DanceMalaysia

Photo: Courtesy of KL DanceWorks On 9 and 10 January 2010, Istana Budaya was the hub of ballet in Malaysia. In a programme organised by Danceworks Production and Ena Ballet Studio, and presented by KNM Group Bhd with Edaran Tan Chong Motor Sdn Bhd as the main sponsor, it provided a glorious evening of ballet that will remain with fans for a very long time. The evening was in fact a double bill beginning with Paquita . This classical repertoire was first choreographed by Joseph Mazilier with music by Edouard Deldevez for the Paris Opera Ballet. However, in 1847, it was staged for the Imperial Ballet in Russia by19 th century maestro Marius Petipa with addttional music by Ludwig Minkus, and has enjoyed a present-day rejuvenation through the new choreography by Natalia Makarova, the legendary Prima Ballerina of the Kirov Ballet, before she defected to the west and worked with the American Ballet Theatre and The Royal Ballet of England. This production for Malaysia featured chore

               Kerala Natanam written by Kusum Gopalakrishnan and translated by Ram Gopal Sivadas and Apsara Ram Gopal was launched at an intimate evening at the High Commission of India on the 16 November 2008. This is the first publication by the Kshetra Academy, an independent private bharatanatyam academy run by Apsara Ram Gopal. The 196-page book filled with priceless photographs is a profound tribute to the late great master teacher Guru Gopinath and traces his life and his career over a span of 50 years from his roots as a young aspiring dancer to the great heights he eventually reached. The history of Guru Gopinath is one that bears importance to dance afficionados as his lineage has had a tremendous impact on the performance and teaching of  bharatanatyam in Malaysia and Singapore. His shishya (student/disciple) was the late V.K. Sivadas who immigrated to Kuala Lumpur in the 50s, married Vatsala Sivadas nee Kurup and began the Vatsala Sivadas Dance Troupe in 1957. V.K. S