DANCE: Classic and cool

Dance is not merely a reflection of culture. Two young women — January Low and Cambodia’s Hun Pen — will show that dance can also be a stage for history, writes SUBHADRA DEVAN

TWO young dancers, born on the same day, bred in different traditions, the finest of their generation, runs the billing for their 2008 Singapore da:ns festival showpiece.

The two are Malaysia’s odissi exponent January Low and Cambodia’s classical dancer Hun Pen.

Both were born on Aug 23, and they will perform in Seen: Silent at the Esplanade — Theatres on the Bay.

Their showcase is a voyage of dance and biography as they trade tales of epic heroines, share secrets in theatrical techniques, and bare personal stories of how their bodies transformed.

While carrying the legacies of ancient Khmer and odissi dance forms, they also lead urban modern-day lives.

According to Low, who describes herself as “dancer-creative administrator for Sutra Dance Theatre”, the producer of Seen:Silent Tang Fu Kuen thought that it would be interesting to bring together two modern girls still immersed in centuries-old classical dance traditions.

“We will be giving very personal stories about our childhood and how it is very different from a normal childhood as we were always in dance class and the stage was literally our playground,” says Low in an e-mail from Vienna where she and the Sutra troupe were on their Europe-US Spellbound tour 2008.

“We’ll also talk about growing up dealing with jealousy from other dancers, and attaining puberty and how we had to accept the changes in our body even though our dance instructors were male.”

Low, 23, is an award-winning odissi classical dancer but is also schooled in ballet and modern dance. She’s been dancing for about 14 years and has wowed audiences with her talent.

Odissi, which arose from the ritual dances performed in the temples of India, is commonly associated today with the dance style of the state of Orissa in eastern India. Odissi can be difficult to do because of the posture and the side shifts of the torso. But when performed by masters of the dance, it is fluid grace.

Low says that she and Hun Pen had performed a version of this particular Seen: Silent production last year for a dance festival in Bangkok.

“But prior to this, I have never performed alongside a classical Cambodian dancer.”

Low feels there are some similarities in the dance forms, as “they are both Asian”.

“The movements are very graceful and they are taken from a syllabus of movements. Some of the dance stories are from the Ramayana which is very popular in Indian classical dance.”

Hun Pen, 26, says she has seen odissi performed in Cambodia by a troupe from India, as well as by Low.

“Cambodian dance is very slow compared to odissi. The movements are different but the routine and discipline are similar,” says Hun Pen in a call from Bangkok where she is doing her masters in Southeast Asian studies.

She says that there are some episodes in the Ramayana, called Reamker, which are also performed in Cambodian classical dance.

Says Low: “The only difference between the two dance forms is that Indian classical dance is overtly dramatic in terms of facial expressions.

“The expressions in the Cambodian dance form is more subtle and the emotional content comes from hand gestures whereas Indian classical dance uses hand gestures to stress what we are trying to say, apart from facial expressions.”

Low returns from the Spellbound tour in early October.

“Since I will only be free after Oct 9, we will have about 10 days to practice. But we have performed this production last year... with minimum rehearsals as I had to shuffle to and from Bangkok.”

Hun Pen is a regular member of the Classical dance Company of Cambodia and has studied modern dance in France and the US.

To many, Cambodian dance is all about spiky headdresses, long fingers with hands bent back and one leg curled back.

Cambodian dance is primarily a prehistoric village-based folk culture but its classical tradition dates back to the Angkor Wat.

After the country’s independence in 1945, the classical dance repertory moved from the court to the public stage.

“I was five years old when I accompanied my mother to a dance class,” recalls Hun Pen. “The folk dance professor, a celebrity in Cambodia and already old, spotted my talent and asked my mother to let me sign up.

“Mum said no. But the professor gave me classes anyway, and a few months later, I asked my mum for permission again. She still said no.

“Then when I was seven, the call came for dance auditions. I took the bus. I didn’t tell my family, and sat for the exams — general knowledge and dance,” says Hun Pen who won the Best Student award from the Royal University of Fine Arts, the only dance school in Cambodia in 1993, and an award for Best Actor-Dancer from the Cambodian Government in 1997.

“I went home and then told my family. They finally agreed to let me learn to dance.”

That determination came in handy as Hun Pen had then to learn the Cambodian dance vocabulary of 4,500 movements.

“A good dancer must know them all,” she says. “We have to practise all the 4,500 movements every day, non-stop, to music. The practice lasts one and a half hours.”

“When I was young, it was easy. I was so flexible then. Today, it is not so easy,” says Hun Pen.

She is an expert in playing the female role (neang) but has also been trained for male roles. “But I prefer the female role, “adds the dimunitive dancer.

“I love classical dance but now I focus on how to use the classical, traditional format for a contemporary stage. Everything is going global.”

To the young, global is cool and modern is now. Seen:Silent, a showcase of traditional dance forms by two talented young women, promises to be interesting, at the very least.



Catch Seen:Silent on Oct 17, 8pm at the Esplanade’s Recital Studio. Tickets at S$30 with concessions. Visit www.sistic.com.sg







Dance fest across the Causeway



SOME of the da:ns 08 festival you can look forward to include Cisco Aznar’s reworking of the classic Coppélia. In this piece, he offers a unique sense of theatricality and an ingenious use of film.

Classical ballet enthusiasts should check out the Russian Ballet Gala (Oct 15-16) which features the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet, Marianna Ryzhkina, and premier of the Bolshoi Ballet, Dmitry Belogolovtsev.

Dance powerhouse Nederlands Dans Theater I takes to the stage on Oct 18-19, offering the renowned choreographic styles of Jirí Kylián and Lightfoot-León.

Another luminary of dance, Sara Baras of Spain, will enthrall with her magnificent stage presence and bring her electrifying touch to flamenco on Oct 11-12.

Dancemakers from the Southeast Asia region feature in the segment, “Shift”. This season’s artist-in-resident Albert Tiong premieres a new commission, Checkmate (Oct 10-11).

The segments “Footwork”, “Rasas” and “What’s Your Move” are opportunities to join in and find out more about dance.

The free sessions include dances from Malaysia performed by students of Kuala Lumpur’s Akademi Seni Budaya dan Warisan Kebangsaan (Aswara).

Get tickets from the Esplanade Box Office at 02-68288377 or Sistic hotline at 02-63485555.