About

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Hello, and welcome! Thank you for dropping by Gaman Thaale.

My name is Swadhi, and I’m a dancer practicing mainly within the Sinhalese classical, folk, and modern traditions. I’ve been dancing for over 20 years and have gained experience in a number of other styles, particularly Latin dance, jazz/musical theatre, Bollywood, and contemporary.

This site is a space for me to reflect on various topics related to the performance arts, including, but not limited to, history and politics, aesthetics, kinaesthetics, musicology, etc. I also hope to build the site overtime into a significant resource/archive on Sinhalese dance, including a comprehensive glossary and bibliography. So, my aim is basically twofold: (1) develop my own ideas through theory and practice, while (2) compiling and promoting Sinhalese cultural knowledge.

Because my interests and experiences are diverse, cutting across disciplines and cultures, this blog will necessarily meander. That is why the site is called “gaman thaale,” named after a stylized walking step in Sinhalese dance (ගමන් තාලෙ – literally “the journey rhythm”), during which performers gather energy while gauging and engaging the entirety of the performance space.