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Moving Bodies, Navigating Conflict: Practicing Bharata Natyam in Colombo, Sri Lanka by Ahalya Satkunaratnam - a book review

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The book Moving Bodies, Navigating Conflict: Practicing Bharata Natyam in Colombo, Sri Lanka  published by Wesleyan University Press in 2020 details the complex location and representation of Bharata Natyam, a classical dance form accepted to have emerged from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The author, Ahalya Satkunaratnam is a professor of arts and humanities at Quest University Canada and a Bharata Natyam exponent with a diverse, multinational upbringing that is reflected in her approach to research and academia. Added to the lens of the postcolonial feminist scholar, this study on the practice of Bharata Natyam in Colombo, Sri Lanka is ground-breaking. She has researched and described in the most poetic, academic language, the intricacies that can be read into the practice of Bharata Natyam. What has made it even more fascinating, is that this foregrounds the civil war of Sri Lanka and the heightened religious and ethnic wars that have plagued the country. Satkunaratnam eluci
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Blurring Boundaries Through Bharatanatyam

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This edited article shares the journey of Malaysian dancers not of Indian ethnicity or Hindu faith who completed their Arangetram which is a solo debut performance that announces the presentation of the trained Bharatanatyam dancer on stage to the public. In Malaysia, dance is often viewed as the performative symbol of ethnic identity, and national unity, or as a tourist attraction. This is showcased at all government-sponsored platforms including global summits, sports spectacles, and state banquets. Against this social and cultural landscape in Malaysia, this article focuses on and highlights how the practice of Bharatanatyam by non-Indian, non-Hindu dancers trained at ASWARA, blurs boundaries of race and religion in embodied ways. Norbaizura Abd Ghani, Mohd Yunus Ismail, Mohammad Khairi Mokthar, Imran Syafiq Mohd Affandi, and Fatin Nadhirah Rahmat who are Malay Muslims; four Chinese namely Elaine Ng Xinying, a Roman Catholic, Kimberly Yap Choy Hoong, a Protestant Christian, Madeline
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Singapore Swings and Sways

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The Singapore Youth Festival (SYF),  launched on 18 July 1967,   was originally organized by Education Programmes Division to  encourage school-going Singapore youth to develop their artistic talents. Held each year in March and April,  the festival gained added significance in 1994, when then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong declared it a national event. Since  2012, its facilitation, and management have been led by the Student Development Curriculum Division of the Ministry of Education.                  Despite its national endorsement, the organization of the festival has not been smooth sailing. It has encountered challenges and resistance from a society driven by academic excellence and financial success, particularly in the 1970s, as a developing nation. The primary reason was many felt that devoting numerous hours to rehearsals and performances would keep the students away from their textbooks therefore affecting their grades, and jeopardizing entrance into prestigious universiti
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Mabuhay! Lessons from the Philippines

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From 25 April-2 May 2009, the ASWARA dancers were in the Philippines for the 1 st International Dance XChange Workshop and Festival 2009. This event was organized in conjunction with International Dance Day, which was instituted by UNESCO in 1982 and falls on 29 April each year. This event was organized by the National Committee for Dance, which is a division of the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA) and is similar to the Ministry of Culture and Arts here in Malaysia. The entourage of ASWARA consisted of four male dancers and five female dancers who were students of the Year Two Diploma Programme, and myself as the Head of Delegation. This was a trip of many firsts. This was my first visit to the Philippines and I was naturally filled with anticipation, both about the country and the actual festival. I did not know what to expect as the scope and intensity of the festival were not mentioned in the letter of invitation. As always, I called on my ‘go with the flow' me
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Teaching Dance Online: The Turning Point?

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Hong Kong experienced great turbulence from June 2019. First, when protests that began as peaceful rallies erupted into violent clashes with the authorities and subsequently caused massive disruptions and followed in February, by the Covid-19 virus that infected the entire world. The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) is located 200 meters from the Legislative Council in the heart of Hong Kong island and was thus, greatly affected. While this essay draws from the Hong Kong experience, the discussions are relevant for tertiary dance programs across the globe.  2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. (2023, July 14). In Wikipedia . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%80%932020_Hong_Kong_protests One immediate option at tertiary institutions was for deferment of studies. However, this would have an impact on graduating students, preventing some from assuming professional contracts which are scarce even in the best of times. Thus, this was not the preferred option. Dance is a practice
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