The curtain slowly rose. The audience was in rapt anticipation. The trio of dancers slowly came on stage. Heenbaba-the virtuoso, Surasena-his brother and this writer. The performance commenced and Heenbaba danced amidst the exhilarating beats which in its driving rhythms utilized the sophisticated subtleties of pitch and timbre. A notable feature of this art is that the communication between dancer and drummer is unique, in that the drummer has to anticipate the dancer’s moves and utilize the rhythms and beats to synchronize perfectly.
In other words, the dancer controls the drummer. Terrific vitality with spectacular whirls and leaps effortlessly controlled from the slightest curve of the hand to the most energetic gyrations and gesticulations showed the exquisite virtuosity of this dancer, who captivated the capacity packed audience. This was not in Sri Lanka, but at the Carnegie Hall, New York, in the USA. This performance was slated as the most successful dance presentation at that time not only in the Oriental field but also in the art of dance, and was part of a coast to coast tour which included 22 major cities and covered the University of California at Los Angeles, the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, and culminated at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York. At all these performances Heenbaba and his troupe received standing ovations.
This was Mudadeniya Mulyakdessalage Heenbaba Dharmasiri Gurunanse from the Nittawela family and his Dance and Drum Ensemble bringing international fame to his motherland through the art of pure unadulterated tradition of Kandyan Dancing. This great and renowned master of the Kandyan dance form was born on April 3, 1922, at Mudadeniya in the Kandy District and learnt the intricacies of this great art under the skilled tutelage of his uncle, Nittawela Gunaya Gurunnanse for a period of 18 years after which he was deemed competent enough to be ‘convocated’ in the donning of the Ves.
The first ever foreign tour by a Kandyan Dancing Troupe was organized by the Ceylon Tourist Board where he was entrusted with the task of combining and selecting the then cultural icons and fellow artistes and leading them. The Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Gold Medal was won by him and his renowned drummer Hunupola Poola Gurunanse for their performance during this tour. Heenbaba has danced in five Continents and 58 countries, including Russia, Poland, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Pakistan, the Middle East, Australia and Japan, where his performances enthralled capacity audiences. In 1957, he attended the Moscow Arts Festival held in Russia with fellow artistes, Vasantha Kumara, Makuloluwa, Gomis Gurunanse (the famous exponent of the Southern Province dancing), Pani Bharatha, K. S. Fernando, Anura Algama, Chitrasena, Amaradeva, Suramba and Ukkuva.
At a UNESCO Poster Competition held in 1957, a poster of Heenbaba in his ‘Ves’ regalia won the first prize among 51 competing countries and Heenbaba was seen proudly autographing and distributing these posters in his many trips abroad.
Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, Abraham C. Beame, the then Mayor of New York, Lord Soulbury, Indira Ghandhi are among the famous personalities who made friends with Heenbaba and gifted him accolades.
As a dancing teacher, Heenbaba taught for 34 years at Lumbini Maha Vidyalaya and in his spare time he taught at St. Peter’s College, S. Thomas’ College, Holy Family Convent, Visakha and Anula Vidyalaya and also at his Kalayathanaya in Ukuwela and Colombo. The traditional Namaskara befitting a Guru was bestowed on him at the commencement and end of each lesson by his students, venerating him. The ’Ves Pettiya’ - the box containing the costume was personally carried by him since it was sacred to a dancer. The tradition of the art of Kandyan Dancing was handed down from father to son for over 20,00 years and today his son and grandson are continuing in this legendary art. His magnanimity was such that he did not even levy a fee on his needy students. He was such a gentle teacher that he never penalized his pupils even when they made mistakes but laughed them away. He never uttered a harsh word but endeared himself to all his pupils with his loving demeanour in which he loved, cherished and coaxed his pupils into learning the intricacies of his art. All his earnings were spent on the development of his Kalayathanaya (Cultural Centre) at Ukuwela.
Innumerable are the times he has performed for the leaders of our country, such as, President J. R. Jayewardene and Prime Minister R. Premadasa. Three months before his untimely death Heenbaba was presented with the Prime Minister’s Award by Ranasinghe Premadasa, the Prime Minster of Sri Lanka.
His efforts in selflessly promoting and preserving the pristine glory of the pure unadulterated and unique art form of the Kandyan Dance in Sri Lanka in its traditional form must be lauded and appreciated by all culture loving people of our land.
This unique tradition of dancing is now being carried on by his son Premaratne Dharmasiri and his wife Sandhya. They have been teaching this intricate art to pupils throughout the island for the past 40 years. Their son Nadith Dilsara Dharmasiri is also following in the family tradition. It is regrettable that this immensely talented and gifted virtuoso of our country who brought international fame to the motherland has been relegated to the limbo of forgotten things. His is a memory that must always be remembered and cherished by the people of our country for all time.
Heenbaba passed away at the zenith of his career after his successful US Tour in 1978 on Christmas Day, 40 years ago. This writer had the privilege of learning the rudiments of this exacting dance form from a very early age of five years from Nittawela Gunaya Gurunanse and subsequently from Heenbaba and had the prerogative of performing with him at the Smithsonian Institute, Carnegie Hall and other prestigious places in the United States. May he attain the sublime solace of Moksha!