[Performing Arts Coverage] “Un
Yamada x Kelantanese Traditional Music Collaboration Project – Blessing Of Life”
Kuala Lumpur, November 2019 – Our team has attended a
unique show recently, “Un Yamada x
Kelantanese Traditional Music Collaboration Project – Blessing Of Life”. (read
our previous article here: https://www.wljack.com/2019/10/upcoming-event-un-yamada-x-kelantanese.html
)
An Unexpected Collaboration of Two
Different Cultures!
Presented
by Un Yamada, a Japanese
contemporary dancer with an ensemble of traditional musicians from Kelantan, the showcase “Blessing Of Life” has taken place at BlackBox, National Academy of Arts and
Culture (ASWARA) on 26th and 27th October 2019. The
show was organized by The Japan
Foundation, Kuala Lumpur in collaboration with ASWARA.
“Main Puteri” a
local culture and traditional ritual was the main focus of the show. Before
the initiation of the project, Yamada has
met up Eddin Khoo, the founder of PUSAKA to gain the basic knowledge
about traditional performing arts in Malaysia.
“I got interested in Main Puteri, because of its
relationship with disease. I started dancing when I got an incurable disease
when I was 14,” said Yamada while sharing about her rheumatic disease.
“Without the disease, I would not have started
dancing. Without dancing, I would have been defeated by the disease. Until now,
my relationship with ‘disease’ has continued and it is the theme of my life. I
feel like I am coming back to my origin by working on this showcase,” said
Yamada before the start of the project.
Kamarul Baisah
Hussin, music director and Zamzuriah Zahari, project coordinator took Yamada to their hometown
in Kelantan to allow her to see and experience Main Puteri. This first-hand exposure has inspired Yamada a lot in the presentation of the
showcase.
The showcase has blended the traditions of 2 different cultures, namely Kelantan
and Japan. It has infused the elements of Main
Puteri such as the dialogues, singing dialogues, the physicality of the patient
with a disease, shamanic physical sensation of the possession by another spirit,
and movements which resembles a trance.
Via the show, you can see how “Tradition” such as Main
Puteri blends with “Modern”
contemporary dance and finally demonstrated via this showcase.
The show also sees the presence of Kelantanese
Musicians including Mat
Din Hussin, Salihin Bin Azman and Ahmad Ridwan Hussin. It has been a challenge for them too to
include the “Modern” contemporary element into their usual traditional performance.
The outcome turns out to be refreshing in a lot of ways.
Do stay tuned to our website for more coverage on Performing Arts Coverage in Malaysia!
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Published
by WLJack.
