Tuesday, October 27, 2009

KL Fringe:Dansteater - CETUS 6 & 7 Nov 2009

CETUS

SIRI TEATER TARI – DANSTHEATER SERIES

PROJEK KL FRINGE 2009


Pengenalan

KL Fringe Festival kembali lagi pada tahun 2009 ini dengan nama yang sedikit berbeza,“Projek KL Fringe” yang sesuai dengan keadaannya yang bersifat projek dan bukan festival, serta untuk mengekalkan kedudukannya sebagai festival kecil yang mulai menumbuh akar sebelum menjadi sebuah pohon rendang, walaupun masih berada di dalam keadaan ekonomi yang muram. Pada tahun lalu festival yang berlangsung pada bulan Julai itu menampilkan empat siri seni – Teater, Muzik, Filem, Teater Tari. Tahun 2008 menyaksikan enam buah karya teater baru dipersembahkan oleh pengarah dan penulis - Hamzah Tahir, Syarul Fitri, Francis (USA), Marlenny Deenerwan, Arifwaran (Jerman) dan Zubin Mohamad. Begitu juga dengan filem, masing-masing menampilkan enam buah filem pendek dan dokumentari serta enam kumpulan muzik independen yang kuratorkan oleh Fathullah Lokman. Manakala Siri Teater Tarinya diadakan pada bulan November 2008 dengan menampilkan dua kumpulan serta dua penari solo dari Jepun serta San Francisco, USA, yang diketuai oleh Katsura Kan dan diadakan di ASWARA Music Hall. Festival Fringe Kuala Lumpur 2008 dipelopori oleh Dr.Zulkifli bin Mohamad selaku Pengarah Artistik dengan kerjasama Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka dan Stor Teater dibawah kelolaan Wahab Hamzah. Memandangkan DBP dan Stor Teater telah menganjurkan 2 festival teater kecil – iaitu teater 10 minit dan satu lagi festival 10 minit sempena Hari Kemerdekaan Malaysia 2009, Festival Fringe 2009 mengambil keputusan untuk memfokuskan kepada Siri Teater Tari/ Danstheater Series. Memandangkan kedudukan organisasi nirlaba ini masih baru di dalam menguruskan festival skala kecil, keputusan diambil untuk mewujudkan program-program yang berbeza dalam jangkawaktu satu tahun melalui:

Teater Tari

Filem Pendek & Dokumentari

Band Muzik

Teater

Memandangkan keadaan ekonomi yang tidak memberansangkan pada tahun ini, kita hanya mampu mempersembahkan program “Siri Teater Tari” (Danstheater Series) yang akan menampilkan 7 pengkarya yang akan mempersembahkan karya 20-30 minit.

Objektif Program

Objektif utama program “CETUS” Siri Teater Tari – Danstheater Series, Projek KL Fringe ini adalah untuk:

  • Memeriahkan lagi kegiatan kesenian di Malaysia khususnya di ibukota Kuala Lumpur, sekali gus menarik pelancung untuk sama-sama menikmati seni dan budaya
  • Memperkenalkan dan mempopularkan genre teater tari, gabungan teater dan tari serta pengertian timur dan barat serta moden dan pasca moden
  • Mengabungkan kelompok penggiat, teater Melayu, tari kontemporari, puisi dan teater tradisional Mak Yong dan Manora
  • Mengabungkan kelompok penonton, teater Melayu, tari kontemporari, puisi dan teater tradisional Mak Yong dan Manora
  • Mempopularkan venue baru untuk seni tari kontemporari selain venue yang sedia ada
  • Mengadakan satu pertemuan antara timur dan barat, tradisi dan moden serta generasi yang berbeza
  • Mempergiatkan cabang seni persembahan iaitu seni tari, selain bentuk lain seperti teater, muzikal dan teater tradisional
  • Mengumpulkan sekumpulan penggiat yang terdiri daripada Bangsa Malaysia dari pelbagai kaum yang boleh dilihat sebagai Satu malaysia

“CETUS” Danstheater

Danstheater sebenarnya diambil dari kata Tanztheater yang berasal dari Jerman sejak tahun 1927, yang merujuk kepada Dance Theatre atau mungkin boleh dirujuk sebagai Teater Tari. Pun begitu kata Teater Tari masih berkait dengan istilah Drama Tari dan Taridra, walaupun ianya berbeza dan lebih bersifat kontemporari. Teater Asia sebenarnya mempunyai unsur-unsur drama, tari, muzik, muzikal dan sekaligus bersifat fizikal. Danstheater di sini sebenarnya merujuk kepada gabungan pemikiran, gaya, rupa dan jiwa Timur dan Barat di dalam persembahan teater tari. Ianya menghasilkan gabungan yang dipanggil “CETUS” untuk merepresentasikan pertemuan-pertemuan antara timur dan barat, moden dan tradisi, serta generasi lama dan baru dan seterusnya menjadikan sebuah persembahan teater tari untuk menarik perhatian para penggemar Tari Kontemporari yang seringnya berlandaskan Tari Barat serta para penggemar teater Bahasa Malaysia. Mungkin di sini bukan hanya berlaku satu gabungan penggemar, tetapi juga pemikiran, gaya, rupa dan jiwa yang bersifat Malaysia.

Apa yang menarik kali ini adalah gabungan para karyawan teater tari atau Dansteater yang terdiri daripada koreografer-koreografer pelbagai kaum dalam Bangsa Malaysia – Melayu, India, Cina, Borneo yang sekaligus boleh dilabelkan sebagai persembahan Satu Malaysia – One Malaysia. Hidangan karya pada kali ini juga menampilkan karyawan dari genre pemikiran tari yang berbeza, tradisi dan barat, serta menggabungkan generasi yang berbeza. Selain itu Dansteater juga akan menampilkan A.P. Dr. Ananya Chatterjea dari University of Minnesota, USA, yang juga Pengarah Artistik kumpulannya, Ananya Dance Theatre. Antara yang terpilih untuk menampilkan karya mereka pada tahun ini termasuklah:

AGI IBRAHIM - MALAYSIA

ANANYA CHATTERJEA – USA/INDIA

DAYANG MARIANA – MALAYSIA

KIEA KUAN NAM - MALAYSIA

RATHIMALAR GOVINDRAJOO - MALAYSIA

SUHAILI AHMAD KAMIL– MALAYSIA

ZUBIN MOHD – MALAYSIA


Latarbelakang Ringkas

Agi Ibrahim misalnya bukanlah satu nama baru di dalam dunia seni, terutamanya seni puisi. Seperti Allahyarham W.S. Rendra, Agi Ibrahim terkenal kerana persembahan puisinya yang begitu “animated” dan bersifat fizikal. Beliau yang juga ahli Kumpulan Anak Alam di era teater kontemporari 1970an. Beliau pernah memenangi S.E.A Write Award di Bangkok.

Karya: Tak Tun


Ananya Chatterjea adalah seorang koreografer, penari serta ahli akademik tari dengan buku tarinya “Butting Out” yang menjadikan asas tarinya dari seni tari klasik India, Odissi dari Bengal dan mengenegahkan pemikiran Pasca-Kolonial di dalam persembahan-persembahan teater tarinya di New York dan Minnesota. Kini beliau menjadi pengarah program tari di Universiti Minnesota, USA. Para penarinya terdiri daripada wanita-wanita kulit hitam asal Afrika dan Asia.

Karya: Kali Tandava – Nuclear Winter

Dayang Mariana adalah anak Sarawak yang giat memperjuangkan seni tarinya di persada teni tanah air. Beliau mendapat didikan daripada koreografer Indonesia yang terkenal, Bagong Kusudiarjo. Pernah menjadi pengajar tari di Akademi Seni Kebangsaan dan Universiti Malaysia Sarawak setelah pulang dari pengajian di Amerika Syarikat. Dayang mendapat pendidikan tentang Labanotasi di New York sebelum memenangi pingat Emas dalam pertandingan tarian kontemporari di WCOPA di Los Angeles pada tahun 2004.

Karya: Entangled

Kiea Kuan Nam adalah merupa salah seorang ahli utama di dalam kumpulan teater tari Buto Malaysia terkenal, Nyoba Kan. Sebelum itu beliau pernah menyertai Kwangsi Dance Selangor dan Kuala Lumpur serta pernah belajar dari Lee Swee Keong dan Woon Fok Sen. Beliau pernah bekerja dengan Pappa tarahumara serta Ko Murobushi dan menghadiri collaborative choreographers di Sumatera Barat dan mendapat gelaran Best Choreografer pada tahun 2006 di International Youth Dance Festival in Hong Kong.

Karya: Within the Dark Water

Rathimalar Govindrajoo yang mempunyai asas tari dari tarian Odissi dan Bharata Natyam pernah menjadi salah orang penari utama Sutra Dance Theatre di bawah pimpinan Ramli Ibrahim selama 12 tahun sebelum menari dengan kumpulan tarian kontemporari India di Britain di bawah Shobana Jeyasigh. Apabila pulang ke Malaysia beliau menari dengan Sutra dan menghasilkan karya kontemporarinya sendiri, bermula dari Star Struck. Pernah bekerjasama dengan Bilqis Hijjas dan Suhaili Ahmad Kamil di dalam menghasilkan karya tari kontemporarinya.

Karya: Rebel Without Cause


Suhaili Ahmad Kamil adalah lulusan sarjana muda tari dari Victoria College of Arts di Melbourne pada tahun 2006. Beliau mendapat tempat kedua di dalam pertandingan realiti tv “You Think You Can Dance” pada tahun 2007. Beliau mengajar dan menghasilkan karya tari kontemporari di ASWARA sambil mengajar di Sekolah Tari Aurora dan pernah bekerja dengan Rimbun Dahan, Bilqis Hijjas dan Aida Redza. Pada tahun 2008 beliau kembali ke Melbourne untuk menghasilkan karya baru di dalam program New Wave Festival.

Karya: Satu Sama dengan Dua (Extended)


Zubin Mohamad adalah Zulkifli bin Mohamad, walaupun lebih dikenali sebagai seorang sarjana teater tari dan budaya, beliau pernah belajar tari Melayu kontemporari daripada Azanin Ahmad, tari Bali dari Ibu Ni Wayan Masih, tari Jawa dari Ibu Elly Luthan, teater dari Rendra serta Mak Yong dari Primadona Mek Nab dan pemain rebab, Che Amat. Beliau mula menghasilkan karya kontemporari di Sarawak kemudiannya di Bangkok dan Jakarta. Sepulangnya ke Malaysia beliau banyak menulis dan mengarah teater fizikal serta teater tari yang berasaskan vokabulari tradisi. Terakhir menghasilkan “24102004” di Brown University, USA dan “Ballet of Liggor: Text by Mubin Sheppard” di Asia Conference di Bangkok pada Jun dan July 2008.

Karya: Conversation – Mak Yong & Manora


Program

DANCE TALK - ANANYA CHATTERJEA

4 November 2009

Ahad- Sunday 8.30 Malam

Venue: ANNEX Central Market

“CETUS” Danstheater Series

6 November 2009

Jumaat – Friday 8.30 Malam

Venue: Balai Syed Nasir, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur

“CETUS” Danstheatre Series

7 November 2009

Sabtu – Saturday 8.30 Malam

Venue: Balai Syed Nasir, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur


Ananya Chatterjea

Ananya: based on the Bengali na·anya , "like whom there is no other". Ananya Dance Theatre (formerly Women In Motion ) is a company of women artists of color, diverse in age, race, nationality, and sexual orientation, but uniformly committed to artistic excellence and passionate articulation of our dreams, hopes, and desires.

Ananya Dance Theatre is known for its blending of excellent artistry and high production values with community-building and social change work. Uniquely, it is also noted for seamless blending together the sculpturesque forms, strong footwork, and emotional articulation of the Odissi classical style, the purity of line and breath release of yoga, the efficiency and awareness of the power within human body of Indian martial arts traditions such as Kalarippayattu, the abstract theatrical potential of Indian ritual practices, and the urgent energy of street theater.

Drawing from the passion of women's movements world-wide toward social justice, the choreographic trend of the company's work involves dancing stories of ordinary lives to invoke a broader commentary about social justice and philosophy. Witnessing the political theater created by directors like Badal Sircar and Safdar Hashmi, and by organizations such as the Indian People's Theatre Association and Stree Shakti Sanghatana (a grassroots women's organization), who created and performed political theatre in public forums as consciousness-raising modes, Artistic Director Chatterjea was inspired to search for a dance language that could also articulate a critique. These experiences and the search for a contemporary Indian movement aesthetic started her off on her creative journey that lead to the establishment of Ananya Dance Theatre .

Our mission is to create and stage original works and powerful images inspired by the lives and work of women all around the world. Based on contemporary interpretations of the Odissi dance form, aesthetic traditions of Bengal, and practices of street theater created by women's groups, the company seeks to reach and engage diverse peoples.

Ananya Dance Theatre works with the belief that the search for excellence in artistry forges pathways to galvanize strong communities and generate forces of strength and beauty. With every project we seek to challenge ourselves in terms of artistry, execution, and production values and ultimately to question the widely-held assumption about the lack of artistic excellence in community-based artistic projects.

Ananya Chatterjea, dancer, choreographer, dance scholar, and dance educator, envisions her work in the field of dance as a “call to action” with a particular focus on women artists of color. She is Associate Professor in the Dept. of Theater Arts and Dance and Director of Dance in the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. She is also the Artistic Director of Ananya Dance Theatre, a dance company of women artists of color who believe in the powerful intersection of artistic excellence and social justice (www.ananyadancetheatre.org). Trained initially in Indian classical and folk dance traditions, she became a well-known exponent of the Odissi style of classical dance at a young age. However, disillusioned with the commercialization that had become attendant upon Indian classical dance forms, and vitally interested in the creation of a contemporary Indian dance mode, Ananya began her explorations of form and theme in dance in the 1980’s. But, it is through her study of street theater and feminist praxis across the world that she arrived at her fierce commitment to the immediate relationship between bodily artistic practices and social justice movements. Ananya believes in the integral interconnectedness of her creative and scholarly research. Her book, Butting out! Reading cultural politics in the work of Chandralekha and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, was published by Wesleyan University Press in 2004. At the University of MN, she teaches courses on the cultural politics of dance, the bodily production of knowledge, dance historiographies, and the choreographies of social justice art projects. Ananya is the proud recipient of grants from prestigious organizations such as the Asian Arts Initiative, McKnight Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, Jerome Foundation, as well as a prestigious artist fellowship from the Bush Foundation. In 2001, she was featured as an “Artist of the Year” in the City Pages, and in 2005, she was named a “Changemaker” by the Women’s Press in Minnesota. She is also the proud recipient of awards from the BIHA (Black Indian Hispanic Asian) Women In Action organization and from the MN Women’s Political Caucus, and recently the 21 leaders for the 21st Century Award from Women’s E-News (http://www.womensenews.org/21leaders2007.cfm), a national women-centered news organization, for her work weaving together community-building and artistic excellence and creating a space for women’s voices through artistic practices. She was recently honored by the Josie Johnson Social Justice and Human Rights Award at the University of Minnesota. Recent performances include Erasing Borders Festival (New York, 2008), Bates Dance Festival (Maine, 2008); New World Theater (Amherst, 2007); Museum Theater (Singapore, 2007); Conwell Theater (Philadelphia, 2007); Contemporary Asian Dance Festival (Osaka, 2006); Indonesian Dance Festival (Jakarta, 2006); Women Artists for Peace Festival (Delhi, 2004); Harborfront Theater (Toronto, Cananda, 2003, 2004); Habitat Center (Delhi, India, 2003); National Center for Performing Arts (Bombay, India, 2003); Philippines Cultural Center (Manila, Philippines, 2003) Theaterlabor (Bielefeld, Germany, 2002); Under the Stars Festival (Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, 2002); and Nehru Center (London, UK, 2002). She has been artist-in-residence at Univ. of Surrey (2005), Performing Arts School (Singapore, 2003), and MIT’s Dept. of Theater and Dance (2001, 2002). She was selected to be a Ford Foundation Delegate to Delhi (2002) and an artist in a creativity pilot project initiated by the UK Arts Council (2001).

Kiea Kuan Nam

Freelance Artist, Administrator & Core Member of Nyoba Kan. Kuan Nam discovered dancing during his university years. He joined the Selangor & Kuala Lumpur Kwangsi Dance Troupe and trained under Mew Chang Tsing, Lee Swee Keong and Woon Fook Sen. In 2002 he joined Nyoba Kan and performed in the following productions:

‘Carmen’, ‘Eden with Chrysanthemums in Full Bloom’, ‘Happy Birthday’, ‘Qian’s’, ‘A Cherry Bludgeoned, A Spirit Crushed’, ‘The Money God Arrives’ and ‘Pheonix Rises’. In 2003/2004 he worked with Koike Hiroshi of Pappa Tarahumara on ‘Spring in Kuala Lumpur’, and Ko Murobushi in the Japan-Malaysia Technical Design Workshop. In 2005 he represented Malaysia at a Collaborative Choreographers Workshop in the West Sumatera Dance Festival. In 2006 he was awarded Best Choreographer and, under his direction, the Malaysian troupe won Best Group Performance in the International Youth Dance Festival in Hong Kong.

Title: within the dark water

Synopsis: Feminine, such a complicated and emotional. Just like a different characters but at the same time pure and gentle as water, and naive like a child.

Rathimalar Govindrajoo

Malaysian born Rathimalar Govindarajoo (Rathi) specialises in Indian Classical Odissi, Bharata Natyam & contemporary dance. One of the lead dancers of Ramli Ibrahim’s Sutra Dance Theatre who partnered Ramli himself from 1990 – 2002, Rathi has been under the wings of Sutra for more than a decade, performing in the Philippines, France, Italy, Japan, Indonesia, India and Australia.

In 1998, Rathi completed the Six Week School of the American Dance Festival (ADF) at Duke University, North Carolina, USA. After obtaining her local Mass Communication (PR) qualifications in Olympia College, PJ, Rathi became one of the pioneer full-time contemporary dancers of the renowned South Asian British-funded dance company, Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company (SJDC) in London, UK. For five years, Rathi toured extensively with SJDC in Britain and Europe, contextualizing performances with educational and outreach work. While in the UK, Rathi also revisited Malay traditional dance and music with an upcoming Malaysian choreographer and artistic director, Maziah Omar of Nusantara in Nottingham. Rathi returns home hoping to contribute her dance experience to the flourishing performing arts scene in Malaysia and to venture into new choreographic works. Her first attempt at choreography was Star Struck, created for Sutra dancers in 2006.

Suhaili Ahmad Kamil

Suhali Ahmad Kamil is from Malaysia and graduated with an Honours Degree in dance in 2006, at the VCA where she received the De Gruchy Award(Most Potential Dance, 2004), Elfie Blake Award( Most Achievement Award, 2005) and Most Outstanding Dancer of the VCA Graduate 2005. After gaining her BA Dance (Hons) in 2006, Suhaili returned to Malaysia to teach, choreograph and dance with Malaysia's young up-coming contemporary choreographers such as Bilqis Hijjas, Loh Shee Hoe, Umesh Shetty and Rathimalar Govindalarmajoo. She was the runner-up for a reality TV show So You Think You Can Dance Season 1 in Malaysia in 2007. Suhaili currently teaches at the National Arts Academy of Malaysia(ASWARA), Skills Academy (Academy for the Autistic Children, KL) and Aurora School of Dance, KL. As part of her Honours project Suhali participated in the Sanggar Choreographic Workshop hosted by the National Arts Academy, Malaysia. Suhaili returned to Melbourne in 2008 to perform with Rogue for the Next Wave Festival and in Neil Adam's Vapor Trail as part of the VCA School of DAnce 30th Anniversary celebrations.

Zubin Mohamad

Zubin Mohamad is Zulkifli bin Mohamad, won few awards including Asia Fellow Award 2002 (Indonesia Contemporary Dance), UNESCO's Artisan of Southeast Asia 2000, Asia Research Foundation - Southeast Asian Islamic Scholars in 2003 his research on “Performing Arts and Islam in Malaysia” including few other awards from British Council, Australian High Commission, Goethe Institute, Japan Theatre Institute. He researched on Contemporary Arts (Malay Dance Theatre) through Political Economic theories and Cultural Studies focused on "Artistic Creation Management in Contemporary Malay Dance Theatre in Malaysia" for his doctorate. His research works span from heritage, tradition, contemporary, modern, post-modern to popular arts and culture. Zulkifli is a dance-performance artist, curator, writer and director of performance theatre and media. Recently he performed his post-colonial piece called “Ballet of Ligor: Text by Sheppard” at Asia Conference in Bangkok, and presented his paper thru performance of “24102004” at Brown University, Rhode Island. He is now working on two vdo projects, a dance video, “Flowering” and Wendy Rogers from UC Riverside and theatre for vdo, “Terompah Manik”.