3-8pm,7-8 August 2010
Entrance free to the general public.

In the midst of a 14-acre indigenous Malaysian garden, and in the shade of contemporary and traditional architecture, 13 Malaysian and international choreographers presented a collection of site-specific contemporary dance works for Dancing in Place.

The 2010 theme for Dancing in Place was Cross-Pollination. It encouraged choreographers to consider how difference – working with artists from other disciplines, working with people from other cultures or abilities, or working in new environments – creates the potential for rich and vigorous hybridities.

Performers at Dancing in Place this year included Kristine Nilsen Oma (Norway), Elysa Wendi (Singapore), Donna Miranda (Philippines) and Scarlet Yu (Hong Kong), as well nine choreographers from Malaysia including Rathimalar Govindarajoo, Gan Chih Pei, Nurulakmal Abdul Wahid, Muhaini Ahmad, Leng Poh Gee, Fahmi Fadzil and January Low.

In front of 60 turns — ‘In Spirit’, staged at Rimbun Dahan by choreographer Rathimalar Govindarajoo on the lawn in front of the art work ‘Sixty Turns.’

SCHEDULE

*Time*	Item
3pm	Arrival & introduction
3.15pm	The Campus ThoughtChoreographed by Leng Poh Gee & Kathyn Tan Chai Chen Performed by Lim Siew Ling, Lim Hooi Ming, Lim Shin Hui, Tan Shiao Por & Pan May Tzy A work by LAPAR LabAt the same time we are doing this particular performance, a batch of new graduates of the dance degree from University of Malaya is celebrating their graduation. We sincerely dedicate this performance to those who are ready to embark upon their journey into professional dance society, and wish them luck.
3.30pm	13 Knots to HomeCreated and performed by Scarlet Yu Mei Wah Having left her home in Hong Kong ten years ago to live in Singapore, Scarlet Yu has moved from one room to another, one house to another, in a foreign land that has accepted her as an adopted child. In the past ten years, she has made exactly thirteen trips back home to Hong Kong, only to feel more and more distant from the place she once regarded as home.
3.45pm	Dreams InterruptedChoreographed by Elysa Wendi (Singapore) Performed by Ren Wei ChenInspired by the Kun Opera Peony Pavilion, choreographer Elysa Wendi investigates the idea of intangibility and the power of dreams in our life. Dreams interrupted is performed in a series of 5 short segments. Like a dream that happens over a number of days, the audience will slowly find out the full story at the end.
3.54pm	In SpiritChoreographed by Ramli Ibrahim, reworked by Rathimalar Govindarajoo Performed by Michelle Chang, Revathi Tamilselvam, Sivagamavalli, Tan Mei Mei, Divya Nair, and Rathimalar Govindarajoo.An ode to women who celebrate the rhythm of life.
4.15pm	KapayapaanChoreographed and performed by Wong Oi Min & Gan Chih Pei Music by Razali bin Abd. RahimA piece about the celebration of life, conservation of nature and cultivation of compassion.
4.40pm	Similar Choreographed by Nurulakmal Abdul Wahid Performed by Ahmad Zaki B. Mu Salleh @ Musleh, Muhaini Ahmad & Nurulakmal Abdul Wahid A man wears women’s clothing, but he is not a woman. No matter how much he imitates her lovely or sexy movements, he can only be similar. He is only an outline. She fills in the gaps.
4.55pm	ChimeraCreated by Kim Kyungmi, Sasha Ratnam & Mathieu Castel Performed by Kim Kyungmi Music by Mathieu CastelIn the quirky circle of life, we begin as simple cells awakened by meeting each other. Moulded by genetics over which we have no control, we evolve and mutate through human socialisation, finally leaving nothing behind. No predictions, rules or even will can exist in this cycle of energy. The same clone but different mutants, we are born and fade away within this energy of evolution.
5.10pm	Divide & ConquerChoreographed by Fahmi Fadzil Performed by audience volunteersMalaysians love polls. Malaysians love being together. Let’s see if this “poll” performance can keep people together. Or not.
5.20pm	Intermission
5.40pm	SweetChoreographed & performed by January Low Music by Reza Salleh
6.05pm	AchilotCoordinated by Elaine Pedley Assisted by Muhammad Syaffiq bin Hambali Choreographed and performed by the young participants of the Rimbun Dahan Dance WorkshopThe workshop is based on basic movements pieced together by the kids through games and exercises. The focus is on play, hence achilot, a Malay term for various children’s games.
6.30pm	Biji IIChoreographed by Chai Vivan Performed by Fione Chia Yan Wei, Caren Yap Chai Wen, Denny Donius, Chew Sie Theng, Sufi Asyraf b. Mohd Azman, Woo Yan Ten & Anna Lee See Wan.Something small springs into growth. From the seed comes life.
6.50pm	Anything less is less than a reckless actChoreographed and performed by Donna Miranda Dramaturgy by Angelo V. Suarez Featuring (on video) PJ Rebullida & Marah ArcillaTo go to the theatre, to go shopping, to watch a dance performance or the latest Hollywood movie—any aesthetic experience is informed by a decision-making process. This entails a necessary foreclosure: to choose one experience means not experiencing another. With the use of two rooms that cannot be experienced by the audience simultaneously—one with a video featuring two dancers in a duet, another where Miranda talks about the video’s context—Anything less is less than a reckless act allows room for participation. This in turn exposes the futility of the concept of participation in theatre, a prohibitive system designed to distinguish performer from audience. To risk the audience’s subjectivity by giving them a measure of activity is to risk theatre itself.
7.40pm	Marilyn Monroe’s last 20 minutes before committing suicide Created and performed by Kristine Nilsen Oma Video art by Kok Siew Wai The work is an experiential exploration of the Buddhist concept that earthly desires can lead to enlightenment. The work is a response to meeting a whole new environment and culture, and a personal quest to understand both my own desires and how to make them come from a higher perspective. In the context of the Third World certain neuroses becomes ridiculous. Yet they were created as a response to the Western world I have lived in all my life. How do I cope in the Third World? How will my neuroses behave? Is there a control in this experiment? This last item is not appropriate for children.

Artists in Dancing in Place 2010 observing the performances from their green room.

Norwegian choreographer Kristine Nilsen Oma was in residence at Rimbun Dahan in 2010.

She developed a solo work, Marilyn Monroe’s last 20 minutes before committing suicide, which was performed at Dancing in Place, a weekend of site-specific work at Rimbun Dahan, 7-8 August 2010.

About the Work

Western neuroses meets the Third World. The work is an experiential exploration of the Buddhist concept that earthly desires can lead to enlightenment.

The work is a response to meeting a whole new environment and culture, and a personal quest to understand both my own desires and how to make them come from a higher perspective. In the context of the Third World certain neuroses becomes ridiculous. Yet they were created as a response to the Western world I have lived in all my life. How do I cope in the Third World? How will my neuroses behave? Is there a control in this experiment?

Marilyn Monroe, goddess of the Western world, a legend still worshiped, becomes the symbol and character of what the Western world promotes as success. Yet I suspect her life was not a happy one. I have my own spin on it. I relate to it.

Judy Garland is singing somewhere over the rainbow. Marilyn is nowhere to be seen, only a hijab lying by the side of the pool, and the record playing and playing again and again…