Mitchell, insisted that workshops be free and theatre tickets subsidized to prevent an audience of solely wealthy whites. "Whether you're in Harlem or Europe or South Africa, it's the quality of what you do," Mitchell said. "Truth is correct and will hit everybody." DTH's current Artistic Director, Virginia Johnson, said at the time, "I see it happening all over the world - people are real dubious about black people doing ballet. To see their wonderment, excitement, to know that anyone with an opportunity can do what they want to do. Dance, arts, are things that bring people together."
I found my own experience with performing and teaching in DTH's local outreach programs, and speaking with audiences to be inspiring and rewarding. Children who saw dancers of colour perform and speak about Afro-futurism expressed pride in who they were and they showed a great interest in how the dancers had come to be where they are today. They saw beauty and wanted that for themselves. That is what I want for young people in Sri Lanka.
As an artist, this program has impacted the significance of dance for me. The ability to share this art form is the greatest gift I have to offer, and I look forward to hearing from audiences about what their dreams are.
The presentation, complete with videos and graphic animation, reviews the history of Dance Theatre of Harlem from its inception to present success. Along the way, students make connections to significant events and eras such as the slave trade, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, and the abolishment of apartheid in South Africa.
For more information about "Vivartana" performance dates click here.
BACKGROUND
Growing up as a Sri Lankan Canadian girl gave me the sense that I could live the American dream but that I shouldn't expect to enjoy the same privileges as my classmates. I was too young to understand racial discrimination, but I did understand that even my gender had already defined my role in society. Reclaiming my identity, free from these barriers, took years. This is the main reason I feel the need to compel young women especially of my ethnicity to be a generation of confident, independent thinkers, and community leaders.
Sri Lanka is still a developing nation and poverty forces many girls out of school. Lack of education and a sense of autonomy creates women who cannot defend themselves or help to build a strong community. On the economic flip-side, Sri Lankan girls do attend good colleges, but few choose a male-dominated career. Academic success is determined by two levels of critical exams, and the competition is fierce. Girls, who are already guarded from the world, are even more homebound with their textbooks. What does success look like to these young women? Do they have role models in their communities who challenge their idea of success?
Inspiration for The Brown Girl Project came from my dance training at the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH). The Dance Theatre of Harlem has always strived to challenge the stereotypes of African-Americans in ballet, while also addressing economic and cultural disparity. Their educational outreach program, Dancing Through Barriers, was created during DTH's historically unprecedented tour to Johannesburg, South Africa in 1992. The program toured to various apartheid-segregated townships with lecture demonstrations and master-classes. DTH founder, Arthur Mitchell, insisted that workshops be free and theatre tickets subsidized to prevent an audience of solely wealthy whites. "Whether you're in Harlem or Europe or South Africa, it's the quality of what you do," Mitchell said. "Truth is correct and will hit everybody." DTH's current Artistic Director, Virginia Johnson, said at the time, "I see it happening all over the world - people are real dubious about black people doing ballet. To see their wonderment, excitement, to know that anyone with an opportunity can do what they want to do. Dance, arts, are things that bring people together."
I found my own experience with performing and teaching in DTH's local outreach programs, and speaking with audiences to be inspiring and rewarding. Children who saw dancers of colour perform and speak about Afro-futurism expressed pride in who they were and they showed a great interest in how the dancers had come to be where they are today. They saw beauty and wanted that for themselves. That is what I want for young people in Sri Lanka.
As an artist, this program has impacted the significance of dance for me. The ability to share this art form is the greatest gift I have to offer, and I look forward to hearing from audiences about what their dreams are.