To dance, ASK
Independent entity ASK Dance Company has its own studio venue to facilitate its quest to promote dance to the public, writes Aref Omar
THEY’RE young, passionate and let their bodies do the talking. Studying hard to learn the art of movement through dance, they now have embarked on a journey of sustainability by establishing their own dance studio.
Located on the first floor of a shop lot in Taman Ampang Hilir, Kuala Lumpur, the studio which opened about three months ago now houses the dreams of the ASK Dance Company (ADC).
Featuring a simple elegance with two roomy studio spaces encased by mirrored walls, the 10 dancers that make up the company are naturally excited to share their love with everyone.
When met there, Professor Joseph Gonzales, who founded ADC in 2011 and is its artistic director, says that the new studio is the first small step to hopefully bigger things.
“I felt then that the dancers were hungry to do more high quality performances and to continue in their training. They wanted to challenge themselves to develop choreography, networking and our cultural connections. All these made sense for us to start a company,” he says.
A former dean of the Dance Faculty at Aswara (National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage), he is now head of Academic and Contextual Studies at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, who travels back-and-forth.
The 10 dancers are all Aswara graduates. Two of them, Imran Syafiq Mohd Affandi and Kimberly Yap Choy Hoong, both 27, say that it’s been a delicate juggle to keep things going.
“We’re not just dancers, we wear a lot of hats. Some are in charge of the artistic direction of the dances and choreography. Others are in charge of technical aspects like editing music and videos, the behind -the-scenes stuff, marketing and other things,” says Yap, who assists Imran in managing the place. A HOST OF TALENT She adds :“There are 10 of us full-time dancers and one other person who handles the administration and finance sides. Out of the 10, seven are principal dancers and the other three, who just graduated, are soloists. We also have two interns from UPSI (Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris).”
The two KLites graduated in 2015 from Aswara’s Prof Dr Joseph degree programme and Gonzales majored in the Indian classical dance bharatanatyam.
Imran says that having their own studio is mainly to facilitate a plan for sustainability.
“Previously we only offered performance, workshop and coaching services. We found out that people actually want to come for classes.”
He adds that the studio, also called a Malaysian dance centre, now offers a wide range of local dance classes, from Malay folk dances like zapin, inang, joget and more, to those from Borneo as well.
Other dance classes include contemporary, Bollywood, aerobics, urban choreography, hip hop and kids’ creative movement.
Yap also teaches ballet for children, while Imran teaches bharatanatyam. The classes are available throughout the week.
The three see dance as a valid way of expressing oneself. “I think everyone loves to dance, they may not necessarily want to perform in public but it’s a fun activity. Children have an innate ability to dance, they naturally love it. When you turn on the music they automatically respond to it,” says Joseph.
He adds: “My philosophy is in making students realise that they can dance and through that can become somebody of value, not in an arrogant way, but that they have something to contribute to society. I can’t stress enough the importance that an arts education can improve lives and The dance company tirelessly does outreach programmes as well in an effort to expose people from various backgrounds and around the nation to dance.
“We run a CSR project with funding by Yayasan Sime Darby, which enables us to go to different places around the country to teach dance. It’s got four aspects, Connecting Communities, Get Malaysians Dancing, Building Bridges and Forging Traditions,” says Imran.
He adds: “This includes teaching primary and secondary school students. We also teach adults like at the teacher’s training colleges in order for them to transfer the knowledge to their own students.”
Joseph says: “I know it’s such a cliche but our country is truly very rich in tradition and culture. We also have many talented young people. Unfortunately, there is really a lack of knowledge of these traditions.”
“But in the last seven years, we’ve exposed more than 15,000 students to local dances, touching on the background and history of all these wonderful artforms, and we hope that through this centre we’ll be able to continue doing that,” he adds.
As for ADC’s own shows and performances, they are targetting to deliver two productions for each year.
Aside from that, their schedules are also filled with overseas travels for performances and personal development. The team will be heading to Hawaii in the US next year to attend the Asia Pacific Dance Festival there.
“There are many things we want to do. We want continued growth and to get new dancers eventually as well,” says Joseph.
“I don’t want to tell people to come and support the arts. I want them to come because they’re going to be touched and moved by it. I want them to walk away from the performance having taken something that has enhanced and enriched their lives. Hopefully, we’re dancing towards a better Malaysia.”