contemporary I feature dance in the city
Songs Of The Wanderers, The Quietness That Touches Malaysians A spiritual performance by Cloudgate Dance Theatre offers audiences tranquillity in the midst of the chaos of life. TEXT: RICHARD CHUA PHOTOGRAPHS: YU HUI-HUNG
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t is worth the effort to reflect upon quietness in this world of chaos and noise, in which politics makes the loudest sound. In this country, especially when everybody is fighting for attention, in all its myriad colours, the timely arrival of world renowned Taiwanese dance Cloudgate Dance Theatre to Malaysia might be able to inject some quietness and reflection to balance out the noise and chaos. Songs of the Wanderers was created in 1995 after artistic director Lin Hwai Min’s sojourn to Bodhgaya (where Buddha attained enlightenment under a Bodhi tree), India. A classic in Chinese contemporary dance, the presentation in Malaysia is in its full splendour: a monk standing under the hail of golden grains; dancers as “wanderers” shaping rice grains into hills, rivers and crop circles. All of them climbing, cavorting, splashing, and praying to the fire god. Rather than idolise the company, local audiences and dancers alike might want to reflect upon the quietness brought about by it. The performance was mesmerising. The juxtaposition of raw emotions in motion gave the dance piece the necessary texture of ups and downs in the theatre-watching experience.
FEB-MAY 2012
26-27_Contemporary Song Wabder.indd 26
28/02/12 4:40 PM