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Dancebox Festival, that jointly organized by the MyDance Alliance and The Actor Studio, as a dance person how can I miss it? I bought tickets for all shows in one shot, but I deliberately did not go through the program before any show, as I want an ‘out of the box’ surprise.

The first episode of the package is Program B, which contains several classic works. Perhaps it is better to say that it is a classic creation than a classic work. MyDance Alliance has carefully selected various dance groups and creations from the 1970s to the 2010s. Giving old dancers like me a chance to flip the old albums and enjoying the dance ideas of those years, and also let the new generations to have a good understanding of various forms of modern dance that existed in Malaysia in the early time.

Even though I won’t (and never) sum up my viewing experience with a simple comment ‘good/bad’, and I’m not good at critical review, I hope I can jot down all my little sparkles and feelings that passed through in the middle of the show. Just love doing this kind of thing.

The four Malay traditional dances “Mak Inang” “Canggung” “Makan Sireh” and “Joget Anak Derhaka” first representing KBN repertoires by the KESUMA dancers of the University of Malaya. Bilqis, the beautiful host and the chairperson of MyDance Alliance, said that folk dance is also creative and contemporary, and I agree. In particular, watching the wonderful traditional dance rhythm that passed through one person to another person over various time intervals, is very touching. And this is the great compilation of wisdom and effort through time, isn’t it? Even if the staged folk dance is often more embellished and glorified than the folk dance in its original context, the spirit of creative tradition is never an ebb. I am too hoping for it, secretly.

Then the dance style turned, dancers wearing soft shoes, leotards, tights, chiffon skirts and neat hair bun filled the stage with precision and elegance. “Four Seasons” is the work created in 1993 by the FAB’s founder Lee Lan, who pioneered the Malaysian ballet milestone. This was a dance repertoire of KLDT that was active in the 1980s. There were not many dazzling movements, but various symmetrical and smooth formations permeated the minds like serenade and symphony. I couldn’t help but respect even more this teacher who taught many of our dance masters in Malaysia. One of the charms of creation is that we can see the ideas and prospects of the creators from various arrangements. When the last piece of dance music was played, I seemed to return to our face-to-face meeting in her office 2 years ago. Her smile, enthusiasm, generosity and elegance were slowly distributed among the dancers’ gestures on stage and then ended together. Sentiment. A very great tribute to our pioneer artist.

Suhaimi Magi, a former choreographer of ASWARA, is very good at deconstruction and reconstruction of piring dance. A little bit of fun is that when he entered the light circle and was about to start dancing, his son at the side of the stage stopped him and replaced him to finish the rest of the dance, letting my expectation of the true meaning of ‘restage’ burst immediately. In my limited audience experience, deconstructive dance in local is often an experimental piece, in which new artistic or aesthetic elements were often not the main focus of choreographers. On the other hand, deconstruction could also mean that after the meanings are disintegrated, they are more easily intercepted and collected by the viewers, and then fulfilling their own picture or vision with their own experiences. However, today’s “Atur” has stimulated my vision everywhere. The dancers’ beautiful skills and flexible movements completely enrich the qualities of the movements. For a moment, it seems that my perception and memory are the objects of reconstruction, constantly refreshing, dismantling, and reconstructing between new and old: plausible.. the past seems to be.. it seems to be comparing now.. still compare in the past.. it was like… When dance ended, I was lost in the structure of my own memory, but extremely fascinated by these new bodies I just saw.

“Flow” is the work of Aman Yap, one of the founders of Malaysia’s first full-time professional contemporary dance company “Dua Space Dance Theatre”, has almost refreshed my impression of this dance company. The meaning of the work is very straightforward, and the observability lies in the interpretation of the dancer. To be honest, I like to see dancers use such a way, such a repertoire to reach another artistic height. The contrasting question such as whether it was like original, or who done better are basically non-existent. When the dancer devotes himself completely, thoroughly, sincerely and nakedly on stage, using his everything to paint a soul, I feel that it is nonetheless the most beautiful presentation.

“Awas!” is a dance that has only been seen in the book and has not been seen by eyes. It was choreographed by Joseph Gonzales, one of the local dance pioneers, who questioned the power and equality at the time. Seven ASWARA dancers are doing the large and minimal movements from time to time. From the simple rhythm and simple repetition, they greatly reflect the unique stage charm and personality of each individual. I am deeply attracted and enchanted by their performances. They are wandering between pleasure and hard work, do whatever they want, and injecting new energy into this work of 1999. In this 20-year-old choreography, I saw a new generation full of dawn, the blood in my bones began to dance quietly.

When it came to the piece “No Exit” of Amy Len, the dancer of the era, my senses seemed to immediately enter another dimension. Watching dance is no longer just a work of eyeballs. It is necessary to add a sense of hearing and the imagination in order to apprehend the deeper artistic conception of the work. This work seems to have the least time gap. I think apart from the reason that it is ‘the youngest’ choreography, it is also due to the fact that on the perseverance of Kwang Tung Dance Troupe, they are consistent in preserving their dance style. This familiar dance style also reminds me of my own exploration in dance. A journey to liberate the body that was traditionally trained is still fresh in memory, and this journey has ‘no return’. Because of these experiences, my body seems able to understand how the bodies on stage feel, and together with the music we have entered infinity.

The last work, “Nasi Putih” from Aris Kadir, explored controversial questions about tradition custom and gender power. Likewise, ASWARA’s outstanding dancers able to show their thinking directly with the body, and my sense of generation impact immediately broke out. Compared with the subtle and implicit style of the original dancers, the new generation seem to have more courage to vent and express, and the scale of movement is greater and there is no avoidance. This may also reflect the declination of the social conservative atmosphere and the improvement of the individual’s volition. I am fortunate to be able to witness the transformation of the times through art works. I am also very happy to view from different perspectives.

These works are certainly not all the classic works of Malaysian contemporary dance that developed in the past 40 or 50 years. In fact they reveal various choreographic techniques in the field of contemporary dance, including contemporize traditional, classical localization, new interpretation of ancient dance, reconstruction of meaning, spiritual liberation, structural subversion, historical questioning, etc.. Every creativity represents new stronghold ventured by each pioneer creator. I admire the predecessors who have so many creative and personal styles in the relatively inferior creative environment. In contrast, in this era of dance that has better facilities, freedom and openness, massive teaching materials and information obtainable, are the new generation of beautiful dance bodies able to create their historic dance piece?

I am both wondering and looking forward to it.

This is an ideal time. We no longer face the troubles of dancers who have no good techniques, and no longer face the risk of performance being blocked at any time. This is an ideal time. We have many good bodies, thinking and openness. This is an ideal time, but is the idealist still there?

I am both nosy and curious.