Mr. H. G. M. K. Wimalasiri
Head - Department of Kandyan Dance | Senior Lecturer (Grade I)
Qualifications: Mphil
Profile:
H.G.M.K. Wimalasiri is a Senior Lecturer (Grade I) in the Department of Kandyan Dance at the University of the Visual & Performing Arts. He holds a BFA with First-Class Honours and an M.Phil with Merit from the University of Kelaniya, along with Postgraduate Diploma in Education from the University of Colombo and Postgraduate Diploma in Writership and Communication from the University of Sri Jayawardhanapura.
Wimalasiri’s research focuses on Sri Lankan cultural heritage, particularly in dance and traditional music. His work explores Traditional dance forms, the influence of classical Indian dance traditions on Sri Lankan performing arts, and the integration of Buddhist practices in Sinhala dance.
With extensive teaching experience, he has contributed to undergraduate and postgraduate programs at the University of the Visual & Performing Arts, University of Kelaniya, and University of Colombo. His interactive approach to teaching Kandyan dance has significantly impacted students’ academic and artistic growth. His leadership roles include serving as Head of the Department of History & Theory of Dance and Drama and, currently, as Head of the Kandyan Dance Department, Head of the Research Unit, and a member of the Curriculum Development Committee (CDC) at the Faculty of Dance and Drama. He has made significant contributions to staff development and is also a member of the Senate at the university.
Wimalasiri has been active in several university committees and served as a member of the State Dance Subcommittee of the Sri Lanka Arts Council. Additionally, he is a Second Lieutenant Officer in the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Corps, reflecting his dedication to national service. As the Secretary of the Sri Lanka Professional Dancers and Drummers Association, Wimalasiri advocates for the welfare of artists and has been involved in setting academic standards for arts education. His work in preserving and promoting Sri Lankan dance traditions reflects his deep commitment to cultural advocacy.
Research Interests:
Announcing, Rhythm pattern
Publications:
Books
i. හොරණෑව හා සමාජය
සූරිය ප්‍රකාශකයෝ, 2018
ISBN: 978-955-656-000-0
ii. කඩවර ඇදහීම
ඇස් ගොඩගේ සහ සහෝදරයෝ, 2021
ISBN: 978-624-00-0704-7
iii. ලක්දිව බුදු සමය ආශ්‍රිත තූර්ය වාදන සම්ප්‍රධාය
Isuru Offset Printers & Publishers, 2023
ISBN: 978-624-5603-04-6
iv. සූවිසි විවරණ කවි නළුව 2023
Isuru Offset Printers & Publishers, 2023
ISBN: 978-624-5603-05-3
v. Horanewa-The Unique Symbol of Srilankan Traditional and Indigenous Folk Music Sarasavi Publication, 2024
ISBN: 978-955-31-30-70-9
vi. උඩරට නර්තන ශික්ෂාව: ප්‍රායෝගික භාවිතය පිළිබඳ විස්තීර්ණ මාර්ගෝපදේශය 01
Isuru Offset Printers & Publishers., ISBN: 978-624-5603-06-0
vii. උඩරට නර්තන ශික්ෂාව: ප්‍රායෝගික භාවිතය පිළිබඳ විස්තීර්ණ මාර්ගෝපදේශය 02
Isuru Offset Printers & Publishers. ISBN: 978-624-5603-07-7
Peer Reviewed and Referred Journal
• “Exploring The Musical Heritage Of The Traditional Sri Lankan Musical Instrument Horanewa”
Journal of Research in Music (JRM) – University of the Visual and Performing Arts, Vol.1, No.2, July (ISSN No: 2961-5666)
• “උඩරට රංග කලාවේ භරතමුනි නාට්‍ය ශාස්ත්‍ර ප්‍රවේශය”
Journal of Literary Arts – International Society of Literary Arts , Vol.1, No.2, July (ISSN No: 2961-5666)
• “Sinhala Folk Music Represented by Hornewa Melodies”
International Journal of Law and Social Science, Vol. IX, Issue:12 (ISSN No: 23944277)
• “හොරණෑවේ නිපැයුම් තාක්ෂණය හා එහි විශේෂතා පිළිබඳ අධ්‍යයනයක්”
Pravacana – Bihiksu University of Sri Lanka, Vol.13, No.1, 2022 (ISSN No: 2345- 9999)
• “උදාන පාලියේ නිරූපිත තත් කාලීන සමාජ පසුබිම පිළිබඳ අධ්‍යයනයක්”
Pravacana – Bihiksu University of Sri Lanka, Vol.13, No.1, 2022 (ISSN No: 2345-9999)
• “Horanewa Related Social Descended Cast Foundation and Culture”
Journal of ISAI AARAM, Issue: 04, July-September 2022, ISSN No: 2719-2148
• විවාහය කේන්ද්‍රගත ජන කවි විවරණ
කාව්‍ය සමීක්ෂා 2019
සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව
ISBN No: 978-955-3748-29-4
• “පෝය හේවිසියේ හොරණෑ වාදන සුසංයෝගය පිළිබඳ විමසුමක්”
පෝය හේවිසි පූජා මංගල්‍යය
ශ්‍රී ලංකා සකල කලා සංසදය, 2024
ISBN 978-624-93894-0-3
• “ශිල්ප ශ්‍රේණිගත හොරණෑ වාදණයේ අයද්‍යතන ස්වරූපය”
නර්තන ගවේෂී 2012
සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, සංස්කෘතික හා කලා කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය
• “අමුණුගම පරපුර හා ආචාර්ය වෛද්‍යවතී රාජපක්ෂ”
නර්තන ගවේෂී 2011
සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, සංස්කෘතික හා කලා කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය
Research Symposium/Conference
• “දේශීය නර්තනයේ තිත් රූප සංස්කරණයෙහි අවධානයට ලක් නොවූ තනිතිතේ ප්‍රභේද”
International Research Symposium-2018 University of the Visual and Performing arts
• “Cultural Colonialism and Media Colonialism with Spatial Reference to Television Culture in Sri Lanka”
International Research Symposium-November 9, 2018 People’s Friendship University of Russia
• “කොහොඹා කංකාරියේ රංග ප්‍රවර්ග ”
International Research Symposium-2020 Faculty of Music
University of the Visual and Performing arts
• “සිංහල නර්තන කලාවේ බෞද්ධාගමික ප්‍රවේශය හා ඒ ආශ්‍රිත ගැටළු (සූවිසි විවරණ කවි නළුව ඇසුරින් ”
International Conference on Postgraduate Interdisciplinary research -2023 Faculty of Postgraduate studies, Buddhist and Pali University
Awards:
Professional Recognition
- • S. Paneebharatha Award• Steven Hanson Award• Heenbaba Dharmasiri Award• J. A. Sedaraman Award• Chithrasena Dias Award
• Professional Excellence Award in Dance for significant contributions to cultural heritage and education.
Achievements:
Teaching and Academic Development
• Introduced nine new courses in Kandyan Dance.
• Supervised Master’s dissertations, focusing on Sri Lankan dance heritage.
• Led curriculum restructuring for dual-delivery modes.
Artistic Contributions
• Choreographed performances for events like the 82nd Izmir International Trade Fair in Turkey.
• Acted in ballets, Films and Tele-dramas on Sri Lankan television channels.
Community Engagement
• Advocated for artists’ rights as Secretary of the Sri Lanka Dance and Drumming Foundation.
• Presented cultural heritage programs on VAPA TV, Sri Lanka Rupawahini Corporation and ITN.
Academic and Leadership Recognition
- Chief Examiner and panel setter for C.E. (A/L) Dance Examinations.
- Facilitator and resource person for curriculum development workshops