Projects

MyDance Alliance projects are proposed and implemented by our elected committee and our members, with the support of partners in the local and international dance community.

If you would like to propose and run a new project with support from MyDance Alliance, please email your idea to contact@mydancealliance.org.

New Projects

• For 2022, MyDance Alliance is excited to announce MyDance@PJPAC, a series of new dance events and activities, including performances, residencies, workshops and interactive sessions, at the new Petaling Jaya Performing Arts Centre at 1Utama!

Ongoing Projects

• MyDance e-newsletter – An emailed compilation of upcoming performances, news, opportunities, workshops, training and activities in Malaysian dance and by Malaysian dancers abroad.
• Dancebox – An informal performance platform in partnership with The Actors Studio, running intermittently since 2001.
• Langkah – An annual online periodical edited by David Lim featuring writings from the Malaysian contemporary dance community. It aims to document the experiences and celebrate the achievements of the contemporary dance community, and to encourage critical reflection and dialogue.
• Dancing in Place – A weekend of site-specific dance performances, annually at private arts centre Rimbun Dahan, with other editions at Damansara Performing Arts Centre (2016 & 2017), Urbanscapes (2018), and Kota Kinabalu (2020).
• MyDance Festival — A major multi-weekend showcase of Malaysian (and sometimes international) dance works, including masterclasses, seminars and other activities, every few years (2001, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2013, and Tepak Tari 2015, Dancebox Festival 2019).
• Mentorship of Emerging Choreographers – Occasional projects helmed by experienced local choreographers, providing guidance and performance platforms, including Dance Escalator (2012-2013),  Dancing Alone (2019) and Dance on Camera (2020).
• Internships – MyDance committee members supervise tertiary dance students doing their industrial training placements, to introduce them to performance venues, local dancers, choreographers and companies, and the work involved in running dance productions and a non-profit organisation.
• Workshops by International Artists – MyDance helps to connect international dance artists passing through Malaysia with opportunities to teach workshops to the local dance community.
• Kongsi-Kongsi – Occasional informal sharing sessions for Malaysian dancers to share their experiences with the local dance community, usually discussing training and performance opportunities overseas.
• Small Grants – Occasional rounds of funding up to RM1500 to support projects, performances and training by Malaysian dancers. Funds are drawn from our organisational savings.

Past Projects

2021:

• Listing of over 50 Malaysian Choreographers on our website, compiled by intern Lee Bei Yi
• *Dancebox May 2021, a recorded performance streamed on Cloudtheatre, in partnership with The Actors Studio, produced by Chai Vivan
• *Dance on Camera: An Online Presentation of Dance Video Making, following on from the mentorship project in 2020
• *Dancing in Place: Different Cities, presenting 6 site-specific dance works via Facebook Live from KL, Ipoh, Melaka, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Penang, produced by Rithaudin Abdul Kadir
• *Free dance classes for Chin refugee teenagers through pre-recorded video, organized by Lau Beh Chin with the help of MyDance members and interns.
• Over 100 program books and details from Malaysian contemporary dance performances uploaded to the MY Art Memory Project online archive, a project by Five Arts Centre

*Projects supported by an Arts Organisation Funding Programme grant from our strategic partner CENDANA.

2020:

• *The 12th Annual General Meeting of the organisation, on 6 September 2020
• *Dancebox August 2020, a live performance at Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre, in partnership with The Actors Studio, produced by Rithaudin Abdul Kadir
• *Dance on Camera: A Choreographic Platform for Dance Video Making, an online mentorship project headed by JS Wong and Faillul Adam
• Dancing in Place: Kota Kinabalu, a live outdoor event of site-specific dance in the heart of the city, produced by Rithaudin Abdul Kadir
• *Free dance classes for Chin refugee teenagers live and online, organized by Lau Beh Chin with the help of MyDance members and interns.
• Langkah edition 2020, edited by David Lim, publishing nine new articles about contemporary dance process and creation by Malaysian practitioners. 

*Projects supported by an Arts Organisation Funding Programme grant from our strategic partner CENDANA.

2019:

• Dancebox Festival, 11-14 April at Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre, in partnership with The Actors Studio.
• Free dance classes for Chin refugee teenagers, organized by Lau Beh Chin with the help of MyDance members and interns.
• Dancing Alone: A Choreographic Platform for Solo Choreography, a mentorship project for emerging choreographers headed by JS Wong & Faillul Adam, with a showing at NOW Theatre in March.
• Workshops by international artists:
  • Sashar Zarif (Canada), in dances of Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, June 2019 at Five Arts Centre, Kuala Lumpur, organised by Nusantara Performing Arts Centre in partnership with MyDance Alliance.
  • Art Move Concept (France) in April 2019, Kuala Lumpur, organised by Dalila Samad with Alliance Française de Kuala Lumpur.
• Kongsi-Kongsi III public sharing session, organized by Silver Yee at Five Arts Centre.
• Dancebox, in partnership with The Actors Studio.
  • July 2019, produced by Chai Vivan.
  • December 2019, produced by Bilqis Hijjas.
• Langkah edition 2019, edited by David Lim, published six new articles about process and creation by Malaysian practitioners.
• Internships for University of Malay student Natasya Nazli, and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris students Lee Bee Hui & Wong Yieng Zhu.

2018:

• Annual General Meeting, 6 May 2018.
• Second International Conference on Dance Education (ICONDE), 2-4 August 2018, with the theme “The Spirit of Creativity in Dance Education”, organized by Nusantara Performing Arts Centre, and supported by Sultan Idris Education University and the MyDance Education & Training Network.
• Dancing in Place, January 2018 at Rimbun Dahan, featuring alumni from previous Southeast Asian Choreolabs.
• Sent KL-based dancers to participate in International Dance Day celebrations organised by Aida Redza of Penang Arts Link (PEARL) at Penang Performing Arts Centre.
• Dancebox, in partnership with The Actors Studio.
  • February 2018, produced by JS Wong.
  • May 2018, produced by Bilqis Hijjas.
  • September 2018, produced by Bilqis Hijjas.
• Dancing in Place, November 2018, part of Urbanscapes, in Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur, produced by Bilqis Hijjas.
• Internship for University of Malay student Karthini Chandran.

2017:

• Dancing in Place, March 2017 at Rimbun Dahan, produced by WDAAP’s new Creation & Presentation chair Joelle Jacinto and Leng Poh Gee.
• Dancebox, in partnership with The Actors Studio
  • April 2017
  • July 2017, produced by Leng Poh Gee
• Langkah 2017 edition, edited by David Lim.
• Dancing in Place: City Site, at Damansara Performing Arts Centre, produced by Wong Jyh Shyong.
• Labanotation workshop for External Continuing Professional Development (RAD), taught by Leng Poh Gee.
• Launch of Perspectives on Dance Education, published in partnership with NusPARC, edited by Mohd. Anis Mohd. Nor, on 23 September 2017.
• Student-organized seminar ‘Unity in Motion’, December 2017 at Sultan Idris Education University, coordinated by Education & Training network, discussing the development of dance education in Malaysia.
• Internship for Kathryn Chew, University of Malaya student.

2016:

• Dancing in Place, 24 January 2016 at Rimbun Dahan.
• Workshop in Axis Syllabus and site-specific choreography, by Daniel Bear Davis (USA), 19–24 January 2016 at Rimbun Dahan, organised by David Lim and supported by MyDance Alliance.
• Promotional support, January 2016, for Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur’s project with choreographer Un Yamada.
• Dancing in Place: City Site, July 2016 at Damansara Perfoming Arts Centre, directed by JS Wong with the theme ‘Dance Meets Architecture’.
• International Conference on Bajau Sama’ Diaspora and Maritime Southeast Asian Cultures, April 2016 at Semporna, Sabah, organised by Mohd Anis Md Nor, with Nusantara Performing Arts Research Center (NusParc), incuding:
• Langkah 2016 edition, edited by David Lim, supported by a grant from the Royal Arts Gala Fund.
• Small Grants:
  • For Khairulazhar Mohtar’s production Tentang Cinta, at University of Malaya in February 2016.
  • For Ladies of the Red Chamber, by the Mythical Oriental Dance Company, at klpac in August 2016.
  • For several MyDance members to attend Daniel Davis’ workshop.
  • For airfares for six Malaysian dancers to take part in the World Dance Alliance Asia-Pacific Annual General Meeting event in Korea.
  • For committee member Alla Azura Abal Abas to attend the International Conference on Bajau Sama’ Diaspora in Sabah.
• Internships for Sunway University student Emily S’ng, and University of Malaya students Izat Muzamil Azri and Geetha Lakshimy.                 

2015:

• Annual General Meeting.
• Dancing in Place, January 2015, at Rimbun Dahan.
• Dancing in Place, May 2015, as part of Hari Belia celebrations sponsored by Ministry of Youth & Sports in Putrajaya.
• Tepak Tari, 3-5 September 2015, a mini festival of 2 programs of Malaysian dance, at Auditorium DBKL, and part of Kuala Lumpur International Arts Festival 2015.
• Langkah 2015 edition, online contemporary dance periodical edited by David Lim, supported by a grant from the Royal Arts Gala Fund, with articles in English, Bahasa Malaysia & Mandarin.
• Kongsi-Kongsi I & II, public sharing sessions, March & July 2015, coordinated by Beh Chin where Malaysian dancers shared their experiences of training and performing overseas.
• Research Trip, organized by Lim Siew Ling to Semporna, East Malaysia, with Prof. Mohd Anis Mohd Nor, to document music and dance performed by local group Warisan Bajau.
• Workshops by international artists:
  • Adriane Fang (USA), June 2015 at Damansara Performing Arts Centre, hosted by Wong Jyh Shyong.
  • For dancer and musician Olivier Tarpaga (Burkina Faso/USA), May 2015, hosted by Rimbun Dahan, supported by HANDS Percussion.

2014:

• Annual General Meeting, 21 December 2014.
• Workshops by international artists:
  • Cunningham technique by Louise Burns (USA), 4 October 2014 at Rimbun Dahan.
  • Anggara Sri Wisnu (Indonesia) in Javanese dance with dalang Eddy Pursubaryanto, November 2014 at Rimbun Dahan.
  • Sports therapist Tessa Forbes (Australia), November 2014 at Rimbun Dahan.
• International Conference on Dance Education (ICONDE), August 2014 in Kuala Lumpur, hosted by Prof Mohd Anis Mohd Nor, attended by WDAAP members and dance scholars from around the world.

2013:

• MyDance Festival 2013, 24 May – 2 June 2013, themed ‘Show Off!’, at Panggung Bandaraya, Damansara Performing Arts Centre, ASWARA, The Club @ Bukit Utama, and Dataran Merdeka.
• Audience Development in Dance, supported by JKKN and British Council
  • Phase 1: Intensive Training Workshop, with Sarah Boiling (UK) for 25 local and regional dance company managers, at Rimbun Dahan, 29 April – 3 May.
  • Phase 2: Microgrants for Audience Development Projects, June-Oct, supported by JKKN, to eleven small projects by the local dance organisations which participated in Phase 1. 
• Dancebox, 21 September 2013, in partnership with The Actors Studio at KuAsh Theatre, Taman Tun Dri Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.
• Asia Pacific Impro!— Produced by David Lim, bringing dance and music improvisers in the region together to conduct research, provide workshops and engage in performance. 
• Dance Escalator, Part II: Mezzanine, 20-22 December, at The Actors Studio at KuAsh Theatre, Taman Tun Dri Ismail; 20-minute works by selected emerging contemporary choreographers
• MyDance Improvisation Series, produced by David Lim, a bi-monthly series aimed to serve as a platform for local dancers and members of the public to experience and to explore the field of dance improvisation, supported at Free Space by Kakiseni.
• Partial proceeds from sales of pendants by Royal Selangor, as part of Kakiseni Festival at Pavilion Shopping Centre.
• Apprenticeship for Stephanie Ho May Xian, with a grant from the National Creative Industry Policy.

2012:

• Annual General Meeting, 8 September 2012.
• Dance Film Series — free dance film showings to encourage audience development, in collaboration with Five Arts Centre. 
• Malaysian Dance Archives — a project to collect, document and store programs, posters, flyers, DVDs, videos and images from Malaysian dance productions, and to make these resources available to dance scholars and the interested public.
• Dancebox, September 2012, at The Actors Studio Theatre, Kuala Lumpur.
• Small Grants
  • For MyDance committee member David Lim to participate in the 3rd Asian Improvisation Art Exchange in Seoul, South Korea.
  • For emerging choreographer Fione Chia Yan Wei to take four dancers to the finals of the No Ballet competition in Germany with the work ‘Jin Zhu Long’. 
  • For Lee Wushu Arts Theatre for the Kuala Lumpur performance of Wushu Madness – 1 Table, 2 Chairs.
  • For Aida Redza for a workshop in Georgetown, Penang, with visiting students from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore.
• Workshops by international artists:
  • Contemporary circus troupe Chabatz d’Entrar (France) at klpac
  • Contemporary dancer-choreographer Mcebisi Bhayi (South Africa) at Rimbun Dahan
  • Improvisation by Minori Nagai (Japan)
  • Public chat about production by Kath Papas (Australia) at Five Arts Centre
  • Classical Javanese dance and mask dance by Agung Gunawan (Indonesia) at Rimbun Dahan
• Support for the Second Edition of Contact Festival, produced by David Lim, for contact improvisation fans, at Rimbun Dahan.
• Internship for University of Malaya student Nur Syafik Maskawi.

2011: