Dances Gallery

Sri Lanka - Geta Beraya and Udekkiya players

Traditional Sri Lankna drums and drummers. The standing player is holding a hill country drum called the Geta Beraya (a drum with a knot). This is the main drum used to accompany dance sequences in all Kandyan rituals. The right face is covered with the hide of a monkey or monitor lizard and the left side is covered with cattle hide, which is used to provide a finer sound. The seated player is holding a Udekkiya, a very handy drum predominantly used during Kandyan rituals and folk dances. It is played with one hand while handling and controlling the sound by pressure applied on the string and Sawarama with the other. Date: circa 1908

© Mary Evans / Grenville Collins Postcard Collection

Margaret Morris (1891 - 1980), British dancer, choreographer and teacher

Margaret Morris (1891 - 1980), British dancer, choreographer and teacher. Photograph s showing her in various poses during her dance as a tree spirit, typical of the Isadora Duncan technique that she advocated. Morris founded the co-educational Margaret Morris School which taught dancing, painting and music and the Sketch advertises the "Children's Season", performances by her students lasting four weeks. Date: 1921

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Lingering music sheet cover

Music sheet for Lingering, performed at The Palais de Danse, London. The music was written by T. W. Thurban and the words by John P. Harrington. A couple are dancing in the foreground, the woman wearing a little red dress, the man in a harlequin costume. In the background a fancy dress ball at The Palais de Danse is underway. Date: 1921

© Mary Evans Picture Library/TAH Collection