Vice Chairman
Professional Dancer & Choreographer
Ravibandhu Vidyapathy is the eldest son of Kalashoori Somabandhu Vidyapathy, the well known classical painter, sculptor and Sri Lanka’s pioneer costume and décor designer for dance and ballet; and Malathi Somabandhu, the reputed Kandyan dancer and the daughter of great dance Guru Algama Kiriganitha.
Ravibandhu studied Classical Kandyan dance under the legendary dancers Great Gurus Chitrasena and Vajira and traditional drumming under the renowned percussionists Guru Piyasara Shilpadhipathi and Guru Punchiguru.
He is an acclaimed Kathakali actor- dancer, studied at the Kerala Kala Mandalam in India, also studied Hindustani Music under the guidance of Ustad David Podiappuhamy of Maihar, India and Shri P.V. Nandasiri of Sri Lanka.
Ravibandhu has also studied panting, sculpture, costume and stage décor designing from his father, Somabandhu Vidyapathy.
Today, Ravibandhu is a Kandyan dancer par excellence and a veteran choreographer whose work spans through a wide range of styles such as traditional choreographies, full-length ballets of linear narrative style, contemporary dance pieces and short ballets of thematic & abstract styles. As a modern stage dancer, he has won much accolade for his dramatic performances.
In 1997, he introduced a new drum called ‘Kala Beraya’ to the Sri Lankan field of music and has immensely contributed for the development of progressive drumming art of Sri Lanka. As a musician, Ravibandhu has travelled extensively and introduced traditional Sri Lankan drums and music to audiences worldwide. He is an internationally known percussionist, an accomplished hand on a variety of Sri Lankan and Indian drums including the Gatabera, Pakhavaj and Tabla. Ravibandhu has also added new dimensions to traditional drumming by fusing them with other styles of world music such as Jazz, Western Classical and Indian Classical.