International Women’s Day celebrations Crème de la crème of Sri Lanka’s entertainment on stage

Interbrand in association with the Daily FT will celebrate International Women’s Day [IWD ] 2023, focusing on the themes DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality and #EmbraceEquity, at a gala forum on 7th April at the Oak Room of Cinnamon Grand Colombo, commencing 7 pm.

Interbrand is the world’s leading brand consultancy, specialising in brands and branding management, with 24 offices in 17 countries.  The New York-based consultancy publishes the Best Global Brands report on an annual basis which identifies the world’s 100 most valuable brands. For the past 20 years Interbrand has been putting a value on the world’s top brands. ‘In an era when intangible value has become a critical measure of organisational performance, Interbrand’s ‘Best Global Brands’ is the definitive source of knowledge”.

Once again, the strategic partner for this gala event will be Mastercard, who have come forward to reiterate their commitment to women and IWD activities as they have done so in the past, while Corporate sponsors Triumph Sloggi are back again as partners, as are Supreme Flora.  New comers Serenia Limited , a mixed development Apartment Hotel and Link Naturals will definitely add to the glamour and allure of the event,  while the Host Hotel once again is the best address in town, the Cinnamon Grand. 
The welcome address will be delivered by Ashish Mishra,  Head of Interbrand, India, while the keynote speech is by Dr Nathalie de Dieuleveult,  Managing Director in Sri Lanka and Maldives of B. Braun Lanka, a German multinational and one of the world’s largest medical and pharmaceutical device companies.

A dazzling line up of the country’s best performers in music and dance will take to the stage at this glittering event, namely soul singer  Tanuja,  the Dr with the Sax  Dr Gananath and his band En Route and dancers Tarja and Bharatha.

British born artist Tanuja Perera who begins the evening, will render the opening song,  one of empowerment of course . Tanuja is a vocally powerful soul singer  who  first started singing  at the age  of 4 and to her parents’ surprise,  mastered the Motown songs of Diana Ross. On moving to New York, Tanuja started working with labels  such as Columbia, Warner Bros, Virgin Records and Interscope Records, as a recording artiste and  writer. Her ability to balance artistic  expression and  commercial appeal caught the attention of many  high profile producers. Tanuja toured internationally with her band Taraka  (a joint venture with her sister), and her performances include being the lead artiste at Miss World 2002. Effortlessly covering such genres as Blues,  Jazz, World Music, Neo-Soul and  70’s power  ballads, Tanuja’s voice is reminiscent of a young  Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys and Minnie Ripperton. Her strong and  fiery stage presence tells us that  her prowess and  energy do not just come from her voice and the audience on 7th April can be assured of a vocal treat via Tanuja! 
The Dr. with the Sax as he is known, Gananath Dasanayaka was interested in the saxophone from a very young age. A product of St. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia, nobody realised that there was a saxophonist in their midst. “If you take Colombo, which is like the hub for English Music, within that hub also there is a very minute percentage of society who appreciate Jazz.  However from the point of the industry lately we have seen younger people, taking up Jazz and appreciating it. I personally stick to old school jazz. Within the genre there is swing jazz which is called traditional old school and Latin Jazz with a lot of Brazilian and Cuban beats,”. Dasanayaka and his band En Route will perform to the delight of all present at the Interbrand Daily FT IWD 2023 celebration adding to the musical enjoyment of all present. 

Tarja and her dancing partner Bharatha have been dancing together for over 10 years in Ballroom and Latin dance styles. Tarja, a professional ballroom dancer has been dancing since the age of 11.  After many years of studying dance, she has made a name for herself in the industry and gone on to become a qualified dance fit instructor. She is also the Co-Founder of T&A Fitness, an initiative by her and her husband. At the age of 13, she enrolled in her first dance class – Antonio’s Dance Circle, taught by Toni and his wife Michelle. Later, she went on to dance with Kevin Nugara, did a bit of hip hop with Natasha Jayasuriya from Deanna School of Dance, and also danced for Muddrika from Muddrika Dance Studio. In her 20s, she trained in England under Gunnar Gunnarsan and Pam Mcgilvy and today, she is a force to be reckoned with in the field of dance. 

Delectable canapés, a gourmet six course, white glove , silver service, sit down dinner, choice wines and liquor, luxury door gifts courtesy Sothys and Triumph Sloggi, entrance ticket draws with luxury gifts from Triumph Sloggi,  Sothys,  Kavita Thulasidas, Avirate, Soraya Jewellery, and Selyn Handlooms,  music for dancing , chocolates on departure and of course an evening which will provide not just entertainment but much food for thought, will ensure that once again the Interbrand, Daily FT , International Women’s Day celebration, will be a night to remember! 

A dazzling line up of the country’s best performers in music and dance will take to the stage at this glittering event.

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