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 t...

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 affectin...

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 prac...

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...