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Five Arts Centre Report: January – December 2011

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Five Arts Centre Report: January – December 2011 FIVE ARTS CENTRE REPORT: JANUARY – DECEMBER 2011 Five Arts Centre is a collective of artists and producers dedicated to generating alternative art forms and images in the Malaysian creative environment. The collective’s scope of work includes theatre, dance, music, visual arts and young people’s theatre. Since it was formed in 1984, Five Arts Centre has been committed to articulating multiple Malaysian identities and championing local creativity. Founded by theatre directors Chin San Sooi and Dato’ Krishen Jit, and dancer- choreographer Marion D’Cruz, Five Arts Centre has been instrumental in the growth of a Malaysian identity in the arts. Today, the collective includes 14 arts activists and practitioners from across the generations and disciplines. Current members of Five Arts Centre include Anne James, Chee Sek Thim, Chew Kin Wah, Fahmi Fadzil, Ivy N. Josiah, Janet Pillai, June Tan, Kubhaer T. Jethwani, Lew Chee Seong, Mac Chan, Marion D’Cruz, Mark Teh, Ravi Navaratnam, and Suhaila Merican. For 27 years, Five Arts has been at the forefront of creating experimental, interdisciplinary and intercultural work, as well as providing platforms for the next generation of arts practitioners. Contemporary social and cultural issues impinging on Malaysian life are precipitated by the collective by way of exhibitions, performances, and creative and research workshops. The collective has performed and presented its work widely in South-East Asia, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, India, Egypt, Australia, Canada, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Portugal and the UK. From 2004 to 2006, Five Arts Centre was the manager of Arts Network Asia, a regional organisation supporting arts work in Asia. In 2006, ASTRO and Five Arts Centre launched the Krishen Jit ASTRO Fund to support artistic work by Malaysians and others committed to the development of the arts in Malaysia. As usual, 2011, has been extremely productive for Five Arts Centre. We have done a variety of work while developing in some new areas as well. • We have provided more training and public education via Workshops and The Dance Film Series. • We have taken more work out of the Klang valley – two events were held in Penang as well as in Kuala Lumpur, and one event was part of the 2011 Singapore Arts Festival. • We have made much greater use of our studio space in Taman Tun Dr Ismail. • We have continued to tell interesting Malaysian stories. Five Arts Centre 27 & 27A, Lorong Datuk Sulaiman 7, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia tel / fax: 603-7725 4858 email: [email protected] www.fiveartscentre.org 1. WORKSHOP by JOAO EVANGELISTA 24 – 28 January 2011. Five Arts Centre Studio, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. Joao Evangelista with participants Participants at work A Newold Point Devised Theatre Workshop Joao Evangelista is a contemporary artist from Portugal who collaborated with Five Arts Centre member Fahmi Fadzil, in a project in Lisbon in 2010. Joao came to Kuala Lumpur in January to do some research and ran a workshop. The workshop aimed at creating a space, supported by collaborative tools, to research and question how performance can recreate the communal and the social. The workshop asked many questions like - can theatre present politics? Can theatre actually go beyond representation and back, into an ethical spectacle? The workshop ran over 5 days and a total of 20 hours. The workshop aimed at arriving at a balance between theory and practice, looking for a praxis of developing performances that creatively respond to these questions. The workshop was attended by 14 participants from very diverse backgrounds. The response from the participants was very positive. Joao Evangelista studied computer systems at Lisbon Science University. He started working in the performing arts in 1999. He studied Choreography in the Amsterdam School for New Dance Development with Xavier Le Roy, Meg Stuart, DD Dorvilier, Debora Hay, Hooman Shariffi. He started producing his own work in 2006. Some comments from the participants: “The diverse energy and dynamic from every single participant really gave the workshop an extra edge for me.” - Adrian Teh “I would say theoretical discussions were very inspiring for me not only for the theory itself, but applying to perspectives to see the social phenomenon and life ultimately. Sometimes I was so motivated just by being part of this passionate sharing and discussion for my next piece or practice.” - Kyungmi Natalie Kim Five Arts Centre 27 & 27A, Lorong Datuk Sulaiman 7, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia tel / fax: 603-7725 4858 email: [email protected] www.fiveartscentre.org The workshop was - Conducted by: Joao Evangelista Produced by: Marion D’Cruz 2. A MODERN WOMAN CALLED ANG TAU MUI – WOMEN 100 FESTIVAL 10 – 13 March 2011. Annexe Gallery@Central Market, Kuala Lumpur. 18 – 20 March 2011. Studio at Straits, Penang. Performance at Annexe Gallery@Central Market Rehearsals in Penang In March this year, Kakiseni organized a festival to celebrate 100 years of International Women’s Day. The festival had several events including performances, workshops, talks, exhibitions. Five Arts Centre and Pocketsize Productions (Penang) presented the play A Modern Woman Called Ang Tau Mui as part of this festival. A Modern Woman Called Ang Tau Mui, is one of Malaysia’s most performed plays and is the story of a toilet cleaner named Ang Tau Mui, who goes shopping on the day she dies. Set amidst a series of encounters with various characters and her Five Arts Centre 27 & 27A, Lorong Datuk Sulaiman 7, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia tel / fax: 603-7725 4858 email: [email protected] www.fiveartscentre.org relationship with Lin Dai the legendary Hong Kong movie star, Ang Tau Mui reveals what her life has been about, using a heady mix of song, narration and dialogue. Ang Tau Mui runs from place to place, looking and searching, as she travels through time, revisiting the house she grew up in, taking a break at a deli, watching a movie in a cinema, riding a mini bus and seeking comfort in a temple. She talks about what makes her happy and sad, who she sees herself as, what her favourite food is and what her longings are. But in the end, does she find what she’s looking for? A Modern Woman Called Ang Tau Mui is a story about hope that is both funny and poignant. It is also an adventure story that raises existential questions of who we are and where we are going, using imagery that taps into our collective memory as Malaysians. Written as a performance text, A Modern Woman Called Ang Tau Mui was presented as a ‘physical one-person performance’ with music and sound by Johan Othman. In 2009, director Chee Sek Thim collaborated with Johan Othman for the presentation of Conference of the Birds, a contemporary opera. In that performance, Johan composed an electronic opera and Sek Thim created performance where the performers sang and moved in the mode of physical theatre. A Modern Woman Called Ang Tau Mui continued this collaboration between Sek Thim and Johan, where sound, music, text and movement came together in contemporary, cutting- edge performance. The play was performed in Kuala Lumpur and in Penang, continuing our efforts to take work out of the Klang valley. The Team Written by: Leow Puay Tin Directed by: Chee Sek Thim Music and Sound by: Johan Othman Performed by: Ho Sheau Fung Music performed by: Khairol Azhar Production Manager: Faiqsyazwan Bin Kuhiri Produced by: Five Arts Centre (Marion D’Cruz and June Tan) and Pocketsize Productions Penang (Ambiga Devy) Presented by: Kakiseni, with the support of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. Quotes from the press: “…Ho steadily warmed up to imbue the character with shiny optimism that would put to shame the more affluent but usually suspicious or cynical urbanite…. She performed with an energetic lightness quite thrilling to watch”. Vernon Adrian Emuang, The Star, 24 March 2011. Five Arts Centre 27 & 27A, Lorong Datuk Sulaiman 7, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia tel / fax: 603-7725 4858 email: [email protected] www.fiveartscentre.org 3. THE DANCE FILM SERIES Five Arts Centre Studio, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. Bilqis Hijjas introducing one of the films Five Arts Centre and MyDance Alliance screened a number of Dance Films in the Five Arts studio in Taman Tun Dr Ismail. For 2011 The Dance Film Series was a recurring event at Five Arts Centre, bringing recent works in the interdisciplinary field of dance film to the Malaysian public. Discussions were held after each film. What is dance film? “A dance film is one in which dance and film/video are both integral to a work. The makers of dance films consider the placement and movement of the camera, the lighting, the balance of foreground and background, and the composition within the framing of each shot in the overall choreography. A dance film can take many forms: documentary, dance designed for the camera (cine dance or screen dance), a screen adaptation of a stage work, animation, or kinetic abstraction. The essential difference between an archival record of a stage work and what is referred to as a dance film, a dance for the camera, is the involvement of the choreographer in collaboration with a composer, cinematographer, editor and a director”. Dance Film Series I 3 April 2011 European Dance Film: Drama vs. Minimalism – 2 Dance Films were screened. The Cost of Living This 35-minute DVD was a commissioned film based on the 2003 stage work of the same name by DV8 director Lloyd Newson, winner of the 2005 Prix Italia, Rose d'Or, and Sette Jury Prize.
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