The Dance Pilgrim

  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 to en

Fig. 1: With peers Wong Kit Yaw, Mohd Seth Hamzah in the opening of Menempa Tari Tradisi. 2022.   I am Dean of the Faculty of Dance at the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage Malaysia, (Akademi Seni Budaya dan Warisan Kebangsaan) better known by its acronym of ASWARA. Although I have done this work since 1998, it is still seems surreal because the journey has been completely  unexpected.  I never aspired to become a performer or choreographer or pursue a career in the field of performing arts although my involvement began incidentally at the age of 10 when my La Salle Primary School, Petaling Jaya (LSPJ) teacher, Celine Vincent organized end-of-the-year performances in the classroom. We had to draw, paint, practice elocution and create short skits that nurtured our creativity, collaborative and leadership skills. However, I suspect it was primarily designed to keep 40 boys occupied and out of mischief! This introduction to theatre  grew to become a large part of my school-li