The Wonderful World of Dance tomorrow

Paul Upali 

Tara Cooke

Natasha Jayasuriya

Rendez-Vous with Yasmin and Kumar this month links France and Sri Lanka through the wonderful world of dance.

The show combines classical, contemporary and Sri Lankan traditional dance forms with one common language … Dance.

Rendez-Vous with Yasmin and Kumar will be available on Sunday 30 January at 19:00 hours (Sri Lanka time) on the YouTube channel of the Embassy of France in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

A brief history of ballet will trace its beginnings which began in the courts of the French kings. Louis XIV was himself a wonderful dancer. The Ballet de la Nuit, premiered in 1653 with the 14- year-old Louis XIV as Apollo, the Sun King (Le Roi Soleil). Linking the different elements on the show is the Paris-based Franco-Sri Lankan Paul Upali Gouëllo, a professional contemporary dancer from the celebrated Jean Claude Gallotta Company in France. He was in Sri Lanka on holiday over Christmas and the New Year and reconnected with the country of his birth through dance. 

Others featured on the show are Natasha Jayasuriya from the Deana School of Dancing, Kapila Palihawadena from the nAatanda Dance Company, Tara Cooke from the Ballet School of Colombo as well as Upeka Chitrasena who shares her unforgettable experiences of performing at the Theatre du Soleil in Paris with Ariane Mnouchkine.  Closing the show is a fascinating cultural dialog between classical Odissi dance from India and traditional Kandyan dance from Sri Lanka that transcends all barriers and seamlessly brings the world together through dance.

Kapila Palihawadana

Paul Upali at the Chitrasena Kalayathanaya