Aunty Oosha -- Thank you for the ballet and those life lessons

Legendary ballerina and renowned teacher Oosha Saravanamuttu Wijesinghe would have been 90 on October 19 which is also World Ballet Day. Here two former students Romina Gyi and Tara Cooke pay tribute

Going for ballet almost every day, when we were growing up was something that was second nature to us. It was a way of life! The “ballet bag” was always packed. Holidays were unheard of and fashion trends were when we could match or mismatch a pair of tights and leotard.

So off we went for ballet, and there she was, Aunty Oosha, bright and early, adorned in her red pottu and as always, the first one in class. This made us want to be in class on time as well if not earlier, just to avoid getting a talking-to. She would also make sure we excused ourselves on the rare occasions that we were late. Little did we know, by doing so, punctuality was instilled in us from a very young age. There we would meet all our “Ballet friends”. All of us struggled together to achieve those perfect extensions, splits, lifts, and jumps…… just so we could impress Aunty Oosha! The one person whose opinion mattered the most.

We have known Aunty Oosha our whole lives. She not only taught us the art of ballet, she also taught us the importance of perseverance, dedication, camaraderie (another word we heard often), work ethic and discipline amongst many others. These attributes have moulded us to be the individuals that we are today. Teaching to her was not only about imparting wisdom, it was about doing something well and doing it correctly with passion. As young dancers and then teachers, we were never allowed to idle. We had to always be “on the ball” as Aunty Oosha would say and doing something. Be it working on our own dance technique or helping others to achieve theirs.

We will always remember Aunty Oosha with immense gratitude. For she was a true constant in our lives, a force to reckon with and a guiding light that opened the doors to possibilities and opportunities that paved the way for us to continue her teachings at The Ballet School of Colombo.