Bare Feet With Mickela Mallozzi

[Cheering] Oh, no!

Aah!

Mallozzi: I'm a dancer, and I'm a traveler, and wherever I go, I experience the world one dance at a time.

I'm Mickela Mallozzi, and this is "Bare Feet."

"Bare Feet" is supported in part by... Announcer: Bloomberg Connects gives you a way to experience the arts from your mobile phone.

You can explore hundreds of cultural organizations from around the world anytime, anywhere.

Learn more at bloombergconnects.org or wherever you find your apps.

Announcer: Road Scholar, offering educational travel adventures for adults since 1975.

Announcer: Additional funding was provided by Koo and Patricia Yuen through the Yuen Foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities.

Mallozzi: These generous supporters.... Announcer: And by the Ann H. Symington Foundation.

[Women singing in Tamil] Mallozzi: Welcome to Staten Island, home to one of the largest concentrations of Sri Lankans outside of the island nation.

A majority of Sri Lankan Americans emigrated to the U.S. in the nineties, coinciding with the start of the Sri Lankan Civil War that ended in 2009.

Sri Lanka has a diverse population of Sinhalese, Tamils, Moors, and Burghers, and its people represent various religions including Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity.

5,000 Sri Lankans have made Staten Island their home together here in Little Sri Lanka.

[Singing continues] My first stop is to visit the Sri Lankan Dance Academy.

[Drum plays steady beats] I meet with Sachindara Navinna, a dancer and teacher here at the academy, along with her young students and their guru Dilhan Pinnagoda.

[Drum playing rapid beat] Mallozzi: I've honestly never seen Sri Lankan dance.

Can I watch?

Of course.

So we're gonna start with namaskaraya.

[Steady drum beats] Namaskaraya is done to show respect to our lords and deities, our teachers, parents.

Theiyath, Theiyath, Theiyath, Thaam.

Sachindara, voice-over: A lot of what we do is very traditional.

There's a lot of rituals that are in it, and we try to keep that many, many years later with our younger generations, as well.

Theiyath, Theiyath, Theiyath, Thaam.

Ayubowan.

After the namaskaraya, we say, "Ayubowan."

It's a sign of respect, greetings, or saying, "Long life," and that's how you would start the class.

Mallozzi, voice-over: Now it's my turn to try some of these dances, starting with the basics.

[Drum playing slow beat] Sachindara is teaching me Kandyan Dance, regarded as the classical dance tradition of Sri Lanka.

The root of Kandyan dances lies in an ancient indigenous village ritual of Sinhalese culture called kohomba kankariya.

The training for Kandyan Dance includes learning basic positions and steps called pa saramba, which increase in difficulty, each becoming more complex than the last.

[Drums speeding up] Aah!

After showing me the first few levels of the simple pa sarambas, Sachindara takes us up to level 11!

[Drums speeding up] Aah!

Awesome!

Ha!

My thighs are on fire, but I feel great.

[Drums playing] Over time, the dances evolved from a ritual into a procession, mainly because the drummers could also dance while playing.

Over the past 70 years, Kandyan Dances evolved into staged performances for secular celebrations, as well.

Mallozzi: I've tried classical Indian dance before... OK. and it feels different.

There's a heavier beat to it.

Sachindara: You're gonna feel that when you learn a little bit more of the drum, as well.

Yeah.

The drummer should know what you're about to do, you should know what the drummer's about to do, and then we go from there.

[Drumming] Dilhan Pinnagoda, the school's guru or teacher, guides the students and passes down the knowledge he learned back in Sri Lanka to this immigrant community here in Staten Island.

[Drumming continues] Mallozzi: I've never heard a rhythm like this.

Dilhan: Yeah.

Actually, you can feel the sound, right?

It's very unique... Yeah.

and we have a lot of different techniques and also a lot of rhythm cycles.

[Drumming continues] What is the name of this instrument?

Geta beraya.

Geta beraya.

Geta beraya.

Yes.

Beraya means drum, so geta means this bump, OK?

Oh, the bump.

OK. Yeah.

So the first exercise is called ta ka ta.

Ta ka ta.

Ta ka ta.

Ta...ka...ta.

Ta...ka...ta.

Ta...ka...ta.

Ta... Second speed.

Ta...ka...ta.

Ta...ka...ta.

It's like musical notes, where you have bass, um, higher pitching sounds, and you're all getting it from one drum.

Yes.

Oh!

You did good.

Mallozzi, voice-over: Kandyan Dances were traditionally danced by men, and only recently in the last century were they adapted by female dancers.

Dilhan's teachings for the Sri Lankan Dance Academy are a cultural gem here in Staten Island and in New York City.

[Recorded drums playing] Mallozzi: What does it feel like to pass this music and dance to these children?

Dilhan: I came here for, you know, American Dream, so I never thought I can get this opportunity to teach my students Sri Lankan culture, Sri Lankan traditional dancing.

It's beautiful.

Yes.

Mallozzi, voice-over: After some vigorous dancing and high concentration of drumming with the Sri Lankan Dance Academy, Dara then takes me to some of her favorite local shops here in Staten Island.

We head to Victory Boulevard, where the official Little Sri Lanka neighborhood begins.

Sri Lankans in Staten Island come here, and they feel like they're at home.

You see a friendly face.

It smells like curries.

Our first stop is going to be a Lanka grocery, a local community grocery store that has everything.

Let's try it!

I already smell the spices, right?

The door's open.

As soon as you enter, it's gonna smell like Sri Lanka.

[Man singing in foreign language] Like this chocolate puff biscuit.

One of my favorites!

[Singing continues] Mallozzi: This is just one entire aisle full of spices.

Sachindara: Yeah.

Things like this I can't find ad ShopRite.

Whoa!

You know what I'm saying?

Garam masala.

So you have bay leaves-- It's a whole mixture.

A whole mixture.

Exactly.

I see a lot of dried fish, dried shrimp.

Sri Lanka is an island.

Uh-huh.

So we do like that seafood, ocean taste.

I know my mom, she'll make dried herrings, and she'll put it with some leeks, potatoes.

It's definitely a good meal right there.

Oh, my God.

That sounds-- I'm getting-- my, like, mouth is watering just you describing that.

This is, by the way, extra hot chili sauce.

That means you guys use a lot of hot sauce in Sri Lankan food.

Even this one.

This is one of my favorites.

Hot and sweet, so you get best of both worlds.

Oh, my gosh.

For sure.

There's so many different things that we get imported here to Staten Island, and it's beautiful because, like, they can come in here and know "Hey.

I can get my favorite snack, I can get my favorite sauce, and I can buy my mom some spices," and it works out very nicely.

And it works out.

Yes.

Yes.

There you go.

Mallozzi, voice-over: Just a few doors down, Dara takes me to one of her favorite local eateries, New Asha Sri Lankan Restaurant.

[Women singing in Tamil] Sachindara: I brought you to one of my favorite chefs Vijayanti here.

I want you to try some short eats.

Short eats.

What does that mean?

Short eats are like... Vijayanti: Appetizer.

Appetizers, finger foods.

Yeah.

Finger foods.

[Singing continues] This is a fish roll.

OK. And there's--ooh!

There's an egg!

Oh.

I'm wrong.

This is an egg fish roll.

They put a full boiled egg in there.

Mmm!

It's spicy!

It's spicy.

I should have warned you.

It's really spicy!

It's a good thing we have mango lassi.

Heh heh heh.

It's very spicy.

[Clears throat] She-- Very spicy.

OK.

This shouldn't be as spicy.

Ha ha ha!

Chickpeas, lentils... Mmm.

My favorite.

ground up, patted together, fried.

Ooh!

It's nice and hot.

Ahh.

Mmm!

It's very similar to a falafel ball.

That's a great-- that's a great comparison.

I didn't think about it.

Sri Lankan falafel.

Yeah.

This is so good and not spicy.

I love it.

Sri Lankan people definitely eat a lot of seafood, but--and a lot of Sri Lankans are Buddhists.

Some Buddhists in Sri Lanka tend to be vegetarian, so the vegetable aspect is very important.

So this is called a fish cutlet.

Mmm!

Very fishy.

Mm-hmm.

Good fishy.

Heh heh heh.

It's delicious.

It's definitely like a smoked salmony, tunay flavor.

Wonderful!

I'm glad you liked it.

I love it.

Mallozzi: For our last stop, Dara takes me to meet with Nirosha Rodrigo, her local seamstress, who is imperative here in the Sri Lankan community.

Nirosha invites us into her very intimate and busy workspace!

Nirosha: I'm making, like, the traditional outfits, Indian and American outfits.

You know, I can make everyone--everything.

Anything.

Anything, anything.

And this is the costume that you were wearing when we were dancing.

Yes.

And you made this?

Yes.

When you see Dara dancing in your costume, how does that make you feel?

Yeah.

I'm very proud.

Yeah.

Yeah.

How did you learn?

I learned from my country especially, but I learned from-- my first sewing teachers are my grandparents.

Oh!

Sachindara: That's another part of her business.

You can come and get dressed by the seamstress.

Mallozzi: Do you get your fabrics from Sri Lanka?

Wow!

Sachindara: Certain saris, there's different ways to drape them, there's different styles.

If you like it on the left, if you like it on the right, if you like it more traditional, modern.

And the Indian style and the Sri Lankan traditional styles, too, is called osaria.

Osaria.

Yes.

Osaria.

Oh, my gosh, Nirosha.

I've never worn a sari in osaria.

Osaria.

Never.

Sachindara: It's really important that we have the ability to come here, just a 15-minute drive, and create an authentic, traditional piece.

This is beautiful!

Thank you!

Oh, my gosh!

I feel like a Sri Lankan princess right now.

Ha ha ha!

Mallozzi, voice-over: My next stop takes me to Lakruwana Restaurant on Bay Street, about 15 minutes away from the official Little Sri Lanka neighborhood in Staten Island.

I meet with Julia Wijesinghe, whose parents started this restaurant almost 30 years ago.

Julia: My dad's whole idea was basically making our customers, our guests to feel like they're in Sri Lanka.

Everything is handmade.

From Sri Lanka?

From Sri Lanka.

It's incredible.

Ha ha!

Saturday-Sunday buffet is when you can actually have, like, a homemade Sri Lankan food.

This is your mom's cooking, home recipes, traditional recipes.

Home recipes.

Yeah.

And I'm sure being part of Little Sri Lanka they want to come here and feel like they're home.

Of course.

Yeah.

Getting a taste of home.

[Man singing in foreign language] Look at this rainbow of colors.

Gorgeous.

Thank you.

Ha ha ha!

[Indistinct chatter] I'm gonna dance.

[Women singing in Tamil] Mallozzi, voice-over: After a delicious meal, Julia takes me down the street to the new site of the Sri Lankan Art & Cultural Museum, the first of its kind outside of Sri Lanka.

And you started this?

Yes.

I started it when I was 15 actually.

I've been going to Sri Lanka every year since the age of 3.

I love the country itself entirely, and Sri Lankan culture isn't spread enough, you know, for me.

[Singing continues] So we're big on facemasks in Sri Lanka.

So for example, here this is, like, one of the oldest facemasks.

It's called a daha ata sanniya.

Daha ata means 18, and sanniya means, like, different types of face.

That actually cures illnesses.

To heal the person who's sick.

To heal the person, yeah.

Right.

And I cannot move forward until we talk about this beautiful sitar and these tablas.

Yeah.

So the sitar is actually my grandma's.

So it's like I said.

Like, a lot of the stuff in the museum is very, very personal.

Yeah.

[Singing continues] Mallozzi: Julia, you've done an incredible job.

I'm sure your parents are so proud.

You know, you're passing on their legacy, your culture, your history.

My parents are my investors.

I think it was more also, like, my dad was into the art, as well.

You know, what I try to do is, like, you know, show the instruments, the religion.

Like, we don't have only Buddhism.

We have Muslim, we have Hinduism and Catholicism and Christianity.

It's just like a little New York City down here.

It's so diverse.

Yeah.

So that's kind of the idea.

For my generation to kind of come out and, like, be proud of who we are.

So it's, like, not me doing this for myself but actually doing it for the future generations so they have enough people to look up to.

Mallozzi: My next stop takes me to the home of Shaaranya Pillai and her family.

Hi!

Hi!

How are you?

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you finally.

Shaaranya sings traditional Carnatic music together with her mother and other local Tamil musicians of Sri Lankan and South Indian heritage.

[Singing in Tamil] Mrs. Pillai: This is Carnatic music.

Come from India.

This is an endless learning.

That's how big the music is.

Mallozzi, voice-over: Carnatic music is a form of Indian classical music originally from Southern India.

Like all Indian classical music, its origins are believed to have come from the ancient Hindu gods and goddesses as a divine art form.

Starting in the 18th century, Southern Indian musicians traveled throughout Southeast Asia, including Sri Lanka, and in the early 20th century, Carnatic music became part of the cultural identity of the Sri Lankan Tamil community.

[Singing in Tamil] Tamil is an ancient language from Southern India, and it is also an ethnic group that expands into Sri Lanka.

The repertoire of Tamil music, which encompasses Carnatic music, as well as Tevarams, is extremely vast.

Shaaranya: Tevaram is kind of like another type of tradition with a lot of overlap.

Mallozzi: Sort of the grandfather...

Yes.

Yes.

or father of Carnatic music.

Yeah.

Kibura: In Sri Lanka, every home they sing, so this is like every day they sing, like, Tevarams.

Mallozzi, voice-over: Not all Tevarams and Carnatic songs are in even-metered time signatures.

Some are more foreign to my own Western ear, like instead in 7/8 time.

Mallozzi: Can you teach me how to clap 7?

Shaaranya: Yeah.

Both: 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4.

1, 2, 3.

Yeah.

1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4.

1, 2, 3... 1, 2, 3, 4.

Yeah.

So if you do, like, the-- [Drum playing] [Singing in Tamil] Man, voice-over: It's a beautiful thing to learn this art but even more a responsibility to pass it on to future generations.

Man, voice-over: Many Tamil families know this art or practice this art, so you have to, like, do it justice.

Yeah.

Keep it up.

Mallozzi, voice-over: During the Sri Lankan Civil War, Tamil communities were persecuted, so keeping these ancient musical traditions alive here in New York holds an even heavier amount of responsibility for Shaaranya, her mother, and these musicians.

Shaaranya: Because of the war and stuff, there wasn't a lot of opportunity as much as, like, I'm able to have.

Because, you know, war and stuff, we cannot go out, we don't have cinemas, we don't have anything, so 6:00, we have everybody sit in one place.

My father made us to sit, and then we sang.

This is the entertainment actually.

Shaaranya: It's not necessarily cool growing up here and, like, learning this music.

No one at school gets it.

For the first few years, I think it was, like, something that was forced, but then I grew an appreciation for it for sure.

That feeling of being able to pass it on to a little girl in New York, who is able to feel, like, at 10 years old, like, "Oh, I want to learn this.

I want to do this," that feeling is-- it's very special.

[Singing in Tamil] Kibura: Children--it's not that much interesting for them.

They just want the fast music, you know, boom, boom, boom, you know, those kind of music.

The fun music.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

They like it, but when you start to learn this, it's one way that you are with God.

[Singing in Tamil] Since she born in U.S., I always tell her don't forget about this.

I'm very grateful to have that, for my mom to instill this in me, and, yeah, it'll be, like, lifelong for me, as well.

[Singing in Tamil] Kibura: Even though we far away from Sri Lanka, we keep this tradition.

That's the great thing.

Wow!

My next stop takes me to Willowbrook Park.

Today is a cricket tournament.

Cricket is the most popular sport back in Sri Lanka, and I meet with Sagara, co-organizer of today's event.

[Men speaking foreign language] Mallozzi: I don't think I've ever seen cricket being played anywhere in New York City.

No?

No!

And to have it here in Little Sri Lanka, it's pretty amazing.

[Speaking foreign language] Mallozzi: So you have to bat under and throw over?

Yes.

Will you teach me how to hit the ball?

I will show you how to play.

Is that OK?

Yeah.

No problem.

The grass is wet.

Oh, it's very wet.

Hold the bat like this.

Like that.

OK?

OK.

I'm gonna throw the ball at you.

Oh, it's scooped.

[Cheering] Ha ha ha!

Oh, God.

Aah!

Whoo!

Aah!

Ohh!

It's OK. One more time, one more time.

Hey!

[People cheering] Man: We drove all the way from Connecticut to join this.

Where in Connecticut?

I'm from Connecticut!

New London.

Oh, wow!

You really drove far.

Yes.

Yeah.

We played cricket back home, like, same way.

Have, like, music, food, everything, the culture, so it's--it's-- It reminds you home.

Home.

Yeah.

Sagara: The Sri Lankan people, Indian peoples, we played back home.

That's why we organized for the cricket games, to play.

Right.

So you're bringing a little bit of home here to Staten Island.

Yes.

What made you want to start this tournament?

Sri Lankan people get together.

Families get together.

That's why.

That's the reason.

For the community to get together.

Coming together.

Everybody's playing together, eat together... Yeah.

drink together.

Happy, you know?

Happiness is everything.

That's beautiful.

Yeah!

Whoo!

[Music playing] Mallozzi, voice-over: My last stop brings me to Long Island City in Queens at Culture Lab LIC, a non-profit open-air art space that hosts free weekly outdoor events.

Tonight, we brought together a very special group of Lankan artists living in New York, who represent the future of the islands' storytellers, activists, and performers.

Their work is a culmination of their individual life experiences identifying with the South Asian and Sri Lankan diasporic communities.

[Electronic dance music playing] I am a Brooklyn-based DJ, producer, and multidisciplinary artist and activist.

I do work on climate and immigration.

I came to the practice of DJing because of community building.

We are from an island in the Indian Ocean known by many names-- Lanka, Sri Lanka, Illankai-- and we're so happy to be here.

I'm going to introduce Yalini Dream and Varuni Tiruchelvam.

[Cello and drum playing] Yalini, voice-over: I'm a performing artist, I'm a somatics practitioner.

I didn't have an intellectual analysis about it at first, you know.

I just knew that dancing felt good and that performing felt good, and I felt like there was something inside of me that could come out and be expressed in the world that people weren't seeing.

As the little girl packed, she felt sadness grow.

The monkey spied scheming and jumped in with her clothes.

The little girl squealed and sobbed, then to laugh, a finger to... Varuni, voice-over: For me, what's really important is connecting to people's stories and using music to amplify and be in solidarity with everyone's deepest truths.

I just can't tell myself to trust I just can't tell myself to trust ELSZ, voice-over: I'm a survivor of gender violence, and a lot of my work is centered around creating spaces, healing spaces through music and the arts and creativity and movement for other survivors and victims of gender violence.

So that's, like, been the main, central force in my life.

[Vocalizing] And I think that's the most powerful thing about music and art is that, like, it's literally an alchemizer.

It alchemizes so much pain and, like, heaviness into possibility.

All that you wanted was patience from me I can't explain all the things that I see Rolex, voice-over: My music has a lot to do with me being a Tamil woman and feeling a need to express that.

A lot of my Carnatic training informs the work that I do, that music that I write.

Also just being brought up here and kind of living in America not in a Sri Lankan Tamil community.

Da da da da da La la la la la Na na na na Rolex, voice-over: I'm just very grateful to be here today to be able to get all our stories told in this one platform.

I think that there's a sense of freedom living in New York as, you know, a Sri Lankan Tamil girl, and, yeah, I think for all of us I think that's something special for us.

[Woman singing in foreign language] [Electronic music playing] Ushka: I genre blend globally as part of a storytelling to show that all of this music is connected.

We all, like, influence each other, and, like, I remember being, like, 20, 21, 22 years old, watching Yalini perform poetry onstage with Varuni on cello and, like, mouth open.

I wouldn't be able to do some of the things that I do the way that I do it without having seen folks older than me, like, defy the norms in order to create a new kind of identity for themselves.

[Dance music playing] [Woman singing in foreign language] Yalini: As a Tamil person who has family who lived through the war, we've gone through so much heartache and through such deep devastation.

We are choosing to have a vision of love, of repair, of liberation.

Ushka: Being from Sri Lanka is a complicated thing, and it's not one experience, and I feel like I'm part of a community that's really invested in what does it mean to go beyond borders and what does it mean to be accountable to different communities beyond your own that actually makes up a whole?

Mallozzi: Tonight's show is called "Khotu."

Isn't a dish?

Rolex: It's, like, this very specific, like, Sri Lankan street food, and I was just like I feel like this, like, kind of represents, like, all of us together.

Mallozzi: Yeah!

Ha ha!

It's like comfort, and it's like all these different things coming together, and it's just so wholesome.

[Pillais singing in Tamil] Mallozzi, voice-over: From ancient traditions to the evolution into modern artforms, Little Sri Lanka here in Staten Island is a point on one island that represents a sense of home but also the hope of the future of the diaspora of its sister island in Southeast Asia.

And I'll see you on my next "Bare Feet" adventure, wherever it may take me!

Hey!

Oh, oh, oh!

Mallozzi: You can stay connected with us at travelbarefeet.com, where you'll find extra bonus videos, join our "Bare Feet" series conversations through social media, and stay updated with our newsletter.

It is really good and very spicy.

Sachindara: Heh heh heh!

I'm really weak with spices.

Let's cleans-- clear the palate.

[Hoarsely] Clear the palate.

Get that spice out of there.

This one shouldn't be-- this shouldn't be as spicy.

OK. [Woman laughing] Are you OK?

I'm fine.

I'm really fine.

"Bare Feet" is supported in part by... Announcer: Bloomberg Connects gives you a way to experience the arts from your mobile phone.

You can explore hundreds of cultural organizations from around the world anytime, anywhere.

Learn more at bloombergconnects.org or wherever you find your apps.

Announcer: Road Scholar, offering educational travel adventures for adults since 1975.

Announcer: Additional funding was provided by Koo and Patricia Yuen through the Yuen Foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities.

Mallozzi: These generous supporters.... Announcer: And by the Ann H. Symington Foundation.

[Child babbling]