There are artistes who make music for mere entertainment and there is Andrea Shenella Perera who believes in making soul connections every time she has an audience. The grade nine student of Saud International School, Saudi Arabia, became the first Sri Lankan Grand Finalist (Junior Category) at the 23rd Annual World Championship of Performing Arts (WCOPA) held July, 2019 in Long Beach California, USA.
More than 60 countries took part in the event which is also considered as the Olympics of the art world. Andrea presented 15 acts in four categories: modeling, singing, acting and dancing. She clinched a Gold Medal as a Grand Finalist, a Silver Medal for Modeling, aBronze Medal for Vocal Original Composition and Self Accompaniment (Ukulele) and a Bronze Medal for Acting.
Versatility has always been this 14-year-old’s strength. She has taken part in all kinds of extra curricular activities at school from a young age and had won school talent contests from grade one.
“My first music teacher was Ms Michelle. She taught me how to play the guitar. I took part in my first international competition in New York called ‘American Protégé’ under Elipas Sibua’s guidance where I won second place in traditional and Broadway. He also got me into WCOPA. I sang my own song at the event. It is a soft pop called ‘Please Stay’,” she explained adding that she plays the guitar, piano, and the ukulele. She took up violin lessons recently.
Tracing the roots of her acting stint Andrea said that she played Sally’s role, the lead in her preschool drama ‘Cat in the Hat’. She was around five years then but carried off her role with confidence. She had already been acting out Youtube videos by then and this flair for mimicking was noted by her mother.
Andrea has been trained by an acting instructor Rashmi Fernando for WCOPA. She played Mr Bumble’s role in Fernando’s play ‘Oliver Twist’.
“When I act I could bring out another personality hidden within myself. That was very exciting and liberating,” she quipped with a smile.
Modeling was not new to her as she had been posing in front of cameras from 2018. “I got modeling offers after taking part in events on stage. I took up some of those offers. I had to walk the ramp at WCOPA. I threw all my troubles away and walked confidently down the stage. That won over the judges and the audience,” she beamed adding that modeling experts Maui and JL guided her.
Latin dancing is one of Andrea’s passions. She was a member of a three-member dance group which won first place in ‘Ranco Got Talent’, a competition organized by the Ranco Compound, Saudi Arabia. She has mastered Latin dancing under her dance instructor Doha. She has a flair for salsa, bachata, jive, and cha-cha. She had also started to learn Hip Hop recently.
“Dancing is in my blood. I feel like I can express myself more through the moves and the melodies. It is something which makes me very happy,” she said.
Queried on what she learnt by taking part in WCOPA, Andrea notes that she realized that you cannot win everything even if you try your best.
“Everyone has a dream of their own. Some dreams are meant to be, some are not. I learnt to believe in myself but also not to have so much hope. I usually do not have much confidence in myself but taking part in this event helped me to develop confidence, love myself, and to try my best in everything which comes my way because if you don’t try you never know what will happen. I took on a big challenge for WCOPA and came up smelling like a rose!”
Andrea says that that out of all the categories she took part in acting was the toughest segment for her.
“Though I took part in many plays, these were within the community of people who know me. USA is filled with well known actors and actresses. Therefore I felt that I had to express myself even more and be more professional to stand out in the competition,” she expressed.
“Every country had to have a director at the event but Sri Lanka did not have one. I met Sangeetha Weeraratne at WCOPA because she was there to get experience from the event and bring participants from Sri Lanka for the next WCOPA as Sri Lanka’s country director. I also met celebrities like D Minor,” she elaborated some of the memorable experiences from WCOPA.
She says that training for the competition was no walk in the park. They trained every day and sometimes lost out on sleep time too.
“Though I am based in Saudi Arabia, I represented Sri Lanka at WCOPA. People see our country as a place filled with greenery and as a nation which has made a name for tea plantation. Those are correct, of course, but they need to realize that there is more to it. Our country is exploding with talent. Though they have a flair for many things many of these kids cannot afford to reach the level to showcase their potentials to the world. I wanted to show everyone that it is also the people that makes our country special. We are an amazing community which inspires each other and helps each other. Things like how we bring music together to entertain each other need to be shown to the world. I wanted to give the message that we all make this nation beautiful together,” she stressed. Though she takes part in a number of extra-curricular activities, Andrea has also excelled in academic studies. She is among the top 10 students in her class. She is a member of the school basketball team and the assistant coach for the primary section basketball team. She is also into other sports activities like volley ball, tennis and swimming.
She says that the key to her success is the determination to get things done. She would always push herself to reach her goals.
“I was conscious about getting a good outcome and since I had a dream, I kept driving myself to achieve it. It was not easy but I feel satisfied that I got there in the end,” she enthused.
Andrea was felicitated by the Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Saudi Arabia on November 20 at Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh for her achievement.
Andrea’s father, Vinodh Perera, works at South Investment Bank in Saudi Arabia. Her mother, Bashini Perera, is the head of administration at Andrea’s school.
She says that a lot of people inspire her but it is mainly her mother whom she looks up to. Not only is her mother a hard worker but she is also Andrea’s manager.
“She knows how to control herself in all kinds of situations. Even if someone is giving her a bad impression or giving her a hard time she knows how to control her emotions. She is such a strong character and I admire her for it and hope that I too can follow in her footsteps especially because in this industry hate and jealousy are prevalent. It is best to keep your head up and keep going in such situations. My Mom had taught me how to remain clam and to avoid acting out of impulse or emotions. She has always protected me. My Dad has taught me to be punctual. He is formal and elegant and he has taught me how to be polite and win people over. These two people made me who I am today and each of them contributed in bringing out the best in me,” she said.
She is also influenced by her former music teacher Kanchana Jayasinghe and her Latin dance instructor Doha. Her ambition is to become a lawyer so she can help people who are facing injustice.
Another subject which is close to Andrea’s heart is engaging in charity work. She is a member of Serendib Toastmaster and is the Vice President of Education in the club. She has won many speech competitions and has bagged the best debater award in a number of events. Recently she even donated the money that was supposed to be spent for her birthday party to an orphanage.
Andrea launched her first single ‘Kiri Kodu Hitha’ recently. Rasika Duminda penned the lyrics and Sadaruwan Jayasinghe composed the melody for the single. The music video was done by Focus Art.
“If you have a hidden talent, do not be shy to bring it before the world. Exhibit it to the world, love yourself and expose your talents because you never know when wider doors will open up for you. If you feel like showcasing your talents in any place, then do it. If you don’t do what you love, you wouldn’t enjoy life. Always be the better you rather than the lazy you because opportunities are everywhere,” is Andrea’s message to other youth with potentials.
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