Front Row

When do representations (realistic or abstract) of life remain pretty pictures and when do they cross the line to become statements, questions and challenges to the status quo?  This is an interview to unveil if artists are provocateurs. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When a diva performs a tribute to divas, who then is THE diva in the spotlight? When Rozz comes on stage, it is not just the fabulous designer outfits or the super-high pumps. Or the larger-than-life personality. Beyond the glitz and glamour, is the voice and the musical talent. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Under Dama Orchestra’s tutelage and direction a group of young performers is presenting a musical version on an opera--Hansel and Gretel--by Engelbert Humperdinck, a 19th-century German composer. (Not to be mistaken for Engelbert Humperdinck, the British-Indian pop singer of ‘Please Release Me’ fame released in 1968). Melissa tells of the training process, the production and take...

Artist-curator, Wong Hoy Cheong and Iqbal Shamsul take us on a journey that looks afresh at the negatives, contact prints, test prints, personal documents, writing and equipment of the professional photographer--Ismail Hashim. The tag-team explain and lay bare the photographer’s “various trajectories of representation and presentation.” They give a view into the world of curating...

The Gyeonggi Provincial Dance Company will be in Kuala Lumpur the weekend to perform traditional Korean dances. The performance repertoire includes the Dance of Peace, which in ancient times was reserved for the country’s kings and queens to bring peace to the country; the Dance of the Dongrae Crane which was traditionally performed by men ‘who pursued a life of pleasure; and many more...

As part of KL’s ambition to be a world-class cultural city by 2025, the capital begins in earnest to offer made-in-KL (or the Greater KL which includes Petaling Jaya, Selangor) culture: a musical about the city on the muddy estuary. The director and the writer tell how this production will entertain tourists (and Malaysians too) for the next three years. See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...

For some, classical music is a language only for the initiated who have undergone years of study, paying attention to every musical rest and coda. The American-trained classical pianist walks us through some characteristics of Romantic music (written in the latter part of the 18th century and 19th century), paying in particular attention to Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A Minor Op 54. See omn...

The exhibition titled ‘The Ceiling Floats Away With a Sigh’ is a one-mathematician-and-artist show which opened last week. One reviewer calls the works ‘continuations of the the artist’s research on traumatised bodies.’ Some of the displayed works show a mathematical regularity but bathed in a luminescence formed by liquid light that it is difficult to find the trauma...

Billed as a personality with many roles--singer, actor, ATM-machine, maid--Junji Delfino reveals how she manages them and which one comes closest to her own bones. This performer has an upcoming weekend jazz concert accompanied by The Michael Veerapen Jazz Trio. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

About a dance that is based on an ancient story- from the Ching Dynasty by Pu Song. The choreographer-and-dancer makes a case for his “avant-garde and yet absurdist pieces.” This production combines traditional and modern dance techniques, as well as elements of the mask. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 45-year-old, French-trained artist, Chong Siew Ying, offers 12 new works which tell who she is. They are about her regardless that audiences can see her commentary on what is happening to our rainforests that are and have made way for “progress.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A magician tells us why illusions compel us even when we know we’re being tricked. But which part of our body is being tricked--our eyes or our minds? Regardless, when we are in the comfort of the magic show, we really do enjoy being tricked and we applaud the person who can perpetuate this duplicity. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An annual problem faced mostly by citizens of peninsula Malaysia, although those in Sabah and Sarawak are not immune. The haze. Large-scale biomass burning may be a cost-saving for some industries but a health-hazard to human beings and animals. How will such large-scale burning impact the environment in the long run? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A traveling comedy troupe performing in different nations requires a kind of perspicacity to dig for humor that crosses cultures. Then of course the need to remain present and ready for anything the audience throws--verbally. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Capturing “humanity’s oldest and most spectacular spiritual gathering whose history harks back...to the Rig Veda.” The photographer got both up close to individual pilgrims, proximate enough to capture the black of their eyes, as they make their way to the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna; and he stood far back enough to capture the teeming humanity. See omnystudio.com/lis...

Looking back at three productions staged in May: 'The Nature of Monsters', 'Project Khawin' and 'Tria Aziz: A Bun in the Oven'. The reviewers ferret the premises of these shows and then looking at what considerations these productions give to the audience. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Launch of a book award--Writers Unleashed--and Fashion Pitch II, among other incentives to trigger the flow of creative juices. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reflections of Land and People is a collaborative project between DPAC Dance Company (Malaysia), Mirramu Dance Company (Australia) and Dancecology Dance Company (Taiwan). By the universal language of dance, Mirror Image addresses the universal human need for connection to place and the importance of recognizing and restoring this connection. See omnystudio.com/listener for priv...

Understanding the construction of art to uncover the appeal of contemporary Chinese artwork. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An exhibition at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (near the National Mosque) displays winning photographs of a faith that underscores submission to divine will. And in the month of fasting, this exhibition seeks to remind those of the faith its spirit and to share with non-Muslims images to combat stereotypes played out in the mass media. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Detailing his broad range of artworks--paintings, prints, sculptures and designs--artist, Brian Robinson points out the inflections of cultural motifs from his Torres Straits Island upbringing. If we can’t tell the dancer from the dance, can we tell the artist from the art? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fusing Eastern carnatic music with Western elements. Three sisters with their band performs music usually reserved for dancing to explore nine emotions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Visiting professor and theatre practitioner Dr Abad looks at the practice of local English-language theatre and in particular Five-Arts to underscore the role of the performing arts in nation-building. Theatre creates the space outside official discourse to enable discussion and negotiation on the nation’s identity. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kalei Gamiao does a show-and-tell that underscores that this instrument isn’t just for folk music and ballads. For campfires and grandparents' birthday parties. It has the versatility to do almost anything a guitar can do and sing with the best of traditional classical instruments. His two albums Contemporary Ukulele (2008) and Redefined (2012) offer ample evidence. See omnystudio.com/listen...

On its second visit to the country, this jazz band shares its original very melodic compositions. After two CDs (the second released in 2012) it is working on its third. Its performance in KL will include some yet-to-be published compositions See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.