The Dance Pilgrim

Rasikas in Malaysia are undoubtedly familiar with the Temple of Fine Arts (TFA), an institution synonymous with Indian arts and culture. It was established in 1981 by the spiritual guru, Swami Shantanand Saraswati together with dance gurus, Master Gopal Shetty and Master V.K. Sivadas. My own association with TFA began in 1994 when I started work at the Akademi Seni Kebangsaan, known as ASWARA (Akademi Seni Budaya dan Warisan Kebangsaan since 2006). In 1998, when I was appointed the Dean of the School of Dance, I courted their services to deliver the bharatanatyam syllabus as a core course for the duration of the 3-year Diploma and the 3-year Bachelor program that began in 2008. However, it was only in 2025, while I was on a visit to India with Shankar Kandasamy and Umesh Shetty that I first heard of the name P. Suryakala or Suryakala Akka as she is fondly known, and learned how important she was to TFA, through the lineage of the great teacher Padmashri Guru K. N. Dandayuthapani Pill...

  Wong Kit Yaw is described by those who know him, have met him or have heard of him in many, many different ways. He is an artist who is a fount of knowledge, a disciplinarian, a tyrant, a gentle giant, dramatic, fun-loving, lovable, hysterical at times, and an always generous man. He is a choreographer, educator, director and a dance pioneer in Malaysia who entered the world of dance in a most unusual manner – leaving the passion for performance nurtured in high school in Teluk Intan for a career in construction and as a site supervisor in Singapore in the late 1970s. He then chose a path less travelled, and relinquished greater financial security of construction work for the love of dance. He enrolled in full-time training at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), Singapore in 1980. Here he underwent a comprehensive program of training in Chinese classical and folk dance, Indian classical dance, Malay folk dance and contemporary dance. Over the last decades, he has continued t...

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...

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 flo...

The 2nd. National Chinese Cultural Dance Competition organized by the Chinese Language Society of Malacca and Multi-Media University was held at the Taman Budaya, Department of Arts and Culture, Malacca from Friday to Sunday, 10-12 Mar 2006. A total of 45 groups, consisting of Chinese dance associations, secondary schools, cultural clubs and private dance schools, including seven from Singapore, took part in the exhausting three-day event. Although I am personally not in favour of competitions, primarily because of issues of judging, or the inevitable feelings of disappointment when dealing with losses, and equally, the inappropriate sense of over-estimating ability when emerging champions. I do understand that there are many benefits and I attempt to stay focused on the potential to develop a sense of teamwork, and improve the performance quality. Therefore, for the first time, I decided to enter the dance students of ASWARA in this event, to gauge the level of achievement and eff...

I borrow and paraphrase from Neil Armstrong, the words he uttered when he set foot on the moon on 20  July 1969, as 75 young men and women enrol for ASWARA’s first intake of degree program  students on the 6 January 2008. Of these, 18 will pursue a Bachelor of Dance with Honours majoring in either performance or choreography, and the rest in Music, Theatre, Film and Writing. It is a historic day for ASWARA (that began as ASK in 1994) in particular, and for the arts in Malaysia in general. It is even more historic as I remember the total enrolment of merely 10 full-time students 8 years ago in the Dance Diploma program that has now swelled to 80 - how we have grown! While there is a deep sense of awe and satisfaction with the journey thus far and the growing numbers, there comes with it a great sense of responsibility as I look ahead to the delivery of fresh content and subsequently to the finished products of these programs. I ponder the industry and wonder how education and p...