By APA Staff

Just what the doctor ordered: responsible for three of the evening's most electric dance pieces, Sinduri Jayasinghe tried to put the crisis in perspective.

Interview with Dr. Sinduri Jayasinghe

February 9th, 2005

Interviewed by Brian Hu

Film Edit by Florence Ip

Transcription by Chi Tung

APA: Actually, we were just talking to the younger students who did the Bollywood-style dancing, we were asking them what they thought about you. So what do you think about them?

Dr. Sinduri: They're fun, they're good. There's a lot of lively movements, so it puts one in a happy mood when you see such fast movements. It's good -- I enjoyed it.

APA: Seeing as this is a tsunami benefit concert -- how did you choose your piece? Was it a response to something or was it something you were working on?

DS: Actually, the day that it happened, I was really hurt and then I couldn't sleep for at least a week. I was there, I was thinking this was something I had to do. Being a dancer, I thought if my dance was useful to collect some funds for a good cause...I'm very happy to do this for a good cause, so i'd like to do this more and more.

APA: The first piece that you performed, you said that it was about prayer. What about the second piece?

DS: The one in the second half?

APA: Yeah.

DS: The second half is also like loving Krishna. It's also sort of a prayer; through our dance form, we pray for good, so that these things won't happen again.

APA: After the tsunami -- it was obviously really tragic -- but do you think this will open more oportunites for more cultures to emerge? Because if it wasn't for the tsunami, we wouldn't be watching everyone...

DS: Yes, you're right, through the tsunami, we've come to know more about each and everybody, for example, Sri Lanka, a lot of people don't know about Sri Lanka. We are all becoming closer and loving more, we are all respecting each other's art. In one way, it's sad what happened, but we should all love each other and pray to God. But with strong prayers, something like this won't come across again.

APA: Thanks for your time.

DS: Thank you.

Published: Thursday, February 17, 2005