GR Visions S’pore presents ‘Harmony” on 28 Feb.

GR Visions Singapore has announced “Harmony”, an exhilarating concert of dance and music featuring lead artiste Sharmila Gunasingham, accomplished exponent of classical Indian Odissi dance, and Guy Manoukian, the award winning Lebanese Armenian musician.

Sharmila will be partnered by Ramli Ibrahim, her Guru and the world’s leading male Odissi exponent.  Accompanying the lead artistes will be musicians from Singapore, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka and the Middle East.    It is an array of talent never before seen in such a phenomenal combination.   This historic performance originally produced and premiered in Singapore, will be performed in Colombo for one performance only on 28 February at the prestigious Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre.  

Sharmila and Guy both embody the concept of yin and yang at its most essential.  While both have been trained as lawyers confident in the world of reason and analysis, they embody the power of the human spirit to also excel in cultural and artistic talents attaining great heights in the process.   

Audiences in Colombo will be able to witness for themselves this never before experienced cultural fusion on 28 February at the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre.   The musical harmony of the Middle East, Indian, and Chinese musicians  will seamlessly fuse together to bring to life the dance of India, the dance of the timeless statuettes of Ajanta and Ellora, sensuous, ecstatic – music and dance harmoniously woven together to enthral and captivate. Sharmila Gunasingham and Ramli Ibrahim will portray Radha and Krishna the supreme souls of love and ecstasy as they dance together, willed on by the hypnotic Guzheng with its sounds of the gurgling brook.  It is said that Krishna enchants the world, but Radha enchants even Him. Therefore she is the supreme goddess of all. Together they become Radha Krishna, the ultimate example of harmony and love.

Sharmila received her training from a number of renowned gurus including her childhood Guru Jayaluxshmi Kandiah as well as from Gurus Smt Kamakshi Jayaraman, Smt Guruvayur Usha Dorai, Smt Geeta Ket, cultural medallion holder Neila Satyalingam, Ramli Ibrahim and Padma Shri Madhavi Mudgal. While she comes from a Tamil community that traditionally performs the South Indian Bharata Natyam style of dance, Sharmila mastered Odissi Indian dance as well as Bharata Natyam forms of dance. Her Odissi reached heights when she partnered her Guru Ramli Ibrahim, the leading exponent of Odissi in the world.

Guy Manoukian, known as the maestro of Arabic music, is an accomplished musician, composer and producer.  A child prodigy who began playing the piano at the age of four, Guy began composing at the tender age of eight and performed his first public concert at the age of 16. A lawyer by training, he has been performing professionally to critical and audience acclaim since 1997.  

Guy has performed with his orchestra all over the world to millions of fans. Fusing Arabic with Armenian, Kurdish Assyrian, Chaldean and Greek music, his live performances receive standing ovations in major cities of the world, including Singapore, Dubai, Lebanon and Cairo.  At the prestigious Middle Eastern Beiteddine festival, which draws famous performers from across the world including the likes of Elton John, Ricky Martin and UB40, he performed to high acclaim and was accompanied by the internationally renowned Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra with guest performer Mario Reyes from the Gypsy Kings.