KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- At Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS (DFP), Malaysia's first dedicated classical concert venue in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, dancers from different ethnic backgrounds are rehearsing Chinese dance. As the music begins, they stretch, leap and turn, blending the grace and fluidity of Chinese dance with the movement vocabulary of contemporary dance.
Malaysia's ASK Dance Company and Dua Space Dance Theatre will jointly present a performance themed A Dance Spectacular, scheduled for Sept. 5 at the concert hall. The two local dance companies will bring their own interpretations of Chinese dance to audiences by combining traditional and contemporary elements.
Joseph Gonzales, founder of ASK Dance Company, said he was both surprised and excited when the company was invited to create a performance centered on Chinese dance. Although ASK is better known for its contemporary works, many of its dancers have received training in Chinese dance.
Gonzales said the cast includes Malay and Chinese dancers, as well as dancers of other ethnic backgrounds. For him, performers from different cultural backgrounds interpreting Chinese dance through their own bodies reflects the unique character of Malaysia's multicultural society.
In ASK Dance Company's Pearl of the Orient, a piece inspired by Mongolian dance brings the imagery of vast grasslands of northern China onto the stage. Contemporary elements are incorporated into traditional movements.
Gonzales said the choreography is not simply intended to demonstrate technique but also to allow audiences to experience the cultural meanings embodied in the movements.
As Pearl of the Orient unfolds, its narrative journey moves from China to Nanyang, or Southeast Asia. With migration as a central thread, the work uses scenes and imagery including sword dance, tin miners, romance, mahjong and Chinese New Year celebrations to tell the story of Chinese migrants who came to Malaysia and gradually developed a distinctive local cultural identity.
For Anthony Meh Kim Chuan, co-founder of Dua Space Dance Theatre, learning Chinese dance is likewise not about simply reproducing a dance form from China.
Living and working in a multicultural environment, he said, means that different artistic traditions naturally become part of the dancers' physical vocabulary, gradually shaping a distinctly Malaysian form of expression. Meh hopes these diverse cultural experiences will eventually develop into a Chinese dance expression with Malaysian characteristics.
That exploration is also reflected in the performance Passage Into The Unknown: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind. Drawing inspiration from the four elements, the work uses dance to explore the fluidity and transformation of water, the nurturing qualities of earth, the relationship between fire and civilization, and wind as a symbol of cycles and continuity.
While drawing on Chinese cultural and philosophical ideas, the work also connects them with Malaysia's multicultural experience. For Meh, the process is also an attempt to give Chinese cultural imagery new expression on the Malaysian stage.
A younger generation of Malaysian dancers is also joining this exploration, including several performers trained in Chinese dance, some of whom have pursued further studies at the Beijing Dance Academy.
Gonzales said he hopes to bring together dance experiences from China and Malaysian arts institutions, providing more opportunities for young artists to create and present Chinese dance.
From traditional Chinese dance movements to Malaysian music and everyday cultural experiences, and from ethnic Chinese performers to dancers of diverse backgrounds sharing the same stage, Chinese dance is taking on new forms through interpretation and re-creation by Malaysian artists.
"Dance really represents culture," Gonzales said, adding that in a multicultural society like Malaysia, people need not only to understand one another's cultures, but also to appreciate them. ■