This musical performance by Mohram (Mohar and Ramli) will be accompanied by elements of contemporary dance choreographed by Aida Redza to create an all-encompassing visual and aural spectacle.

Traditional and contemporary musical instruments are used to create the unique, haunting sound of Mohram, evoking ever-changing moods and emotions.

Dates/Time: 11-13 April 2003 @ 8.30pm

Venue: Panggung Sari, Istana Budaya, Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur

Tickets: RM176 / RM121 / RM101 / RM76 / RM51 / RM26

Outlet: Box Office

Contact: 03-4025 5932 (tel) / 03-4025 5975 (fax)
Email: info@istanabudaya.gov.my

Topsy Turvy 2: Bizarre is a dance performance that showcases works by the nine young dancers that make up Batu Dance Theatre under the direction of artistic director, Vincent Tan.

Following on from the performance that took place in Klang last year, Topsy-Turvy 2 incorporates the intrinsic talents, youthfulness and diverse cultural disciplines of the dancers. The resulting theme is Guai, Gui, Guai, Guai (or ‘Bizarre’) with the nine dance fragments expressing novel movements and stormy emotions.

The budding choreographers include Yap Yen Fah, Hoh May Yee, Carole Ong, Ailyn Tan, Yong Hui Yee, Teo Bee Fong, Liew Yong Huat, Lee Mong Medi and Yong Chee Hoe.

Dates/Times: 26 April @ 8pm / 27 April @ 3pm & 8pm

Venue: The Actors Studio Theatre, Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur

Tickets: RM 30 (adults) / RM 20 (students with valid ID)
. 50% discount will be given to previous audience members who filled out and submitted their Q&A forms (valid only until 13 April 2003)
. 10% discount to group purchases of 10 or more tickets (valid only till 13 April 2003)
. MyDance member discount (with valid membership cards): RM25 (adults) / RM 18 (students)

Outlets:
The Actors Studio (03-2694 5400 / 03-2692 5927)
Batu Dance Theatre (03-3324 7568 / 012-2222 735)

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Topsy Turvy
This annual series is intended to be an alternative platform for young dancers to explore the possibilities of dance, and experience the process of creative endeavour through choreography.

Run wholly by the young people, it is creating a new way of creative planning and production making so that dance and choreography are not confined to the realm of professionals.

Programme
I Am Leaving (Hoh May Yee) voices the heart of youngsters in search of direction in their life

Bubbles (Yong Hui Yee) illustrates the earnest wish of young ladies of the future

SDE (Ailyn Tan) depicts the degraded life of a lost generation

www.hope.com.my (Ong Lay Ha) is to inspire and motivate the generation living at the edge of social restlessness

Searching (Yap Yen Fah) depicts a journey in search of security by young people, disturbed and unsettled

Forward and Backward (Liew Yong Huat & Yong Chee Hoe) enlists the rhythmic body movements based on defense and attack in a basketball game

Pipe Dream (Teo Bee Fong) illustrates the illusion of a secular world

3, 2, 1… (Lee Mong Mei) a solo dance that depicts the ease and relief of achieving solidarity amidst the lost and found in her life

Best of the Best, a compilation of the dancers’ endeavour that highlights the success of the female sex amidst an ever-challenging male chauvinistic society

Kami is a new collaboration between two of Asia’s new wave of contemporary dancer-cum-choreographers, Arifwaran Shaharudin (Malaysia) and Mugiyono Kasido (Indonesia), with set design by Japanese kinetic sculptor Masato Tanaka.

It is a dance work that uses text as a metaphor for exploring issues that continue to haunt the creation of contemporary Asian work. Using words and definitions culled from the Oxford English Dictionary (the language of a former colonial power), parallels are drawn between the tension that exists between language and the reality it represents with that of contemporary Southeast Asian society and its complex heritage.

Divided into five sections, the work is set against a fascinating backdrop of Tanaka’s stage devices and objects, demonstrating that technology can contain a sense of hidden natural beauty beyond bringing about an acceleration of modern life.

Performances:
10-12 April 2003 @ 8.00pm
Theatre Studio, Esplanade Theatres, Singapore
Tickets: S$20

Workshop with Arifwaran and Mugiyono:
12 April 2003 @ 2.00pm
Rehearsal Studio
Free!

The Dance Program of Akademi Seni Kebangsaan is proud to announce the final graduation assessment recital performances (Penilaian Tahun Akhir – PeTA) of five of its students who have completed three years of intensive study:
· Hoi Cheng Sim
· Rozilah Abdul Rahman
· Intan Carina Abdul Karim
· Shafirul Azmi Suhaimi
· Zamzuriah Zahari

Members of the public are invited to attend the performances over two evenings.
Each night’s performance will last approximately 1 hour
Entrance is FREE
Venue: Dewan Tunku Abdul Rahman, MTC, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur

For further enquiries, call Norhafilah at 013-4054995 or 2164 9180 ext 242

9 April 2003 @ 8.30 p.m. – Traditional Dance Recital
This will feature ten dances including Layang Mas, Asyik, Terinai, Bolak-bolak, Zapin Pekajang, Tari Inai, Kanjet Ngeleput, Datun Julud, Chinese Dances from Mongolia and Tibet, and the Piring Dance originally from Western Sumatera.

These will be performed in full traditional costumes and some of these dances will be accompanied by live music. The above dances have been taught by leading traditional dance experts of Malaysia such as Dr. Chandrabanu, Nurdjajadi Jasan, Suhaimi Magi, Zhou Gui Xin, Sharifah Mahani and Guntik Sabili.

These dances are performed in as original a form as possible, and some are being performed for the first time in Kuala Lumpur. This is also the first time that graduates must dance from the Chinese Dance repertoire. This is with the aim of moulding truly Malaysian artists of the future.

11 April 2003 @ 8.30 p.m – Modern Dance Recital
This will feature choreography by Choo Tee Kuang for Hoi Cheng Sim, Loke Soh Kim for Rozilah Abdul Rahman, Shafirul Azmi Suhaimi’s Hari+Hari, Intan Carina’s Study – Solos and Duets and Zamzuriah Azhari’s Auta-auta.

This section is being presented under the guidance and advice of Marion D’Cruz, Mew Chang Tsing and Joseph Gonzales who are among Malaysia’s leading contemporary dance practitioners.

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This is a good opportunity to witness the richness of Malaysia’s traditional dance heritage and appreciate the efforts of the Akademi Seni Kebangsaan to preserve and promote the knowledge and practice of traditional dance.

Too many times we have heard that there are not enough performances being staged or that Malaysian traditional dance is simply about waving one’s hands, holding scarves or ‘bunga manggar’. It is so much more than this. If you would like to get to know your cultural heritage before it becomes obsolete, then catch the performance on 9 April.

If you care to watch some interesting choreography danced by good performers whom we hope we have groomed well, do not miss the performance on 11 April.

The modern dance audition for entry into the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts has been POSTPONED until further notice due to the current concern over SARS.

The organisers apologise for any inconvenience.

For further enquiries, please contact Douglas at 03-8943 8695/6

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The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts is holding a Modern Dance Audition for its 2003 intake.

If interested, please prepare a full resume, a passport sized photograph and dance clothes.

Date/Time: 7 April 2003 @ 8.00pm

Venue: Dua Space Dance Theatre
MINES Shopping Fair, 2nd floor

Contact: Douglas Wong (Company Manager) at 03-8943 8696 / 8943 8695

A 20-member troupe from the National Russian Ballet will tour Malaysia with “Revival”, a performance comprising excerpts from Don Quixote, Nutcracker and other ballets.

The performance will feature soloists Alexey Borzov and Olga Kuznetsova from the Bolshoi Theatre.

Tour Schedule:
20 April 2003
Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan (Jalan Istana, 30000, Ipoh, Perak)
Contact: Perak Society of Performing Arts (05-242 5936)

21-22 April 2003
Megellan Grand Ballroom (Sutera Harbour Resort, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah)
Contact: 088-267 037 / 016-812 8080 / 016-831 1147

24 April 2003
Dewan Sri Pinang (Penang)
Contact: 04-226 8477

26-27 April 2003
Arena of Stars, Genting Highlands
Contact: 03-2718 1118

The longest running dance drama in Malaysia – Re: Lady White Snake by RiverGrass Dance Theatre is back. Fresh from its acclaimed performance in Huayi – an international festival presented by the Esplanade Theatres on the Bay, Singapore, it will be seen for the first time with live music accompaniment by composer, Bernard Goh – artistic director of Hands Percussion.

Choreographed and performed by Mew Chang Tsing and Lee Swee Keong, it also features Brian Chua and Wei Jun. Costumes are by Melinda Looi, Hair & Makeup by Charles Jong and Lighting Design by Mac Chan.

Re: Lady White Snake premiered in 1996 with two intentions:
· To reflect the complexity of human nature
· To develop its own dance vocabulary
After its many renditions, this internationally acclaimed production is a strong representation of Malaysian Contemporary Dance

Dates/Times:
3-5 April 2003 @ 8.30pm
6 April 2003 @ 3.00pm

Venue:
The Actors Studio Bangsar
Level 3, Bangsar Shopping Center

Tickets:
RM 27 / 42 / 52 (adults)
RM 20 /28 / 35 (students)
(note: MyDance members are able to upgrade RM35 seats to RM52 seats – offer is limited so book early to take advantage of this benefit)

Outlets:
The Actors Studio Bangsar (03-2094 0400 / 2094 1400)
The Actors Studio Theatre (03-2694 5400 / 2692 5927)

‘Diversity in Motion’ Photo Competition
Register now to shoot the performance and enter the photo competition being run in conjunction with the MyDance Festival 2003 to be held 22-28 September 2003

Course Promotion
New Mothers may claim FREE vouchers to the Body Conditioning Course available at RiverGrass Dance Theatre

For further information on MyDance membership and benefits, the photo competition and course promotion, call RiverGrass at 03-787 787 06

Three international conferences will take place in Taipei in early August. They are:

2004 CORD / WDA Asia Pacific / ICKL International Conference

1-4 August 2004 @ Taipei National University of the Arts, Taipei

Conference theme: Dance, Identity and Integration
(see below for conference panel speakers)

2004 Chinese Culture University / Dance Notation Bureau International Conference

5-7 August 2004 @ Chinese Culture University, Taipei

Conference content: Application of Labanotation, motif writing and Laban movement analysis for education, with technology as a tool for cultural study

2004 International Conference for Dance Medicine, Taiwan

8-10 August 2004 @ Taipei Physical Education College, Taipei

Conference content: Dance medicine and dance injury rehabilitation

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More information and registration forms are available at www.dancing-tnua.com.tw

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CORD / WDA / ICKL Conference Panel Speakers

Identity
Yunyu Wang (moderator)
Basilio Esteban S. Villaruz, I Wayan Dibia, Ya-ping Chen & Susan Leigh Foster

Integration
Basilio Esteban S. Villaruz (moderator)
Marion Bastien, Deborah Jowitt, Tina Curren & Ping Heng

Keeping Tradition Alive
Ilene Fox (moderator)
Janos Fugedi, Mohd Anis Md Nor & Judy Van Zile

Dance as a Healing Agent
Mary Edsall (moderator)
Jill Green, Martha Eddy & Barbara Browning

New courses and classes at the Celestar Studio of Performing Arts will commence Monday 14 April 2003

Courses include:
Jazz Dance Teachers Course
Introductory syllabus (full-time / part-time)

Jazz Dance Teachers Course
Performers syllabus (full-time / part- time)

Performers Course
Higher Level (full-time / part-time

Performers Courses
Beginners (full-time / part-time)

Classes include:
. Creative Dance (Children 3-6 yr olds)
. Ballet (RAD syllabus and open classes)
. Jazz Dance (Hip-Hop, Rock n Roll, Latino)
. Indian Classical Dance
. Social Dance
. Stretching

For further information contact: Celeste (013-371 0862)

Venue: No 24B, Jalan Mamanda 4
Ampang Point, 68000, Selangor
(Next to Ampang Point Shopping Centre)

Judimar Monfils (choreographer-dancer of the award-winning dance production CURFEW!) will conduct two workshop courses in Modern dance.

Modern Dance for Adults
This workshop will cover contemporary and modern dance techniques as well as yoga to develop an awareness of body-space and body-mind connection.

Designed specifically for those who want to do something creative and work up a sweat during the week, the participants will improve their stamina, agility, flexibility, strength and body posture, as well as discover new ways to feel and move with their bodies. No previous dance experience required!

Schedule: every Monday, 11.00am – 12.00nn
Length of course: 10 weeks commencing 31 March 2003
Cost: RM300

Space is limited so participants must register before Thursday, 27 March 2003

Contemporary Dance Workshop
Another workshop based on modern and contemporary dance techniques, which will introduce dance lovers of all ages to choreography, composition and contact-improvisation.

During the course of these sessions, participants will learn techniques for stretching and strengthening, agility and stamina building, and they will increase their movement and dance vocabulary.

Participants should have some basic knowledge and experience of dance.

Schedule: Every Sunday, 4.00pm-6.00pm
Length of course: 5 weeks commencing 6 April 2003
Cost: RM300

Space is limited so participants must register before Monday, 31 March 2003

Venue:
Five Arts Center
27, Lorong Datuk Sulaiman 7,
Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur

Contact:
tel/fax: 03-7725-4858
email: fivearts@tm.net.my