About Us
SandaWaruna Art of Dance is a Sri Lankan-American performing artist duo and school. SWAD is co-founded by Sandani Sulochani and Waruna Hemachandra who specialize in three of the island’s distinct dance and percussive forms:
Udarata (Kandyan), Pahatharata (Low-Country), and Sabaragamuwa.
While "SandaWaruna" is a combination of our names, the phrase also means "worshipping the moon" - a symbolic and spiritual aspect of Sri Lankan culture.
We post media-based dance content on our YouTube channel, host live performances and lectures, offer performance commissions for your artistic, scholarly, and professional events, invite multidisciplinary collaboration requests, and offer weekly adult dance-fitness classes. We also work with local performing arts companies to train and choreograph young dancers for various events across the Sri Lankan diaspora.
About Sandani
Sandani Sulochani is a renowned dancer and choreographer from Sri Lanka. She began performing at age ___ from ___. She received both her Bachelors and Masters of Arts in Dance at the University of Kelaniya in Sri Lanka. Sandani also holds a visharad (professional certification) of Kathak dance from the Bhatkhande Sangit Vidyapith in Lucknow, India and a National Diploma in Choreography from the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute in Colombo. Sandani’s graduate research provides an in-depth overview of Vajira Chitrasena, Sri Lanka’s first professional Kandyan dancer, and the dance pedagogy she created. After receiving her graduate degrees, Sandani became a frequent guest lecturer at the University of Kelaniya and Ladies’ College while teaching and performing as one of the lead members of the acclaimed Chitrasena Dance Company.
About Waruna
Waruna Hemachandra is a distinguished Sri Lankan percussionist, composer, and choreographer, renowned for his mastery of the traditional drums of the island. Born into a lineage of esteemed dancers and drummers, Waruna’s artistic journey began at the age of seven, under the tutelage of his uncle, Guru Udayapriya Kumara. Waruna’s passion for rhythm led him to pursue formal education in percussion at the University of the Visual and Performing Arts in Colombo, where he honed his skills. In 2012, Waruna founded his own percussion band, “Dinaadah,” which quickly rose to prominence as one of Colombo’s leading ensembles. After completing his studies, Waruna served as the lead drum instructor and a primary drummer at the prestigious Chitrasena Dance Company, Sri Lanka’s oldest performing arts institution. In 2021, Waruna and the Chitrasena Dance Company’s principal dancer, Thaji Dias, collaborated with reVerb, a Berlin-based video performance collective, for a curatorial video and VR installation titled “Transient Exposure: Parampara,” which translates as “generation to generation.”
Our Journey Together
As performance partners through drumming and dancing and life partners as husband and wife, Waruna and Sandani have showcased their performing arts traditions across the world. With the Chitrasena Dance Company, Waruna and Sandani have performed across Sri Lanka, India, at the Sydney Festival in Australia, and the Esplanade Festival in Singapore. Through the Chitrasena Dance Compnay’s collaboration with Nrityagram, a premiere Odissi dance institution in India, Waruna and Sandani have performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the MET Museum in New York, and over 12 other performing arts venues and universities across the United States. For these productions of “Samhāra” and “Āhuti,” the performers received numerous accolades, including a nomination for Best Choreography of the Year by The New York Times and on the list for Best Dance Performance in 2021 and 2022. Now that they live in Southern California, Sandani is the lead dance for the Thath Jith Dance Company while Waruna is the lead percussion instructor for the Sri Lankan Foundation. Together, they continue to perform for various cultural events in the US, including: Sri Lanka Day; Sri Lankan Independence Day; Avurudu (New Year) festivities; matrimonial ceremonies; school events; and many more.
Through our creative collective, SandaWaruna Art of Dance, we plan to share our passion for Sri Lankan performing arts through our YouTube channel, social media, and other collaborative events.
We invite you on this creative journey with us!