Front Row

Over the next three weeks, a group of born-in-Malaysia dancers will all be performing three traditional Indian dances and one contemporary dance. The questions that arise, How do Malaysian bodies interpret Indian dances? How does a body that is trained in contemporary and other traditional dances adorn one for a particular traditional Indian dance? Answers to these questions articulated in the int...

Two artistic directors of two percussion-based performance groups--one here and one in Burkina Faso--share on how they look at the question of evolving their troupes balancing between keeping to their core strengths and the need to keep and grow their audience base. They also detail their three-year collaboration which will culminate in performances which pool together drumming traditions and inst...

Where there has been a rise in performance poetry events there has also been an increase in stand up comedy events but it’s comedy that has been able to mainstream faster, gaining much larger audiences. The two mediums actually have a lot in common, share a history, and not just in their propensity to sometimes be funny. What can performance poets learn from stand up’s commercial succe...

Our guest tells about the creation and the sustaining of this group of seven which is made up of Malaysians and other nationals. This group has performed in more than a hundred international festivals and will be performing in Ipoh because music must be shared. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Talking about different art movements in the world. This week, we visit Japan of the 17th through to the middle of the 19th century. Learn about Ukiyo (the floating world) and the aesthetics underpinning the Edo mercantile culture. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The dance and the theatre departments of the national performing arts school collaborate to bring a hybrid experimental performance to the stage. The creators tell about the experimentation to uncover different approaches to creating contemporary interdisciplinary performances. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The festival will offer popular symphonic music from ‘Star Wars’ to ‘West Side Story’, to a sacrificial tale of a Queen, and to love songs composed by a King. Our guest, a resident of Seremban, a cellist himself--he teaches, offers masterclasses and adjudicates in competition--shares on the terrain of classical music outside the Klang Valley and what needs to be done to aid...

When singing with a tin-cup in hand so as to be able to continue to sing. The rising number of young people seeking a career in the world of classical singing runs smack into questions on funding and, in business speake, return of investment. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stephanie, on her way to East 15 Acting School in the UK, stops by to tell us why she thinks it is important for her to continue her education in the theatre and honing her skills within an academy rather than be on stage practicing through doing. She shares her dreams and invites others to participate in it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Penang-born Lee Joo-For passed away just a month ago in Australia, a country he migrated to in the 60’s. The world knows of him as a visual artist, yet he has left behind a corpus of plays that should earn him a prominent place in the history of theatre in our country. Sugu Kingham paints Lee Joo-For as a renaissance man who works with symbols both on his canvases and the stage, both traditi...

This piece of 18th century music was one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s last compositions. The conductor and singer, of the upcoming performance, take us on a journey to understand this sacred work, and how it gave new form to vocal music. Bach’s B Minor Mass is considered as one of the “supreme achievements of classical music.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati...

Our guests share how writers like William Faulkner and Stephen King have given them inspiration to create ‘Kill Your Darlings’ a full-length dance piece. They lay bare the process and explain how dance can provide accessible metaphors in its choreographic choices. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before launching into a discussion on a play that is set in a totalitarian state, our guests discuss an opinion-piece published in an online arts site which proposes that local theatre companies stage productions which resonant more with millennials. Then the main discussion about a play that incorporates dark stories for children, murders and the dislocation of truth. See omnystudio.com/listener...

Our guests tell about creating a theater company that focuses on “a language that transcends the word.” Now they work with masks, creating a “theatre of gestures”. They share with us how they engender complex communication without words. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The dancer-choreographers explain “audience segmentation” and how it is used to help grow dance-attendees through audience-development programs. Our guests uncover how to introduce dance-averse audience and novices to this genre of the performing arts, how to engage the audience in a conversation on dance. Beyond that, get a view into how dancers find projects and to keep themselves em...

Two young students who are directing 10-minute plays in a festival organized for young people talk about learning the craft and attempting to get the best out of words on a page and out of other young performers who are classmates or schoolmates. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guests introduce “avant-garde Borneo ethnic music band” Nading Rhapsody, a group that will be singing songs based on indigenous tales from Sarawak. The Pusaka folks trace this cross-cultural fusion of folk song, ritual chanting, mythological stories to underscore how traditional cultures are evolving to stay relevant. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A local private university has invited American universities to perform concerts in town to celebrate the launch of the university's new music performance degree. The Associate Dean takes the opportunity to tell about playing the trombone as a jazz and classical musician. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The teacher and student share with us the appeal of the harp and that it is not an instrument to play heavenly music only. Kathrina points out that she likes the rough elements of the harp. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two separate guests telling us about two different programmes at the festival. Ida Nerina describes ‘Section by Stesen’ that will be performed by Malaysia’s premier Mak Yong actor, Zamzuriah Zahari. Bilqis Hijjas shares on ‘Dancing in Place--City Site 2017’ which will see not only local dancers but also those from Indonesia and Thailand. Hear what ‘site-specific...

Going back in time to learn the zeitgeist of the time, 1730 - 1820, and the music that emerged. The learned guests share about the contributions of this period and how music moved from the busyness of the baroque to the cleaner and clearer classical. They explain the sonata form. Pay attention to their discussion of ‘tone painting’ using Mendelssohn's ‘Hebrides Overture’ to...

In the course of describing this annual international event, the Soorya India Festival, which makes Kuala Lumpur one of its regular stops, our guests share on the importance of the arts--both the visual and performing ones (dance)--to the lives of Indian-Malaysians in the country. They also introduce some of the 24 artists from India who are participating in this festival. See omnystudio.com/liste...

The upcoming weekend’s music ‘festival’ over two days features six singers. Two of the six--Peter Ong and Hunny Madu--together with the organizer, Nell, show up not only to tell about the event, a retrospect to celebrate singers who passed away in 2016, but also to give a view into their lives backstage--learning to perform in a language not of your own, and managing life of the...

The choreographer explains contemporary dance and what she explores within it. She tells about her collaborations with Malaysian dancers, among other nationalities, and what she picks up and adapts to her choreography. The dancers share what it is like to see a dance and then to learn it and explore it through their bodies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hear about Flamenco from folks who understand it as the art of passion--for them Flamenco is more than the music, more than the dance. It’s protest as an art form driven by the pulse in the blood of folks who feel and are desirous that the feelings find expression. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.