Front Row

In the many-layered world of dance, tango brings to mind wafts of saucy music and couples passionately swerving away together. With the Kuala Lumpur Tango Festival coming up in mid-March, we delve into this phenomenon and where it could possibly lead the future of local dance. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reviewing ‘Mahabharata'; 'Dance Dance Asia’ and ‘Cakap Dapur’ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nominally trained, if they were, these artists produced very colourful, tongue-in-cheek works which, at first glance, come off as unsophisticated, childlike, naive and maybe even primitive. The energy is palpable, making the illustrated images appear to leap off the canvas. A closer inspection reveals an order, not measured with a ruler but born of a keen intuition fed on living close to the stree...

Wayang Kulit goes overseas with Pusaka. A locally out-of-the-spotlight traditional performing arts, gets some American attention. The folks at Pusaka explains the need to perform overseas when local performances are rare.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Making a point that that oil is also important on canvas. The curator talks about two exhibitions being held concurrently at the gallery. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Staging stories with a moral  to inculcate in the young. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Street dancing as its name suggests comes from the street. Sidewalks, Covered Walkways, and all kinds of danceable places outdoor. Free to the viewing public that can come and go, depending of the individual viewer’s expectations. But what happens when it goes indoors and dancers sell tickets? How does the change of venue and circumstance impact on the dance and dancers? See omnystudio.com/l...

Carnatic instruments performed by visiting international performers in a music festival. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The birth of a musical for children with setting in African, roots in Australia and music by a Malaysian. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Growing ambitions have led to a year full of many festivals under the umbrella of the JB Arts Festival, to include a Fringe Festival 2015. In fact there will be five ancillary festivals.  The organizers paint the year ahead. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Still in the domestic space, the kitchen. But is the tete-a-tete in the kitchen any less intimate than pillow talk? Is it pan prattle when it’s part of the cuisine conversation? The director and writer shares what is explored in these series of stories springing from the scullery of artists’ hearts and minds. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bringing February love that’s in the air into the hearts of the listeners. This band mixes singing with beatbox, songs in English and Mandarin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An original play set in an English home, posh enough to have a butler. But then a dead body appears. And as in any class-conscious culture, the lowest on the totem pole gets blamed. But just because you’re blamed, it doesn’t mean you didn’t do it. Did the butler do it? I don’t know but fingers are pointed in that direction. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informatio...

An exhibition of curated works developed through a residency program for young curators from Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia. This Japan Foundation-sponsored event explores the increasing privatisation of urban spaces. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

‘Dance in Place’ is a site-specific performance by dancers who spent their residency at Rimbun Dahan. Bilqis Hijjas, Lee Ren Xin and Foo Chi Wei tells about how the residency has engendered collaborations among dancers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can anything good come out from Nazareth? That wasn’t rhetorical question asked by a doubter. Perhaps the same can be said of this sleepy town in Negeri Sembilan: Can anything good come out from Seremban? The answer is, ‘Come and see.’ sembilan and Alliance Francaise have collaborated to showcase the works of two artists-in-residence in sembilan’s inaugural exhibition. See...

The artist and the collector collaborate to share their private collections in a public display at a gallery in town. In particular the works of Yusof Ghani. The exhibition is called Shared Passion: Art of Yusof Ghani from the Datuk Seri Kalimullah Hassan and the Yusof Ghani Collection. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It started with ‘Write tales 2014’ and the public was invited to write a story in English. But now going one step further in 2015, ‘Write Tales’ require the kind of story that can be turned into a motion picture. This project is a CSR initiative to grow Malaysians’ awareness of English--reading and writing in that language--and its importance as an international langu...

The creator of The Hiroshi Koike Bridge Project: Mahabharata shares how a precipitating event led to his decision to close his 30-year-old theatre company and to undertake a new project, beginning from ground-zero. Through this project he creates a microcosm of the world, with actors and dancers, artists of different nationalities and languages, different artistic traditions, different cultures. S...

Recognizing that the Music Industry in Malaysia has grown over the years with more and more talented kids choosing a career in must, jazz pianist, Michael Veerapen and  John Dip Silas, similarly shaped souls see, a need for musicians to pool their talents and inspire each other to greater abilities in their instruments. Thus the birth of a Jazz Piano Festival. See omnystudio.com/listener for...

'Money, money, money. It's a rich man's world,' sings ABBA.  But very few artists, especially local ones, fall into that category of 'rich'. MyPaa is calling for practitioners in the performing arts to apply for Royal Arts Gala  that will help them grow and go overseas to perform, carrying the made-in-Malaysia label. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before concluding his Fulbright Fellowship residency in Kuala Lumpur, the dance artist has organized a potpourri of dances that ranges from India to Rome. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, taking a photo is as simple as whipping out our smart phones, aiming, and snap! To create art, beauty, depth and substance from a photograph however, requires more thought, skill and complexity. Pinar Yolacan, an art photographer shares the vision behind her work. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Selangor Philharmonic Orchestra is staging a recital to be performed with 13-year-old pianist, Vincent Ong (of Penang).  Chopin, often described as a poet of the piano will lend his poetic music to be ‘narrated’ by the young pianist in a one-performance only recital. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A handful of us from BFM went to the opening night of "Wayang: Malaysian Stories." Here is a review of the show. The producer of the 'shadow- show' (for a lack of a better term) is Sabera Shaik of Masakini Theatre Company who was on the Bigger Picture last Friday to talk about the production. To listen to the interview with Sabera Shaik, please click: Malaysian Stories through Shadows See omnystud...