FUSE#2

FUSE # 2 

Produced by Dance Nucleus 2018 

© Dance Nucleus 

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Table of 

Contents 

1 

3 

85 

117 

Foreword 

Element #2 “BAHASA KOREOGRAFI” 

7 Overview of Bahasa Koreografi by Alfian Sa’at 

15 

(Practice of) Silat Duduk: Investigating the 

Malay(ness) within Bahasa Koreografi by Helly Minarti 

31 A Records of My Experiences by Ayu Permata Sari 

43 Body Archive by Fauzi Amirudin 

53 The Lenggang as Entry into Cross-Gender 

Performance Research and Practice 

by Soultari Amin Fari 

69 What is the point of me? by Norhaizad Adam 

SCOPE #3 

87 About ‘Unison’ by Ming Poon 

93 La Mariposa Borracha -The process 

by Shanice Stanislaus 

103 There Is Speficifisfety – The Work As Scribed Text. 

by Lee Munwai 

109 Notes on There is Speficifisfety by Lee Ren Xin 

About Dance Nucleus

Foreword 

Developments at Dance Nucleus continues apace in the 

second half of this year. As we gradually establish our 

operational SOPs*, we turn our attention towards 

fostering artistic exchanges with partners and artists 

from the region. 

Pat Toh’s The Map has been a great example of what we 

are trying to build at Dance Nucleus. The Indonesian 

Dance Festival included her as one of their showcased 

artists this year. In August, Pat attended a 3-week 

residency in Jakarta, and gave a presentation at the 

festival in November. 

After their ELEMENT residency at Dance Nucleus, during 

which they worked with Mandeep Raikhy as guest 

mentor, Mandeep invited Chloe Chotrani and Bernice 

Lee to continue their creative development at the Ignite 

Dance Festival in New Delhi in October, organised by the 

Gati Dance Forum. 

Lee Mun Wai and Lee Ren Xin reworked their 

collaborative creation at Dance Nucleus and Rimbun 

Dahan in Kuala Lumpur. This working phase was 

followed by work-in-progress presentations at SCOPE#3 

and at Five Arts Centre in Kuala Lumpur. 

Fauzi Amiridin and Ayu Permata Sari, from Kuala Lumpur 

and Yogyakarta respectively joined us for ELEMENT#2 

and SCOPE#3 in September, during which they met 

local artists, Alfian Sa’at, Norhaizad Adam and Amin 

Farid. 

In December, we also hosted Angela Goh and Luke 

George from Australia at SCOPE#4. 

At the time of writing, we are awaiting the approval of 

next year’s budget for Dance Nucleus. We certainly hope 

to be able to do more with and for the artists in Singapore 

and the region. To more artists talking, sharing, 

exchanging, experimenting with one another! 

*SOP = Standard Operational Procedures. A phrase often used in the 

Singaporean military that is also popular in Singaporean parlance. By 

SOP here, I am referring to all the administrative procedures our new 

team at Dance Nucleus has had to set up rapidly over 2018. 

Daniel Kok 

Independent Artist, diskodanny.com 

Artistic Director, Dance Nucleus 

1 2

For ELEMENT #2, Dance Nucleus brought together 4 

Malay (or Malay-identified) dance artists from Singapore, 

Peninsula Malaysia and Sumatra. Ayu Permata Sari 

(Lampung/Yogyakarta), Mohd Fauzi bin Amirudin 

(Kuala Lumpur), Norhaizad Adam (Singapore) and 

Soultari Amin Farid (Singapore) came together to 

formulate critical frameworks for their dance practices, 

which respond to their respective political, cultural, 

historical and/or socio-economic contexts. 

Element# 2 

BAHASA KOREOGRAFI 

The artists share common roots in Malay Dance, even if they each have 

different relationships with the form. Their ongoing negotiations with Malay 

Dance potentially deal with critical questions apropos the dichotomy of 

tradition and contemporaneity, which remains a pertinent question in 

Singapore and Southeast Asia. In this residency, the four artists engaged 

each other in discursive exchange and proposed their choreographic 

projects as critical case studies for contemporary practices in relation to 

Malay Dance. Coached by mentor, curator and dance scholar Helly 

Minarti, this residency as a whole addressed tensions amongst notions of 

‘Malayness’ and articulated plausible strategies to navigate the inherent 

politics within Malay Dance. 

In conjunction with the group mentoring, Helly Minarti facilitated a 

practical workshop by dancer/choreographer Benny Krishnawardi. 

Benny was trained in pencak-silat first before engaging with dance. More 

crucially, this workshop introduces the idea of a ‘bodily archive’, in which 

the dancer an inscription of history, and their dance an act of recall or 

reactivation of cultural memory and processes. In this workshop, Benny 

drew from his experience of being instrumental in co-shaping the 

pioneering choreographic practice of the late Gusmiati Suid (1942-2001), 

a Minangkabau-born choreographer who was presented internationally in 

the mid-1990s, including in important forums such as Pina Bausch’s 

festival. (Incidentally, Gusmiati’s son, Boi Sakti who is also a 

choreographer, worked actively in Singapore at the turn of this century) By 

reflecting on the development of Malay contemporary dance from the 

recent past, Helly’s goal was less to valorise a historic canon than to 

propose the body-as-living-archive as a springboard for reflection on 

contemporary practices by our artists-in-residence in ELEMENT#2. 

3 4

As BAHASA KOREOGRAFI was conducted in Malay and 

Indonesian languages as an effort to utilise a different vocabulary 

for dance discourse that is perhaps better suited to our 

artists-in-residence and our cultural region, Singaporean 

playwright Alfian Sa’at was engaged as a ‘translator’ in parallel to 

the group mentoring. As translator, Alfian’s role in this residency 

served several objectives. Firstly, Alfian interpreted the discussions 

and texts generated by the mentoring group into English and 

provide a clear entry point for non-Malay Singaporeans to enter 

and appreciate the discourse. Secondly, we invited Alfian to be a 

mediator to pose further probing questions to the mentoring group 

and to facilitate a conversation between our resident artists and the 

local Malay dance community. Additionally, Alfian as provocateur in 

this dialogic platform conducted a lecture presentation, entitled 

'Kurang Ajar: 10 Rude Gestures From Singapore Malay Theatre'. 

All four artists-in-residence conducted presentations in SCOPE #3. 

5 6

Element#2 


Gambaran Umum 

Bahasa Koreografi 

oleh Alfian Sa’at 

Sebuah kehormatan bagi saya untuk dapat 

menghabiskan waktu dengan empat orang penari 

sekaligus koreografer dan pembimbing mereka, Helly 

Minarti, sebagai satu bagian dari program yang disebut 

'Bahasa Koreografi'. Tujuan dari program ini adalah 

mengeksplorasi bahasa koreografi khususnya untuk 

tarian Melayu, dan untuk mengungkap wacana tarian 

dalam bahasa Melayu / Indonesia. Saya mengucapkan 

terima kasih kepada Daniel Kok dan Dance Nucleus 

atas undangan yang diberikan. 

Saya merupakan seseorang yang masih sangat baru 

dalam kesenian tari, dan saya pun memiliki bias 

tersendiri terhadap beberapa bentuk pertunjukan 

tradisional. Bias-bias ini sering berpusar pada kegiatan 

konsumsi, di mana kegiatan menonton sering tidak 

dapat dipisahkan dari tugas sosial untuk 'mendukung' 

apa yang telah dicap sebagai 'warisan budaya' 

seseorang. Tiitik awal dari sebuah budaya yang sedang 

dikepung (modernisasi / urbanisasi / Westernisasi dll), 

memiliki kecenderungan untuk tunduk pada 

kecemasan tentang apakah bentuk budaya tertentu 

dijaga agar tetap hidup. Tetapi apa yang ada pada 

dukungan kehidupan seringkali tidak terlalu hidup, dan 

untuk mendapatkan status 'setidaknya' akan mengarah 

pada menjamurnya klise-klise dan krisis kesalehan. 

Selama empat hari yang intensif, saya mendengarkan, 

mencatat, dan mengagumi berbagai macam diskusi yang 

dilakukan di studio, dan juga demonstrasi tarian yang 

dilakukan. Norhaizad Adam berbicara tentang Pasal 152 

Konstitusi Singapura, yang menjamin hak-hak minoritas dan 

'posisi khusus orang Melayu' (bagi Anda yang masih 

menggunakan frasa 'hak mayoritas' harap bangunkan persepsi 

Anda segera) . Sebagai seseorang yang terlatih dalam bidang 

tarian tradisional Melayu, dia bertanya-tanya tentang ruang bagi 

'kaum minoritas' seperti dia yang ingin menantang ortodoksi. 

Jika dia mendekati para guru tari dan gatekeeper untuk 

merumuskan suatu analogi ke Pasal 152, apa bentuknya? 

"Posisi khusus" apa yang akan diberikan kepada pelanggar 

aturan, dan apakah daftar pengecualian dan pengecualian akan 

lebih panjang dari artikel itu sendiri? 

Mohd Fauzi Bin Amirudin memperlihatkan kami beberapa 

bentuk tarian dimana dia dilatih, termasuk tarian piring, sebuah 

tarian Minang di mana penari menyeimbangkan piring di tangan 

mereka, dan di mana pemindahan berat badan sangat penting 

bagi eksekusi (berat piring diasimilasikan sebagai titik berat 

pada tubuh itu sendiri; piring menjadi perpanjangan dari tubuh). 

Tetapi mungkin yang paling berkesan bagi saya adalah 

demonstrasi Fauzi akan terinai, sebuah tarian yang bermula di 

istana Perlis, yang memiliki berbagai gerakan dan fase dengan 

nama-nama yang paling indah, seperti 'timang burung' 

(menimbang burung di telapak tangan), 'ketam bawa anak 

'(kepiting membawa anaknya) dan' layang mas '(layang-layang 

emas). Tarian tersebut ditampilkan sambil duduk dimana tarian 

itu cukup menghipnotis saat ditonton, kebanggaan para pemain 

larut ke dalam serangkaian cairnya gerakan-gerakan. 

7 8

Element#2 


OVERview of BAHASA 

KOREOGRAFI oleh Alfian Sa’at 

Soultari Amin Farid berbicara tentang bahasa Melayu ‘lenggang’, 

yang ia gambarkan sebagai gaya Melayu yang digunakan dalam 

tarian, yang melibatkan goyangan tangan. Ini adalah gerakan yang 

dikategorikan berdasarkan jenis kelamin penari: laki-laki lenggang 

memperoleh energinya dari siku mereka, sedangkan untuk penari 

perempuan memperoleh energinya dari jari jemari mereka. Ada juga 

lenggang bentuk lain yang tercatat dalam kamus, seperti 'lenggang 

janda' (gaya cerai), yang digunakan untuk menggambarkan gaya 

jalan yang genit; 'Lenggang patah tujuh' (gaya berjalan menjadi tujuh 

bagian) yang berarti berjalan melalui hutan dan menghindari ranting, 

akar dan duri; dan bahkan lenggang ‘gaya pribadi’, seperti 

kebanggaan yang digambarkan dalam Hikayat Anggun Che ’Tunggal 

sebagai‘ lenggang si tabur bayam ’(gaya penari bayam), yang dibina 

oleh pahlawan romantisme. Amin ingin mempelajari apakah ada 

bentuk-bentuk lenggang nasional (lenggang Singapura, Malaysia, 

Indonesia) yang diartikulasikan selama festival-festival Nusantara 

(serumpun) dan bagaimana mereka dapat menceritakan kisah 

perpecahan kolonial dunia Melayu. 

Yang terbaik, bagi saya, adalah dapat menghabiskan waktu 

hanya mendengarkan dan berbicara dengan Helly Minarti. 

Seorang spesialis dalam tari Minang, dan kurator Festival Tari 

Indonesia di Jakarta, amatlah mudah untuk benar-benar 

terpesona (kagum, segan) di hadapannya. Sangat jarang bagi 

saya untuk bertemu orang-orang dalam kehidupan nyata 

yang menganggap saya memiliki kualitas bagai perpustakaan 

hidup, dan Mbak Helly adalah salah satunya. Beliau adalah 

seseorang yang dapat memberitahu Anda perbedaan antara 

gaya Solo (lebih cair) dan gaya Yogya (lebih geometris), 

mengingat kutipan Pina Bausch ("Saya tidak tertarik pada 

bagaimana orang bergerak tetapi apa yang menggerakkan 

mereka"), yang mengingatkan orang-orang agar tidak terjun 

ke dramaturgi tari tanpa pertama-tama menyelesaikan 

pertanyaan tentang apa itu koreografi tari. Namun di seluruh 

sesi-sesi tersebut, beliau selalu rendah dan murah hati. 

Betapa cemerlangnya untuk mengetahui bahwa kita memiliki 

Ayu Permata Sari membahas penelitiannya tentang pengkodean 

dan mewujudkan gerakan orang-orang itu (bapak-bapak) yang 

menghadiri konser dangdut. Dangdut adalah bentuk populer musik 

pop di Indonesia yang memiliki reputasi di beberapa bagian sebagai 

musik bagi orang-orang yang tidak berpendidikan tinggi 

(kekampungan). Dia terpesona oleh beberapa gerakan yang 

dihasilkan oleh para pria di konser-konser tersebut, dimana mereka 

begitu tenggelam dalam musik yang membuat mereka bergoyang 

dengan mata setengah tertutup. Saat mewawancarai mereka, ia 

menyadari bahwa bagi sebagian pria, gerakan itu berasal dari 

kehidupan kerja mereka, misalnya ketukan keyboard atau stang 

sepeda motor berputar yang diubah menjadi bagian gerakan yang 

diulang dan ditambahkan. Dengan 'meminjam' gerakan-gerakan ini, 

Ayu ingin melihat apakah ia mampu mengatasi kebiasaan-kebiasaan 

dari tubuhnya yang terlatih dan mencapai tahap ketulusan, atau 

bahkan keluguan (keikhlasan tubuh), yang baginya dikemas dalam 

frasa “menari dengan hati ”(menari dari hati). 

9 10

Element#2 


Overview of 

Bahasa Koreografi 

by Alfian Sa’at 

I had the honour of spending time with four 

dancer-choreographers and their mentor, Helly Minarti, 

as part of a programme called ‘Bahasa Koreografi’. The 

aim of the programme is to explore choreographic 

language specific to Malay dance, and to uncover the 

discourse of dance in the Malay/Indonesian language. 

My deepest thanks to Daniel Kok and Dance Nucleus 

for the invitation. 

Over four intensive days, I listened, took notes, and marveled at 

the kinds of discussions generated in the studio, along with the 

demonstrations. Norhaizad Adam talked about Article 152 of 

the Singapore Constitution, the one which enshrines minority 

rights and the ‘special position of the Malays’ (those of you who 

still use the phrase ‘majority rights’ please wake up your idea, 

like now, immediately). As someone trained in traditional Malay 

dance, he wondered about the space for those ‘minorities’ like 

him who wanted to challenge orthodoxy. If he were to approach 

the various dance gurus and gatekeepers to formulate an 

analogue to Article 152, what shape will it take? What ‘special 

position’ will be accorded to the rulebreakers, and will the list of 

caveats and exceptions be longer than the article itself? 

I came in as someone who is still very new to dance, 

and with my own biases towards some forms of 

traditional performances. These biases often revolve 

around consumption, where spectatorship is often 

inextricable from a social duty to ‘support’ what has 

been branded as one’s ‘cultural heritage’. Given this 

starting point, of a culture that is under siege 

(modernisation/urbanisation/Westernisation etc), the 

tendency is for criticality to be subordinated to anxieties 

over whether a certain cultural form is even being ‘kept 

alive’. But what is on life support is often not very alive at 

all, and to settle for the ‘at least’ will lead to the 

proliferation of cliched mediocrities and a crisis of 

connoisseurship. 

Mohd Fauzi Bin Amirudin took us through some of the forms 

he was trained in, including that of the tarian piring, a Minang 

form where dancers balance saucers in their hands, and where 

the shifting of body weight (pemindahan berat badan) is crucial 

to its execution (the weight of the saucers assimilated as points 

of weight on the body itself; the saucers become extensions of 

the body). But perhaps most magical for me was Fauzi’s 

demonstration of the terinai, a dance from the court of Perlis, 

which have movements and phases with the most gorgeous 

names, such as ‘timang burung’ (weighing a bird on the palm), 

‘ketam bawa anak’ (crab carrying its child) and ‘layang mas’ 

(golden kite). Performed while sitting down, the dance is 

hypnotic to watch, the majestic hauteur of the performer at 

points dissolving thrillingly into a series of liquid strokes. 

11 12

Element#2 


OVERview of BAHASA 

KOREOGRAFI by Alfian Sa’at 

Soultari Amin Farid talked about the Malay ‘lenggang’, which he 

describes as a Malay gait used in dance, involving the swaying of the 

hands. It is a gendered movement: the male lenggang derives its 

energy from the elbow, while for the female it is from the fingers. 

There are also other forms of lenggang recorded in the dictionary, like 

‘lenggang janda’ (divorcee’s gait), used to describe a flirtatious walk; 

‘lenggang patah tujuh’ (gait broken into seven parts), to mean 

walking through a forest and avoiding branches, roots and thorns; 

and even ‘personal signature’ lenggang, such as a swagger 

described in Hikayat Anggun Che’ Tunggal as ‘lenggang si tabur 

bayam’ (the spinach-sower’s gait), cultivated by the hero of the 

romance. Amin wanted to study whether there were national forms of 

the lenggang (the Singaporean, Malaysian, Indonesian) articulated 

during Nusantara (serumpun) festivals and how they could tell a story 

of the colonial dismemberment of the Malay world. 

Best of all, for me, was spending time just listening and 

conversing with Helly Minarti. A specialist in Minang dance, 

and a curator of the Indonesian Dance Festival in Jakarta, it is 

easy to be absolutely awestruck (kagum, segan) in her 

presence. It is rare for me to encounter people in real life who 

strike me as having the quality of a living library, and Mbak 

Helly is one of them. This is someone who can tell you the 

differences between the Solo style (more fluid) and the Yogya 

style (more geometric), recalls quotes such as that by Pina 

Bausch (“I am not interested in how people move but what 

moves them”), who cautions against jumping into dance 

dramaturgy without settling the question of what is dance 

choreography first. And yet throughout the sessions she was 

always nothing less than humble and generous. How brilliant 

to discover that we have so much, and even more brilliant to 

have someone show you what all of it is worth. 

Ayu Permata Sari discussed her research into codifying and 

embodying the movements of those men (bapak-bapak) attending a 

dangdut concert. Dangdut is a massively popular form of pop music 

in Indonesia, but which has a reputation in some quarters of being 

the music of the not-highly-educated masses (kekampungan). She 

was fascinated by some of the movements produced by the men at 

these concerts, often so immersed in the music that they would sway 

with their eyes half-closed. While interviewing them, she realised that 

for some of the men, the movements came from their working lives: 

there was keyboard-tapping, for example, or motorbike 

handlebar-twisting, turned into units of movements that were 

repeated and elaborated. By ‘borrowing’ these movements, Ayu 

wanted to see whether she was able to overcome the formal habits 

of her own trained body and to reach a stage of sincerity, or even 

innocence (keikhlasan tubuh), which for her was encapsulated in the 

phrase “menari dengan hati” (dancing from the heart). 

About 

ALFIAN SA’AT 

Alfian is the Resident Playwright of W!LD RICE. He 

has been nominated at the Straits Times Life! 

Theatre Awards for Best Original Script ten times, 

and has received the award four times. His plays 

with W!LD RICE include HOTEL (with Marcia 

Vanderstraaten), The Asian Boys Trilogy, 

Cooling-Off Day, The Optic Trilogy and Homesick. 

He was the winner of the Golden Point Award for 

Poetry and the National Arts Council Young Artist 

Award for Literature in 2001. His publications 

include Collected Plays One and Two; poetry 

collections One Fierce Hour, A History of Amnesia 

and The Invisible Manuscript; and short-story 

collections Corridor and Malay Sketches. 

13 14

Element# 2 


(PRAKTIK) SILAT DUDUK: 

MENELISIK 

(KE)MELAYU(AN) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbqvm1nvJD4 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V21eCFIvr-w 

Istilah silat duduk diperkenalkan oleh Benny Krishnawardi 

yang saya undang untuk memberi workshop tentang gaya 

gerak Gumarang Sakti dasar yang diformulasikan oleh 

pendirinya, koreografer asal Minangkabau, Gusmiati Suid 

(1942-2001). Saya sengaja mengusulkan untuk 

mengundang Benny sebagai cara membuka percakapan 

tentang identitas Melayu - dan ketidak-Melayuan - di dalam 

tubuh-tari, garis keturunan (lineage) artistik serta 

perbedaan kultural tentang identitas Melayu di tiga konteks 

kenegaraan yang berbeda: Singapura, Malaysia dan 

Indonesia. 

Menurut Benny, silat duduk merujuk pada sesi informal 

dimana sang guru silat mengajak muridnya bicara tentang 

falsafah silat dan hakiki kehidupan, di dalam sasaran silat - 

tempat lapang di nagari (desa adat) Minangkabau dimana 

para pemuda sejatinya berlatih silat atau randai (teater 

tradisional). Biasanya, pembicaraan intim semacam ini 

ditujukan untuk murid yang dianggap sudah mendapat 

bekal cukup di dalam ilmu bela diri silat. Di dalam konteks 

Minangkabau, silat duduk adalah saat ketika percakapan 

tentang falsafah silat, adat yang mencakup etika 

kehidupan, terjalin. Silat duduk inilah yang akhirnya menjadi 

model alamiah bagi forum atau platform koreografik 

Bahasa Koreografi. 

oleh Helly Minarti 

Ketika Daniel Kok pertama kali mengutarakan gagasan 

tentang program element #2 tahun ini yang berfokus pada 

isu-isu seputar identitas serta praktik tari Melayu sebagai 

praktik transnasional di beberapa negara Asia Tenggara 

(utamanya Singapura, Malaysia dan Indonesia), saya 

merasa "dipaksa" menimbang ulang tentang pentingnya 

membawa identifikasi kultural di dalam praktik seni tari 

kontemporer. Awalnya, Daniel mengaku skeptikal tentang 

ini (".. saya koreografer kontemporer. Bukan koreografer 

Singapura atau China kontemporer"). Pandangan ini berubah 

ketika ia ikut menonton program Joget awal tahun ini di 

Esplanade Theatres on the Bay. Menyaksikan diskusi seru 

yang terpicu dari beberapa karya eksperimental dalam 

platform itu, terutamanya reaksi para tetua tari Melayu di 

Singapura atas beberapa karya yang dipentaskan, Daniel 

pun menangkap urgensi dalam membicarakan topik 

tentang tari Melayu sebagai sumber eksperimentasi tari 

kontemporer di Singapura. 

Ketika saya diundang untuk menjadi semacam 'mentor' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDKVycVfouQ 

(sebutan yang pada 

awalnya saya keberatan menyandang, karena mengisyaratkan adanya hierarki 

pengetahuan), saya segera mensyaratkan keikutsertaan Alfian Sa'at sebagai 

semacam 'provokator' di dalam forum yang diberi tajuk begitu tepat oleh Daniel 

(yang ajaibnya, justru tidak bisa berbahasa Melayu): Bahasa Koreografi. 

Saya merasa kehadiran Alfian penting sebagai sosok interlocutor yang banyak 

mendiskusikan masalah tentang identitas ke-Melayuan di status Facebooknya 

yang rajin saya ikuti. Ketika politik di Jakarta akhir 2016 memanas dengan isu 

lama tentang identitas ke-Indonesia-an (pribumi versus non pribumi, kategori 

yang terakhir ini otomatis diidentifikasi sebagai warga negara Indonesia keturunan 

Tionghoa), saya sempat mengusulkan sebuah gagasan proyek artistik ke Alfian, 

meski kami belum sempat membahasnya kembali dikarenakan kesibukan 

masing-masing. 

15 16

Element#2 


((PRAKTIK) SILAT DUDUK: 

MENELISIK (KE)MELAYU(AN) 

Melayu, Tari Melayu: Tiga Dimensi 

Keempat koreografer muda peserta element #2 mewakili kerumitan 

tafsir (Ke)Melayu(an) yang menghubungkan tiga noda kebudayaan di 

Asia Tenggara: Soultari Amin Farid dan Norhaizad Adam berasal dari 

Singapura, Mohd Fauzi bin Aminudin dari Kuala Lumpur dan Ayu 

Permata Sari yang asal Lampung tetapi menetap di Yogyakarta selama 

tujuh tahun terakhir. 


Konstelasinya begini: di Singapura, kaum Melayu adalah minoritas 

(vis-a-vis kaum keturunan https://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Perennial-Classics/dp/0061339202 

China yang mayoritas), sementara di 

Malaysia sebaliknya (Melayu mayoritas, China dan India minoritas). Di 

kedua negara ini, Melayu merujuk pada identitas rasial - dengan segala 

konsekuensi kebijakan diskriminatif dari negara - sementara di 

Indonesia, Melayu adalah satu diantara ratusan suku-bangsa (etnisitas) 

lainnya - sama sekali bukan identitas rasial, meski memang digolongkan 

ke dalam kategory yang problematis: pribumi. 

Secara geografis, Indonesia merujuk provinsi Riau, Kepulauan Riau 

(Kepri) dan Sumatra Utara (Deli, bukan bagian lainnya yang dihuni suku 

bangsa Batak), sebagai daerah utama asal suku-bangsa Melayu. Tetapi 

seperti juga telah diteliti oleh banyak ahli (Julianti Parani, diantaranya), 

suku-bangsa Melayu di Indonesia juga tersebar di pulau-pulau lainnya, 

seperti di pesisir Kalimantan, Sulawesi hingga kepulauan Maluku. 

Namun, meskipun suku bangsa minoritas, kedudukan suku Melayu unik 

di lanskap kebudayaan Indonesia, karena Bahasa Melayu menjadi 

dasar Bahasa Indonesia, bahasa nasional. Dengan suku Jawa (dengan 

segala keragaman di tataran lokalitasnya) sebagai mayoritas, 

menjadikan bahasa suku minoritas sebagai bahasa nasional adalah 

strategi yang ikut menyelamatkan Indonesia dari potensi konflik internal 

jika menjadikan Bahasa Jawa (bahasa sang mayoritas), sebagai bahasa 

nasional. 

Jika workshop dua hari oleh Benny menggunakan 

Minangkabau untuk mengontraskan perbedaan kultural 

dalam spektrum rumpun Melayu di Indonesia (di konteks 

kebudayaan tari Minangkabau, tari Melayu dianggap tari 

pendatang dan hanya sempat popular di kota-kota besar di 

tahun 1960an), maka ceramah Alfian tentang kilasan sejarah 

identitas Melayu di dalam praktik teater di Singapura (apa 

yang dilarang dan dianggap kurang ajar), menukik ke dalam 

arena praktik seni kekinian. Kilas balik ini memantik diskusi 

melingkar setelah ceramah, diantaranya seputar 

tegangan-tegangan yang ada diantara konstelasi di atas 

tentang identitas Ke-Melayu-an dan bagaimana 

mengartikulasikan strategi-strategi yang jitu untuk menavigasi 

politik-politik yang melekat di dalam (praktik) tari Melayu. Di 

bawah ini adalah catatan yang tercecer dari pertemuan, 

perbincangan serta rangkaian letupan anekdot di sana-sini 

yang ikut mewarnai: 

Garis Keturunan Artistik: 

Arsip Ketubuhan dan Aspirasi 

Menemukan Tubuh yang Kini 

Menelusuri proses belajar seseorang sebagai bagian dari lintasan 

(trajectory) personal hanyalah langkah awal dalam menyadari dan 

menerima bahwa tubuh tari yang kini didiami adalah warisan dari 

sebuah garis keturunan artistik yang disampaikan melalui transmisi 

tertentu dari modernitas. Di Singapura, transisi ini bisa berbasis 

komunitas (sanggar untuk menyebut istilah di Bahasa Indonesia) 

ataupun ruang edukatif lainnya - seperti kegiatan ekstra kurikuler di 

sekolah dan universitas di Singapura. Amin mendapuk Hasyima (yang 

bersama Norhaizad mendirikan Prisma), untuk mengurai lintasan 

perjalanannya belajar tari Melayu dari dua guru dari gaya yang berbeda, 

hingga proses penciptaan karyanya, Nak Dara, yang memantik diskusi 

diantara para guru tari Melayu di Singapura. Buat saya, penuturan 

Hasyima yang sarat refleksi diri bukan hanya ilustratif tetapi juga 

diskursif untuk bisa memahami konteks apa artinya menjadi anak muda 

Melayu di kota Singapura. Salah satunya adalah bagaimana berada di 

dalam posisi ketika menjadi proyeksi atau pantulan dari 

harapan-harapan sang guru, dan ketika kedua hal ini tak bertemu. 

17 18

Element#2 


((PRAKTIK) SILAT DUDUK: 

MENELISIK (KE)MELAYU(AN) 


Soultari Amin membingkai praktiknya sebagai praktisi-peneliti dan 

membawa pengamatan - termasuk penubuhannya - atas ragam 

lenggang Melayu. Di sini, lenggang Melayu menjadi gerakan yang 

sarat narasi atas asal muasal, identifikasi atas lokalitas ataupun 

ketubuhan individual. Amin memahami lenggang sebagai sebuah 

bahasa yang ia kuasai dengan fasih, sebagai ekspresi berjender 

yang akhirnya ia coba dengan mentransfernya ke dalam tubuhnya 

sendiri. Yang cukup mengejutkan bagi saya adalah identifikasi 

lenggang Jakarta sebagai salah satu pengaruh dan bagaimana 

tarian Melayu dari guru-guru Jakarta - satu nama kerap muncul, 

yaitu Tom Ibnur - yang datang ke Singapura untuk mengajar, menjadi 

semacam patokan yang hegemonik. Sewaktu beberapa tahun silam 

Kekayaan dan ruang lingkup ragam tari Melayu di Malaysia tersingkap ketika ia 

berbagi salah satu tarian klasik Kesultanan Perlis, Terinai dalam sebuah workshop 

singkat di studio P7:1SMA (baca: Prisma) milik Norhaizad dan Hasyima. Sebuah 

ragam yang bisa jadi tidak menemukan konteks kultural di Singapura, dan juga 

Indonesia. Di dalam karya koreografiknya, Fauzi menelisik Tari Piring dari Negeri 

Sembilan, Malaysia, yang sesungguhnya beresonansi dengan silat Minangkabau 

sebagai asal. Namun, di luar teknik tari yang mengandalkan kecepatan dan 

virtuositas ataupun langkah-langkah silat yang menjadi dasar Tari Piring, apakah 

yang terus menggelitik untuk digali, terutama yang berkaitan dengan tubuh 

kekiniannya? 

https://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Perennial-Classics/dp/0061339202 

Bagi Mohd Fauzi bin Aminudin, tari Melayu hanyalah salah satu dari 

beberapa bentuk dan genre tarian yang harus ia pelajari di ASWARA, 

satu-satunya pendidikan tinggi kesenian di Malaysia. Sebagai bagian 

dari kurikulum yang inklusif, Fauzi harus menyelam ke dalam alam 

tetarian Melayu, India (bharatanatyam terutama), China dan juga 

teknik-teknik yang tidak berakar di tradisi Asia (identifikasi India dan 

China di sini tentu saja mengandung problematikanya sendiri, meski 

di sini tidak ada ruang untuk mendiskusikannya). Proyek nasionalistis 

di ranah akademik seni terdengar familiar dengan pengalaman 

Indonesia melalui pembentukan dan penyebaran beberapa ISI 

(Institut Seni Indonesia) yang dibuka di beberapa kota utama; meski 

dalam kasus ISI, nasionalisme harus bersinggungan dengan lokalitas 

setempat dimana sebuah cabang ISI itu berada, dan lokasi tercermin 

dalam penekanan kurikulum dimana ISI tersebut berada (misalnya ISI 

di Denpasar, Bali, menekankan kurikulum pada tetarian asal Bali). 

Untuk karya koreografik berikutnya Norhaizad tertarik untuk bekerja dengan Artikel 

152 tentang hak-hak minoritas di Singapura. Koreografi-pun menjadi sebuah 

strategi dalam mengartikulasikan elemen dan medium yang berbeda, yang 

seringkali keluar dari tubuh fisik, untuk membentuk tubuh lain (tubuh digital, 

misalnya). 

Ayu Permata Sari yang berasal dari Lampung namun menetap 

di Yogyakarta selama tujuh tahun terakhir, berkutat dengan 

TubuhDang TubuhDut, hasil pengamatan dan penelitiannya atas 

gerakan joget dangdut yang dilakukan oleh para penonton 

dangdut di sebuah klab dangdut lokal yang kebanyakan lelaki. 

Dangdut adalah musik populer khas Indonesia yang awalnya 

mengambil idiom musik Melayu namun pada perjalanannya juga 

dipengaruhi oleh irama musik lainnya - seperti langgam tabla 

India, nuansa musik Arabia hingga musik rock di tahun 1970an 

dan terakhir menjadi 'dangdut koplo' - sebuah genre dangdut 

hibrid terbaru. Mempresentasikan karyanya yang sangat 

berakar di lokalitas ke-Indonesian di Singapura membuat Ayu 

berkutat mencari cara untuk mengontekstualisasikannya ke 

dalam alam kultural yang sangat berbeda dimana idiom dangdut 

tidak dikenal. 

19 20

Element#2 


(PRACTICE OF) SILAT DUDUK: 

INVESTIGATING MALAY(NESS) 


Tubuh, tari dan diri Melayu (dan Ke-Tidak-Melayuan) diurai dan 

ditelisik selama empat hari, sebagai sebuah praktik silat duduk 

kolektif, ketika sejarah, memori, narasi dan lintasan ketubuhan 

saling berkelindan. Bagi saya pribadi, rangkaian seminggu 

Bahasa Koreografi menjadi medan pertemuan yang bukan 

saja inspiratif dan investigatif, tetapi juga momentum 

pertemuan silang yang selayaknya dirintis sejak lama. Namun, 

seperti juga bunyi pepatah Melayu, lebih baik terlambat 

daripada tidak sama sekali. 

21 22

Element# 2 



INVESTIGATING 

MALAY(NESS) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbqvm1nvJD4 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V21eCFIvr-w 

The term silat duduk (literally means ‘sitting silat’, silat as in 

pencak-silat, the martial arts practice shared in the 

transnational Malay world), was introduced by Benny 

Krishnawardi whom I invited to give a workshop on the 

basic movement vocabulary of Gumarang Sakti. The latter 

was formed by the late Minangkabau (West Sumatra) 

choreographer, Gusmiati Suid (1942-2001). I invited Benny 

to join in for Dance Nucleus’ ELEMENT#2 residency as a 

way to open up the conversation on Malay identity, or even 

the unmalayness, in relation to the dancing body. We also 

looked at the artistic lineage as well as the different Malay 

identities as rooted in three different stately contexts: of 

Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. 

by Helly Minarti 

According to Benny, silat duduk refers to the informal 

session where a silat master invites his student(s) to discuss 

the philosophy of silat and of life, taking place in sasaran 

silat - or an open field in the nagari (customary 

Minangkabau village unit) where young men traditionally 

train in silat or randai (traditional theatre). Usually, such 

intimate conversations are reserved for advanced students 

in pencak silat. Within Minangkabau context, silat duduk is 

where the discussion of silat philosophy, customs that 

include life ethics, are intertwined. This silat duduk has 

become a natural model for the forum or choreographic 

platform of ELEMENT#2: Bahasa Koreografi. 

When Daniel Kok first expressed his intention to do this 

ELEMENT#2 by focusing on issues around the identities 

and practices of Malay dance as a transnational practice in 

Southeast Asia (mainly Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia), 

I felt compelled to reconsider the obligation of bringing up 

cultural identification in contemporary dance practice. In the 

beginning, Daniel indeed admitted to being sceptical about 

it (".. I am a contemporary choreographer. Not a Singaporean 

or Chinese contemporary choreographer"). This view 

apparently changed when he watched the Joget 

programme organised by Esplanade Theatres on the Bay. 

Witnessing the heated debate triggered by some experimental 

works presented in that platform, especially the 

reaction of the elders of Singapore's Malay dance scene 

over certain works, Daniel sensed the urgency to discuss 

this topic of Malay dance being the source for experimental 

dance for its practitioners in Singapore. 

When I was invited to be a 'mentor' (a descriptor that https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDKVycVfouQ 

I resisted in the beginning 

since I think it hints at a hierarchy in knowledge), I immediately inquired the involvement 

of Alfian Sa'at to take up a role of 'provocateur' in the forum that was given 

quite an apt title by Daniel (who doesn't speak any Malay): Bahasa Koreografi. 

Alfian's presence was instrumental as an interlocutor, especially given his frequent 

and animated discussions on the problems surrounding Malayness on Facebook, 

which I have been following rather religiously. Towards the end of 2016, when the 

age-old issue of Indonesian identities was reignited in the political scene in Jakarta 

(pribumi, or indigenous versus the non-indigenous), the latter category here automatically 

referred to Indonesian citizens of Chinese descent). I had already 

proposed to work with Alfian on an artistic project, although we never found the 

chance to get to it due our busy schedules. 

23 24

Element#2 


Malay, Malay Dance: 

Three Dimensions 

The four young choreographers participating in ELEMENT#2 follow the 

complexity of interpreting Malay(ness) pertaining to their respective 

cultural contexts in Southeast Asia: Soultari Amin Farid and Norhaizad 

Adam are from Singapore, Mohd Fauzi bin Aminudin from Kuala Lumpur 

and Ayu Permata Sari yang asal Lampung tetapi menetap di Yogyakarta 

selama tujuh tahun terakhir. 

Their various constellations can be described as such: 



In Singapore, the Malays are a minority race within the population 

(vis-a-vis those of Chinese descent who make up the majority), whilst it 

is the reverse in Malaysia (the Malays as majority, the Chinese and 

Indians are minorities). In these two countries, the word ‘Malay’ refers to 

racial identity - with all the consequences of the discriminatory policies 

from the state embedded with it. Meanwhile in Indonesia, ‘Malay’ simply 

refers to one of its hundreds of ethnicities - not at all a racial identity, 

although indeed, it is categorised within the problematic category - the 

pribumi. 


https://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Perennial-Classics/dp/0061339202 

In geographical terms, ‘Malay’ in Indonesia refers to the provinces of 

Riau, Riau islands and North Sumatra (the Deli part, not other parts 

inhabited by the Batak), as the main original locations for the Malays. 

But as researched by many scholars (among them Julianti Parani), the 

Malays in Indonesia is also spread out in other islands, such as coastal 

Kalimatan, Sulawesi, and up to the Molucca archipelago. However, 

although the Malays constitutes a minority group, it has a unique place 

within the Indonesia's cultural landscape, since the Malay language 

(Bahasa Melayu) is the basis for Bahasa Indonesia, the national 

language of Indonesia today. Given that the Javanese (with its varied 

localities) is the majority group in Indonesia, the adoption of the 

language of a small minority proved to be a strategy that prevented 

internal conflict, than if Indonesia had made Javanese, the language of 

its majority group, the national language instead. 

In the two-day workshop, Benny used Minangkabau as an 

example to highlight the cultural differences within the 

spectrum of Malay groups in Indonesia. (In the context of 

Minangkabau dance culture, Malay dance is perceived as 

something imported and was only popular in the big cities 

back in the 1960s.) 

Similarly, Alfian’s lecture on Malay Identity provided a historical 

flash back in Singaporean theatre, citing examples of what 

was banned, what was perceied as 'kurang ajar' or 

obnoxious. This flash back triggered a circle discussion after 

the lecture. We discussed issues surrounding the tensions 

shaping Malay identity in the arts in Singapore, and how to 

articulate effective strategies in navigating politics embedded 

in the practice of Malay dance. 

The following are the notes from our meetings, conversations 

and a series of anecdotes that came up. They help give colour 

to what I have discussed above: 

Artistic Lineage: 

The Bodily Archive and Aspiration to 

Discover the Contemporary Body 

Tracing one's personal trajectory in a learning process begins 

with an awareness and the acceptance that the dancing body 

that one inhabits is what one inherits from a certain artistic 

lineage, transmitted through a mode of modernity. 

In Singapore, this transmission can be community-based 

(sanggar in Bahasa Indonesia) or other educational spaces, 

such as extra-curricular activities in schools or the university 

in the case of Singapore. 

25 26

Element#2 





Amin nudged Hasyimah, who co-founded P7:1SMA together with 

Norhaizad and joined our discussions intermittently, to unravel her 

own trajectory of learning in Malay dance - from two different 

teachers of two different styles, up to her creating Nak Dara, which 

triggered a heated discussion among the Malay dance teachers in 

Singapore. For me, the way Hasyimah narrated this, which was 

dense with self-reflection, was not only illustrative but also 

discursive. Her narrative reflects a wider discussion on what it means 

to be a young Malay in Singapore. In her case, how to negotiate a 

position when one becomes the projection or reflection of the 

teachers' hopes, and how when these two - one’s aspiration and her 

teachers’ - do not meet. 

https://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Perennial-Classics/dp/0061339202 Balinese dances. 

For Mohd Fauzi bin Aminudin, Malay dance is only one of several dance forms that 

he had to learn at ASWARA, the only conservatory-modeled higher education 

programme for dance in Malaysia. As part of an inclusive (or all-encompassing) 

curriculum, Fauzi had to delve into the different forms - Malay dance, Indian (mainly 

bharatanatyam), Chinese, and other techniques that are rooted in Asian traditions 

(the identification of Indian and Chinese dance forms indeed carries its own 

problematics, although there is no room to discuss these further in our residency). 

Such a nationalistic project in the academic realm would sound familiar for 

Indonesians, whose experience through the founding and spreading of several ISIs 

(Indonesia Institute of the Arts), which operate in several main cities. Nevertheless, 

in the case of the ISIs, nationalism has to somehow rub shoulders with the 

respective locales they are set up in. This in turn brings about different emphases 

in the local curricula. For instance, the Denpasar ISI in Bali, places an emphasis on 

Soultari Amin frames his practice as artist researcher focussing on his 

observation on and embodiment of the lenggang Melayu (Malay gait). 

Here, the Malay gait becomes a movement infused with different 

narratives of origins, and identifications of certain locales and 

individuals (including the teachers). Amin understands the gait as a 

form of gendered language that he has become fluent in, the intricate 

vocabularies of which he now tries to articulate using his own body. 

What I found rather shocking is that the identification of Jakarta's gait 

as an influence on the local style in Singapore, and how Malay dance 

was taught by teachers from Jakarta. One name that kept surfacing 

in our conversations is Tom Ibnur, who came to Singapore to teach 

and became a hegemonic barometer. Several years ago, when I 

co-designed a programme on investigating Malay Dance as an 

attempt to reread the practice of Malay dance in the Indonesian 

capital, Jakarta was positioned as a diasporic location - if not a 

peripheral one when it comes to Malay dance development. 

The richness and the scope of Malay dance in Malaysia was revealed when Amin 

shared with us the Terinai, a classical dance from the court of Perlis during a short 

workshop in the studio of P7:1SMA (read as ‘Prisma’), founded by Norhaizad and 

Hasyimah. This is a formal variation that has not found its cultural context in 

Singapore, nor most probably, in Indonesia. 

In his choreographic work, Fauzi also investigates the Tari Piring 

(Plate Dance) from Negeri Sembilan in Malaysia, which 

resonates with the Minangkabau silat as its origin of movement 

vocabulary. However, outside the dance techniques that rely on 

speed and virtuosity, and the silat steps that form the basis of 

Tari Piring, what exactly are the ideas and questions that 

stimulate him to dig deeper, especially that which relates with his 

body and its contemporaneity? 

For his next choreographic work, Norhaizad is interested to work 

with the Article 152 that states the minority rights of the Malays 

in Singapore. Choreography here becomes a strategy to 

articulate different elements and mediums that often go beyond 

the physical body, giving form to other bodies, such as the digital 

body. 

27 28

Element#2 





Ayu Permata Sari who hails from Lampung but has called 

Yogyakarta home for the last seven years, has struggled with 

her TubuhDang TubuhDut. The latter is a project in which she 

observations and researches on the movement of the 

audience, which comprises mostly of men, in local dangdut 

clubs. Dangdut is Indonesian popular music that was based on 

Malay music but took on other musical influences such as the 

Indian tabla, Arabic musical nuances, rock music of the 1970s, 

and most recently the localised dangdut koplo - the latest 

hybrid dangdut genre. Presenting her work that is very much 

rooted in specific Indonesian contexts in Singapore where 

dangdut is not known, has obligated Ayu to find ways to 

recontextualise and articulate her work differently. 

ABOUT 

HELLY MINARTI 

In ELEMENT#2: Bahasa Koreografi, the Malay (and the 

Un-Malay) body, Malay dance and Malay self have been 

elaborated and investigated intensively over our four days 

together. We looked at the ways in which history, memory, 

narrative and trajectory of embodiment are intertwined, and 

our discussions became a shared embodied practice of silat 

duduk. 

For me personally, this week-long programme was not merely 

a meeting that I found inspiring and investigative, but 

constituted the beginning of a momentum for a cross-cultural 

meeting that should have taken place long ago. But as a Malay 

saying goes, better late than never. 

Born in Jakarta, Helly now works as an independent 

itinerant dance scholar/curator, rethinking radical 

strategies to connect theory and practice. She is mostly 

interested in historiographies of choreography as 

discursive practice on top of her fixation with certain 

knowledges that view body/nature as cosmology 

especially those rooted in Tantra/Taoism. She worked as 

Head of Arts for the British Council Indonesia (2001-03) 

which set her off to curating. Her most recent curatorial 

project is Jejak- Tabi Exchange: Wandering Asian 

Contemporary Performance, an exchange platform that 

takes a traveling festival format she co-curates. She has 

been involved in various exchange arts projects, invited 

to various forums/conferences and conducted research 

fellowships in Asia, Europe and the US. She was voted 

as the Head of Programme of Jakarta Arts Council twice 

- a unique collaborative curatorial platform (2013-17). 

Helly earned a PhD in dance studies from University of 

Roehampton (London, UK) and will call Yogyakarta as 

her new home from late 2018 onwards. 

29 30

Element# 2 


Proses “Bahasa 

Koreografi” 

oleh Ayu Permata Sari 

Sebelum saya menulis tentang pengalaman saya dalam residensi ini, saya ingin 

mengucapkan terimakasih sebesar-besarnya terhadap Tuhan, orang-orang yang di 

sekeliling saya dan Dance Nucleus, yang telah memberikan saya kesempatan 

untuk bertemu, berbicara dan berkerja dengan orang-orang yang hebat dalam 

bidangnya. 

Pada proses residensi dengan tajuk Bahasa koreografi, 

terdapat 2 mentor dan 4 seniman berdarah melayu dengan tiga 

negara yang berbeda. Dua mentor tersebut ialah Helly Minari 

dari Indonesia seorang pengkaji seni dan kurator seni tari, dan 

Alfian Sa’at, seorang yang berkecimpung dalam dunia teater 

khususnya di Singapura. Empat seniman yang menjadi peserta 

antara lain, Amin Farid koreografer dan pengkaji tari asal 

Singapura, Norhaizad Adam koreografer dan penari asal 

Singapura, Mohd Fauzi Amirudin koreografer dan penari asal 

Kuala Lumpur, dan saya sendiri, Ayu Permata Sari, koreografer 

dan penari asal Lampung, yang kini berdomisili di Yogyakarta, 

Indonesia. 

Pada awal kegiatan ini kami berkenalan melalui karya-karya 

yang telah diciptakan oleh masing-masing sebelumnya. untuk 

mengenal karakter dan mengenal cara pandang ataupun cara 

pikir setiap peserta. Selain melihat dua karya sebelumnya, kami 

juga menceritakan kegelisahan dalam berkarya baik pada diri 

sendiri ataupun yang terjadi di negara masing-masing peserta. 

Karena latar belakang kehidupan seniman sangat 

mempengaruhi proses berkarya, sehingga ini penting di 

bicarakan. Peserta juga memberikan pemanasan tubuh 

sebelum kegiatan diskusi di mulai. Di hari pertama Norhaizad 

yang memberikan teknik kepekaan terhadap ruang, Hari kedua 

saya memberikan materi berupa gerak-gerak dangdut; hari 

ketiga, Amin memberikan motivasi-motivasi bergerak yang 

dimulai dari satu titik, dan hari keempat Fauzi memberikan 

sebuah peregangan otot-otot atau seperti sebuah pijatan. 

31 32

Element#2 



Koreografi” 

oleh Ayu Permata 

Setelah mengenal beberapa karya dari setiap peserta, kami 

memfokuskan kepada karya yang akan kami presentasikan di 

Dance Nucleus. Satu-persatu menjelaskan tentang 

asal-muasal kenapa kami memilih konsep tersebut untuk 

berproses dan saya menjelaskan karya yang sedang saya 

geluti sejak awal tahun 2018 yaitu penubuhan gerak penonton 

dangdut. Saya sendiri memiliki kegelisahan tentang konsep 

“menari dengan hati”. Banyak orang yang mengatakan 

“menarilah dengan hati”, namun seperti apa kedalaman menari 

dengan hati tersebut? Saya bertanya-tanya pada diri saya 

sendiri, apakah saya sudah menari dengan hati atau hanya 

dengan pikiran. Selain kalimat “menari dengan hati” saya juga 

memiliki kegelisahan dengan pembendaharaan gerak yang 

ada di dalam tubuh saya. Saya merasa bosan dengan 

ketubuhan tari yang saya miliki, sehingga saya membutuhkan 

asupan yang lain untuk perbendaharaan gerak pada tubuh 

saya sendiri. Dua kegelisahan saya tersebut saya temui di 

penonton dangdut. Dangdut adalah musik pop khas Indonesia 

yang merupakan akulturasi dari budaya Arab, India dan 

Melayu. (Akan saya cantumkan bagan di halaman akhir untuk 

proses saya menemukan konsep ini.) 

Konsep karya dangdut tersebut saya tandai dengan istilah 

ruang antara. M,endengar penjelasan tersebut, Amin 

memberitahu saya tentang konsep liminalitas. Sejak itu saya 

mencari arti dari kata liminalitas dan bagaimana “proses” dari 

liminalitas itu sendiri. Karya yang akan saya presentasikan ini 

saya beri judul TubuhDang TubuhDut. Karya ini sudah pernah 

di presentaskan di festival Jejak Tabi Exchange: Wandering 

Contemporary Asian Performance, di Yogyakarta bulan Juli 

2018. Saya mencoba menceritakan alur dan pemanggungan 

karya ini. Untuk bagian awal saya menggunakan video 

sabagai pengantar, namun banyak pertanyaan muncul seperti 

seberapa penting video itu diadakan. Helly dan Alfian 

menegaskan tentang penonton karya TubuhDang TubuhDut, 

sejauh mana penonton karya TubuhDang-TubuhDut 

mengakses dangdut, dan ditanyakan ulang kepada diri sendiri 

(saya) niatnya apa dalam menciptakan karya ini. 

Terdapat waktu satu minggu sebelum hari presentasi yaitu tanggal 

21-22 september 2018. Pada tanggal 15-20 September 2018 kami 

para peserta berproses secara mandiri. Pada awalnya saya 

menggunakan studio untuk proses latihan, namun pada hari terakhir 

pertemuan tanggal 14 September 2018, saya mengubah konsep 

latihan saya dari dalam studio ke ruang publik seperti MRT, Mall, 

Pusat berbelanja seperti Bugis, pinggir jalan atau di persimpangan 

jalan/area lampu tanda lalu lintas. Meskipun cukup susah meminta 

izin untuk menari dengan petugas keamanan setempat. Sesekali 

waktu saya pun menari sendiri tanpa meminta izin atau istilah lainnya 

“tembak tempat” namun saya melihat terlebih dahulu kawasannya, 

apakah aman atau tidak untuk saya menari, karena takut ditangkap 

polisi yang mungkin berpikir bahwa saya orang gila. Saya melatih 

kepercayaan diri saya dalam bergerak di ruang publik.. Gerak-gerak 

penonton dangdut yang cukup terlihat memalukan sering kali 

membuat saya kurang percaya diri untuk bergerak, sehingga saya 

harus melatih kepercayaan diri saya di ruang publik. 

Tanggal 21-22 September 2018 presentasi Dance Nucleus di 

laksanakan. Tidak hanya kami berempat yang mempresentasikan 

karya, tetapi juga seniman-seniman lainnya yang juga presentasi 

pada hari tersebut. Presentasi karya TubuhDang TubuhDut 

memdapat nomor urut kedua di hari pertama tanggal 21 September 

2018. Pengalaman yang berbeda ketika saya mementaskan karya ini 

di Yogyakarta sebelumnya. Di Yogyakarta semua penonton yang 

hadir 90% mengetahui Dangdut, sehingga suasana pementasan cair 

dan semua orang tau konteks yang sedang dituju. Berbeda dengan 

di Singapura dimana penonton tidak mengetahui apa itu dangdut 

sehingga cukup sulit menyerap energi penonton meskipun ada satu 

orang yang ikut bergoyang. Pengalaman penonton pada presentasi 

di Dance Nucleus ini, mereka menginterpretasikan saya memiliki 

ruang sendiri dalam menikmati musik dan mereka takut 

mengganggunya meskipun mereka ingin ikut bergabung serta 

interpretasi tentang ketidakpedulian dengan sekitar. Daniel Kok 

menegaskan kepada saya, bagaimana membuat penonton 

mengetahui bahwa ini adalah soal penubuhan. Pekerjaan rumah 

bagi saya dalam mencari sebuah pengantar yang tepat untuk 

memulai pertunjukan karya ini 

33 34

Element#2 



Koreografi” 

oleh Ayu Permata 

Selain mendapatkan masukan yang sangat baik untuk karya TubuhDang 

TubuhDut, saya juga mendapatkan banyak pengalaman menonton yang beragam 

pada Residensi Dance Nucleus ini. Banyak bentuk penyajian karya yang belum 

pernah saya lihat, dan saya sangat senang memiliki sebuah pengalaman baru 

dalam hal menonton ataupun dalam hal mengenal budaya berkesenian di 

Singapura. 

Embodiment of the 

movement of the 

dangdut audience 

Move freely 

Really 

enjoy it 

Answer A 

dan B 

Not think 

of form 

Before heading to the concept, 

these 2 issues that led me to the dangdut point. 

Unique 

movement 

When is the dancer 

moving with heart. 

Saturated with body 

movements that are 

always done. 

TubuDang Tubuhdut 

DungduT 

TRANSIT ROOM 

Daily Activities (Pre Liminal)- dangdut 

as a space to release fatigue. 

Liminal - Back to the routine again 

with a better feeling. 

Alcohol 

Audience 

Biduan, 

female singer 

Musical 

instrument 

Interview- about the background 

of the vistor’s life and the reason 

they came to the dangdut 

performance. 

Brawl 

Emcee 

Stage 

Many man 

35 36

Element# 2 


The Process of 

‘Bahasa Koreografi’ 

by Ayu Permata Sari 

Before I write about my experiences during this residency, I wish to express my 

biggest thanks to God, those around me and also Dance Nucleus, who have given 

me the opportunity to meet, discuss with and work with those who are experts in 

their fields. 

At the early phase of the process we were introduced to the 

works of the various artists. This was done to learn more about 

one another’s personalities, viewpoints and thought processes. 

Apart from sharing two selected works from our resumes, we 

also described what motivated our dance creation process, 

either arising from something personal or influenced by 

situations in our respective countries. This is because our life 

backgrounds would have a profound impact on our works. 

Participants also led warm-up exercises before we began 

discussions. On the first day Norhaizad shared techniques on 

how to be sensitive to space. On the second day I shared 

some movements from dangdut and on the third day, Amin 

shared motivations from movements which originated from a 

single point and on the fourth day Fauzi shared some 

stretching and massage exercises. 

For the process of the residency which was named Bahasa 

Koreografi, there were 2 mentors and three artists of Malay 

lineage from three different countries. The two mentors were 

Helly Minarti from Indonesia, a dance researcher and curator, 

and Alfian Sa’at, a theatremaker based in Singapore. The 4 

participating artists were Amin Farid, a choreographer and 

dance researcher from Singapore, Norhaizad Adam a 

choreographer and dance researcher from Singapore, Mohd 

Fauzi Amirudin, a choreographer and dancer from Kuala 

Lumpur and Ayu Permata Sari, a choreographer and dancer 

from Lampung, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. 

After getting acquainted with the works from each participant, 

we then started to focus on the works that we would present at 

Dance Nucleus. Each of us explained the source and 

inspiration for why we chose our concept. I explained about the 

work which has occupied me since early 2018, which was the 

embodiment of the movements of an audience that watches 

dangdut. I have been intrigued by the concept of ‘dancing from 

the heart’; many have mentioned the instruction to ‘dance from 

the heart’, but I often ask myself what does this entail exactly? 

Do I dance from the heart or is dancing for me a cerebral 

activity? Other than the phrase ‘dance from the heart’, I was 

also getting restless with the ‘standard’ (cliche and overused?) 

repertoire of movements within my own body. I was becoming 

bored with the dance body that I possessed, such that I 

needed some new input to add to my movement repertoire. 

These two ideas were reflected to me in the image of the 

dangdut audience, some of whom would dance without any 

seeming self-consciousness. Dangdut is a traditional pop form 

in Indonesia that is influenced by the musical cultures from the 

Arab, Indian and Malay worlds. 

37 38

Element#2 





The concept of my dangdut work was articulated through the term 

‘in-between space’. After hearing my explanation, Amin shared with 

me the concept of ‘liminality’, and ever since then I have been 

researching more on the term and its applications to my process. 

The work that I eventually presented was entitled ‘TubuhDang 

TubuhDut’ (DangBody DutBody), which had been presented at the 

Jejak tabi Festival in Yogyakarta in early July 2018. I tried to describe 

the structure and the staging of my work. In the beginning I used a 

video as a form of introduction, but many questions were raised, 

such as how important the video really was. Helly and Alfian 

emphasised the importance of the demographics of the audience 

that would be watching ‘TubuhDang TubuhDut’, the extent to which 

they could access dangdut as a form of shared cultural knowledge, 

and I was asked again my intention in creating the piece. 

On the 21-22 September I made my Dance Nucleus presentation; it 

was not just 4 of us who presented our works, but other artists as 

well. The presentation of ‘TubuhDang TubuhDut’ had the second slot 

on the schedule of 21 September 2018. It was a different experience 

from my initial showing in Yogyakarta. In Yogyakarta, around 90% of 

the audience was familiar with dangdut, such that the atmosphere 

was relaxed and people knew the context that was being addressed. 

In Singapore, the audience was less familiar with the dangdut form, 

so it was difficult to absorb the energy from the audience, even 

though there was at least someone who was swaying 

unselfconsciously to the music. The experience of the audience 

during the Dance Nucleus presentation was that they interpreted me 

as claiming my own personal space in my enjoyment of music and 

they were concerned about interrupting this world-abnegating 

self-absorption. Even though some of them did feel like joining in my 

interpretation of a state of ‘obliviousness’ to my surroundings. Daniel 

Kok felt that an important task of the work was to give the audience 

some context that I was exploring embodiment and mimicry, rather 

than merely presenting a ‘show’ for the audience. 

I had a week to prepare for the presentation on 21 to 22 September. 

From the 15-20 September the participants were left on their own to 

conduct independent research. In the beginning I used the studio for 

my rehearsals, but on the final day of our meeting, I decided to 

change my rehearsal space from the studio to public spaces such as 

the MRT, shopping malls, outdoor shopping areas such as the one at 

Bugis, on pedestrian walkways or intersections such as traffic light 

areas. Even though it was difficult to seek permission to dance in 

public from local security officers. At times I would dance without 

obtaining permission or in other words “play by ear”. But I would 

always survey the area beforehand, assessing whether it was safe for 

me to dance, as I was worried that I would be arrested by the police 

if they assumed that I was a lunatic. I eventually trained my 

confidence in dancing in public areas. The movements of dangdut 

audiences, often seen as embarrassing, often make me feel less 

confident, so I had to build up this confidence in public spaces. 

In addition to receiving great input for my work ‘TubuhDang TubuhDut’, I also also 

gained a lot of experience watching diverse presentations during this Dance 

Nucleus Residency. There were many forms of works which I had not seen before, 

and I enjoyed new experiences as both an audience member and as someone 

who is getting acquainted with the culture of art and dance-making in Singapore. 

Refer to page 36 for diagram 

39 40

Element#2 





About 

AYU PERMATA 

SARI 

From the Pepadun muslim tribe, born in Lampung 

(Sumatra), Ayu Permata Sari is the second child of 

Suherman and Zilhayah, with 3 other brothers. 

Ayu Permata Sari fell in loved with dance in 

primary school and joined in Cangget Budaya 

studio in North Lampung from 2000 until now. 

Between 2010 and 2014, Ayu moved to 

Yogyakarta to deepen her dance training at the 

Indonesian Art Institute of Yogyakarta Faculty of 

Performing Arts, Department of Dance Creation. 

She then continued with the Masters in Dance 

Creation programme in the same school from 

2014-2016. In 2016, she founded the Ayu 

Permata Dance Company in Yogyakarta 

establishing her own dance community in order to 

spur her creative drive. In 2017, Ayu was invited to 

an artist residency in Leuven (Belgium) for the 

Monsoon program in the Europhalia Festival. One 

of her works received the Bakti Service Charter 

Award at the Asia Technology Festival in Johor, 

Malaysia 2018. 

41 42

Element# 2 


Body Archive 

Body archive sebagai subjek utama dalam eksplorasi pencarian 

maksud dan identiti di sebalik tarian piring dan zapin. Di sini saya 

menghubungkan kedua-dua bentuk (form) ini dengan pergerakan 

silat. Memang secara dasar dan tunjang utama kedua bentuk tari 

ini adalah silat. Hal ini saya menghubungkan bentuk ini kepada 3 

serangkai. Tujuan utama dalam eksplorasi ini mencari garis 

BLURRED di antara 3 bentuk ini untuk di ketengahkan untuk 

memberi nafas baru kepada pergerakan itu. Pergerakan yang 

dimaksudkan adalah dari kosa kota gerak, artikulasi bentuk, idea, 

ruang dan image serta keseluruhan persembahan 

Bermulanya dengan apa yang hendak dieksplore, saya memilih 

karya stalemate iatu karya tradisi yang diberi nafas contemporary. 

Dalam penghasilan karya ini, saya terjemahkannya dalam bentuk 

yang lebih segar lebih kepada visual di dalam konteks 

persembahan. Apa yang saya maksudkan adalah dari segi kostum, 

props, artikulasi gerak dan juga penatacahayaan. Sebab yang 

kukuh kenapa saya memilih tari piring itu kerana ianya lebih dekat 

dngan saya kerana saya membesar dengan tari pring. 

oleh Fauzi Amiridin 

Dalam masa yang sama, saya cuba menghubungkan bentuk ini dengan zapin 

kerana bentuk ini mempunyai struktur yang boleh dikembangkan dan diberi nafas 

baru. Hal ini, kerana teras zapin dan tari piring itu sendiri adalah pergerakan asas 

silat. 

Apa yang cuba dirungkaikan dalam bentuk ini adalah mencari titik garis yang 

samar-samar dan BLURRED. Bagaimana ianya akan berubah bentuk yang lebih 

relevan dan terkini. Ianya lebih kepada INVESTIGATE the movement. 

Sepanjang proses diskusi dan perbincangan ianya bermula 

dengan topik iatu apakah menjadi practise based dan lineage 

pada sesorang performer/choreographer. Topik ini lebih kepada 

sharing session. Di dalam proses ini saya banyak memikirkan dan 

membicarakan tentang memori. Memori ini lebih kepada 

informasi tentang bagaimana saya bermula dan terlibat di dalam 

bidang seni. Selepas itu, ianya berkembang menjadi muscle 

memori di mana saya mengingati kesemua bentuk tari yang saya 

pelajari. Di dalam proses mencari identiti di dalam berkarya saya 

lebih memikirkan bagaimana pencarian gerak itu berlaku dalam 

bentuk improvisasi, komposisi dan koreografi. Bagi saya amat 

mudah dan tidak perlu berfikir tentang pergerakan apa yang 

hendak ditunjukkan tetapi lebih kepada imaginasi dan juga 

memori di dalam badan saya ketika bergerak. Apa yang saya 

sedar, proses research saya ini bermula dengan memori ingatan 

(tarikh bermula, lebih kepada informasi terdahulu) seterusnya 

kepada memori muscle( muscle memories) dan tujuan utama 

pada pencarian, eksplorasi adalah BODY ARCHIVE. 

Dalam perbincangan yang selanjutnya adalah, pelbagai 

persoalan yang telah diajukan. Seperti ekplorasi konsep, karya 

dan juga ideology itu ditahap mana? Apakah bahan 

rujukan(references) yang digunakan dalam research yang telah 

dibuat? Disini saya tertarik kepada memori performer. Di sini saya 

merujuk kepada diri sendiri begaimana tubuh badan(body 

archive, memory) saya sendiri telah mendalami (embodiement) 

setiap gaya tari yang dipelajari. Perkara ini menjadikan saya 

seorang yang peka (awareness) terhadap pergerakan yang 

dilakukan. Pergerakan yang dimaksudkan adalah ketika 

melakukan eksplorasi saya masih ingat gerak dasar tetapi saya 

memilih untuk bergerak di ruang blurred, di antara tradisi dan 

kontemporari. Dalam pada masa yang sama, saya cuba 

memikirkan identity saya sebagai seorang choreographer. 

Apakah peranan saya dalam mencari makna dan tujuan di ruang 

gap/ blurred itu sendiri. 

43 44

Element# 2 


BODY ARCHIVE 

by Fauzi Amiridin 

Seterusnya dengan perbincangan yang lebih mendalam apa yang 

perlu diutamakan. Apa yang dimaksudkan adalah dari segi IDEA, 

IMAGINASI (konsep, struktur persembahan) PROSES, eksplorasi 

kupasan dan terakhir PERSEMBAHAN, presentation. Bahagian 

yang sangat penting dan lebih kepada pwmbentukan sesebuah 

karya. Dengan adanya Guideline dan method seperti ini sejauh 

manakah tahap eksplorasi saya ketika ini. Dalam menjawab 

persoalan ini, saya juga terfikir identitiy saya sebagai seorang 

pengkarya. Tentunya dalam berkarya saya lebih memilh kepada 

pemerhatian, penilaian(observation) , eksplorasi gerak dan tools 

yang digunakan dalam koreografi. Di sini saya membuat satu 

guideline kepada diri sendiri aitu kosa kata gerak saya lebih kepada 

Grounded( lower level, lebih kepada membumi) bentuk artikulasi 

lebih mengalir, keras dan paling penting adalah pernafasan sebagai 

tunjang dalam proses ini. Saya mememilih memori saya sebagai 

panduan dan juga tubuh badan (Body Archive) iatu dari ritual, 

bentuk persembahan dan seterusnya ke bentuk yang lebih 

eksperimental. 

Di sini saya meletakkan beberapa KEYWORD dalam proses research 

saya iaitu, 

identiti 

tubuh badan 

memori 

Ruang, bentuk 

keseimbangan badan 

tari piring dan zapin serta silat 

negeri sembilan 

pernafasan 

Di dalam keyword ini lah saya telah membuat eksplorasi dengan 

memilih konsep BLURRED sebagai eksplorasi dari sudut apa 

sahaja. 

Selanjutnya memilih terus bahasa tubuh (body archive) sebagai 

rumah (home) dari segi konsepsual dalam proses niat mencari 

identity dan memberi nafas baru dalam sesuatu gerak tanpa lari 

dari tujuan asal. Sejauh mana eksplorasi tubuh badan (body) itu 

sendiri pasti akan ingat(memori) semua practise yang telah di 

embodiement. Dalam langkah seterusnya, mencari sesuatu yang 

fresh(segar) dari segi feeling dan movement di ruang 

persembahan.tersebut. bagaimana body akan react dengan task 

yang diberikan ketika di ruang persembahan. Selain itu juga, apa 

yang diakseskan kepada penonton dan diri sendiri juga penting 

bagaimana konsep yang Blurred itu dipersembahan kan. Disini 

kita akan melihat sejauh mana tubuh badan itu lari dari ruang yang 

selamat. (avoid from confort zone). Selain itu, kalau ingin bergerak 

dan berubah apa yang perlu difikirkan dengn memikirkan sesuatu 

yang ada tapi tiada. Cuba untuk break the boundaries tapi tidak 

sampai berubah. Dalam pada masa yang sama menghargai 

kesamaan dari segi ideology atau bentuk bersifat dalaman 

(pernafasan, artikulasi pergerakan). Seterusnya mencipta sesuatu 

garis di antara konsep blurred(pergerakan dan bentuk). Apakah 

yang akan terjadi jika eksplorasi itu lebih organik serta adanya 

inbalance dari segi kedua-dua konsep blurred ini akan membuat 

kan persembahan atau eksplorasi itu lebih fresh. Dan yang terakhir, 

memasukkan teknik chance yang lebih bersifat spontan, dalam 

presentation kali ini. Bagaimana konsep Blurred ini dimasukkan dari 

segi perlihatan dan pandangan, bentuk, ruang, bahasa, kuasa dan 

identity. 

45 46

Element# 2 


Pre-Presentasi 

BODY ARCHIVE 


Semasa di dalam proses ini, saya tidak cuba mengingat keseluruhan tari piring itu 

sendiri. Ianya lebih kepada struktur dan koreografi di atas kertas dan juga 

imaginasi. 

Post presentasi 

Banyak feedback yang saya dapat di dalam presentasi kali ini dan banyak 

persoalan yang saya dapat. Hal ini membuatkan saya berfikir untuk melanjutkan 

lagi research saya tentang tari piring dan juga body archive. 

Semua ini lebih kepada perasaan dan juga persediaan tubuh badan dalam 

melakukan persembahan. Pada ketika ini juga saya tidak banyak menumpukan 

kepada piring itu sendiri. 

Presentation 

Ianya bermula dengan pergerakan pergelangan tangan dimana pada bahagian ini 

merupakan penghubung kepada piring dan tubuh. 

Pada ketika ini, memori lama tentang tari piring berlegar di 

dalam fikiran saya. Ianya lebih memikirkan keywords yang telah 

kita bincang semasa di dalam studio. Dalam masa yang sama 

juga, saya mula memegang dan cuba bereksplorasi dengan 

piring. Semasa prose situ berlaku saya dapati, skill dan juga 

pergerakan saya agak terbatas dan tidak lancar. Ianya 

menampakkan saya tidak tahu apa-apa tentang pergerakan 

tari piring. Tetapi lama-kelamaan, dengan fikiran yang 

berimaginasi tentang memori dan kinestetik memori dan 

muscle memori tentang tari piring, akhirnya saya 

mengambalikan skill dan juga melancarkan pergerakan piring di 

tubuh saya. Dalam masa itu juga, saya mengingatkan kembali 

tentang kesakitan dan kepayahan ketika mempelajari tarian ini.. 

saya mengambil semiotic perasaan itu kepada pergerakan 

dengan menghempaskan tubuh ke lantai berulang-ulang kali. 

Phrasa yang terakhir di dalam presentasi kali ini adalah saya 

mengawal dan bermain dengan piring dengan olahan badan 

serta apungan dan lambungan piring. Di sini saya menciptakan 

pergerakan yang lebih kepada BLURRED dan peersoalan 

kepada tubuh badan saya sendiri. 

47 48

Element# 2 


Body Archive 

Body archive was the main subject in my exploration of the 

meaning and identity behind the dance forms of tari piring (saucer 

dance originating from the Minangkabau people) and zapin (a 

Malay dance form with Arab influences). I linked these two forms 

with the movements of silat (a martial arts form). Fundamentally, 

the main basis for these two dances is silat. My main objective in 

this exploration is to find the ‘blurred’ space between these three 

forms and to breathe new life into those movements. The 

‘movements’ referred to include movement vocabulary, 

articulation of form, idea, space and image as well as the totality 

of the performance. 

The starting point of my exploration was one of my works called 

‘stalemate’ which was a traditional dance piece that was given a 

contemporary treatment. In creating this work, I interpreted tari 

piring using a more unconventional approach by paying close 

attention to its visual aspects. Specifically in terms of the 

costumes, props, movement articulation and also lighting design. 

But the crux of why I chose to base my dance on tari piring is 

because I grew up and was trained in that particular form. 


At the same time, I tried to connect tari piring with zapin because they had 

structures that could be elaborated and creatively reinterpreted. This is because 

the core movements in zapin and tari piring are also the basic movements in silat. 

What I am trying to discover are the points and lines which are vague and ‘blurred’. 

And how these can create forms that are more relevant and contemporary. 

As part of the process of discussion, we began with the topic of 

what it meant to be practise-based and also the lineage attached 

to a performer/choreographer. These topics were explored during 

our sharing sessions. During the process I reflected a lot on the 

issue of memory. These memories are related to the process by 

which I first become involved in the arts. And then it evolved into 

discussions on muscle memory, in which I recalled the various 

forms of dance that I have studied. In the process of finding my 

identity through my work, I thought about how my search for 

movements forms took the form of improvisations, composition 

and choreography. Personally, I don’t over-think about what 

movements to show when I move, but am guided more by my 

imagination and also the memories in my body. What I realised 

was that my research process began with memory (the starting 

date of my encounter with the dance) and then on to muscle 

memories and then narrowed down to the main objective of my 

search, which is the exploration of a ‘body archive’. 

In our subsequent discussions, various questions were raised, 

like how far we were into our respective explorations into the 

concepts and ideologies informing our works. What were the 

reference materials that we had used for our research? I was 

especially drawn to the notion of the performer’s memories. This 

is specifically with reference to my own self and how my own 

body (as an archive) has recorded, and stored for retrieval, every 

dance form that I have learnt. This has made me more aware of 

each movement that I produce. These movements are based on 

those which I remember but which I choose to reproduce in a 

‘blurred’ space, between the space of tradition and the space of 

the contemporary. At the same time, I tried to think of my own 

identity as a choreographer. What is my role in finding the 

meaning and purpose in that ‘blurred’ gap? 

49 50

Element# 2 


Pre-Presentation 

BODY ARCHIVE 


During the process, I did not try to memorise the entirety of the tari piring dance. I 

relied more on its structure and choreography on paper as well as my own 

imagination. All of this was geared towards the feelings of my body and the body 

preparing for the performance. At that time I did not pay much attention to the 

saucers. 

Post Presentation 

There was a lot of feedback that I received from this presentation and many other 

questions as well. This has made me think more deeply on how I should continue 

in my research on the tari piring and also the body as an archive. 

Presentation 

I began with wrist movements as the wrists are important points of connection and 

articulation between the saucer and the body. 

AbouT 

FAUZI AMIRIDIN 

At this time, old memories about the tari piring played in my 

mind. They gravitated towards the keywords that we had 

discussed in the studio. While this was happening, I began to 

hold the saucers and began my exploration with them. During 

the process I found that my skill and movements were quite 

limited and not smooth. It seemed as if I did not know anything 

about tari piring. But gradually, as I thought about and imagined 

the memories—kinesthetic and muscle memories—attached to 

the tari piring, eventually my aptitude returned to me and I was 

able to execute the movements with greater ease and fluency. 

At the same time, I recalled the pain and difficulties I had faced 

while learning the dance. I turned that emotion into a sign—in 

which I smashed my body against the floor repeatedly. The final 

phase in this presentation this time was when I tried to control 

and play with my body’s balance while juggling with and 

throwing the saucers. Here I created movements that tried to 

conform to the concept of ‘blurred’ while asking questions 

about my own body. 

Fauzi is currently a principal dancer at ASK Dance 

Company (ADC). His achievements include representing 

Malaysia at the World Championship of Performing Arts 

(WCOPA) at Los Angeles in 2011 and won 3 gold 

medals. In 2014, he also won the BOH Cameronian Arts 

Award for “Best Choreographer” in a mixed bill for his 

work 2 by 2 produced by ADC. Fauzi produced and 

choreographed his production Pit –Stop, an evening of 

his own choreography in 2015. In 2016, Fauzi was 

selected to represent Malaysia as part of top Japanese 

choreographer Un Yamada’s double bill showcasing her 

professional troupe and rising Malaysian dancers. They 

trained rigorously in Japan for One Piece; and in 2017, 

he was invited again to join Un Yamada Dance Co. to 

perform her piece A City Without Seasons at Tokyo. 

Recently, he took part in International Young 

Choreographer Project 2017 (IYCP) in Taiwan this year 

and performed in 3 Faces for the Vietnam International 

Dance Festival 2017. In 2017, he was selected as one of 

the Top 10 Cultural Dancers by Top 10 Magazine. 

51 52

Element#2 


Lenggang Sebagai Permulaan 

sebuah Penelitian dan 

Praktek Tarian Lintas GendeR 

Lenggang 

Saya ingin tahu bagaimana 

frasa gerakan seperti pejalan kaki ini, 

dapat dengan segera memberikan informasi 

genre, jenis kelamin, kebangsaan, sejarah, tempat. 

Ada sesuatu yang lebih dari yang terjadi 

di tengah-tengah cairnya ayunan lengan, 

pejalan kaki mengangkat kaki-kaki mereka, 

artikulasi jari-jari yang rumit, 

goyangan halus dan pengendalian gerakan-gerakan pinggul. 

Pertukaran berbagai ekspresi antara 

pasangan pria dan wanita 

kegembiraan bertemu seorang 

mitra potensial seumur hidup, 

pertemuan pertama yang berangsur-angsur berubah 

saat-saat yang tidak menyenangkan menjadi kisah yang 

sudah dikenal 

dalam pacaran di dunia Melayu. 

Refer to page x for original text in English. 

oleh Soultari Amin Farid 

1 

Bagian-bagian dari makalah ini telah diadaptasi dari penelitian Pembimbing (Mohd Farid 2016) dan PhD (yang akan 

datang). 

1 

Saya mengambil residensi dengan niat ambisius untuk 

menyelidiki Lenggang, sebuah frasa gerakan khas yang 

ditemukan dalam berbagai genre tari Melayu seperti Asli, 

Inang dan Masri. Keingintahuan saya tentang topik itu 

muncul ketika saya berbincang dengan salah satu junior tari 

saya tentang Lenggang. Ketika mencoba untuk menemukan 

satu kata bahasa Inggris yang setara dengan Lenggang, 

saya menyadari bahwa kami tidak dapat melakukannya. 

Mengapa? Karena dalam gerakan kontralateral "seperti 

berjalan" ini, terkadang dalam kasus Asli, frase gerakan yang 

penuh dengan simbolisme yang mengomplekskan dan 

mentransendensikan tujuan fungsionalnya hanya 

representasi belaka dari "berjalan". 

Di tengah cairnya gerakan berbagai anggota tubuh, dan ritmik pengangkatan kaki 

pada ketukan perkusi drum tradisional Melayu, terdapat konvensi yang melekat 

pada gender, kebangsaan, sopan santun dan tabu. Oleh karena itu, menurut 

pendapat saya, penyederhanaan frasa gerakan ke dalam kata-kata itu sendiri 

adalah suatu tindakan yang tidak tepat. 

Saya memiliki pertanyaan yang lebih banyak seperti bagaimana cara kita 

membedakan Lenggang Malaysia, Indonesia dan Singapura? Apa yang membuat 

Lenggang sangat berbeda? Jika menggunakan contoh-contoh dari Era Emas 

perfilman Melayu, bagaimana perkembangan Lenggang saat ini? 

Berbekal dengan rasa keingintahuan ini, saya berdiskusi dengan sesama residen, 

Haizad, Fauzi dan Ayu, serta pembimbing kami, Helly Minarti dan Alfian Saat, 

tentang topik ini. Melalui diskusi intensif tentang praktik bentuk-bentuk, 

mempertanyakan identitas, proses transmisi dan peran para gatekeeper, 

sangatlah menarik untuk melihat bagaimana kerangka pikir saya dan pertanyaan 

awal saya pun berubah. Saya memutuskan untuk merenungkan sedikit lebih 

keras tentang pengalaman saya sebagai penari di dunia seni lokal. 

53 54

Element#2 


Lenggang Sebagai 

Permulaan sebuah 

Penelitian dan Praktek 


Saya bertanya-tanya tentang diri saya yang unik dalam pementasan Lenggang 

terutama karena saya berpendapat bahwa sifat feminin saya memberikan akses 

dan kompetensi untuk melakukan variasi gender dari "Lenggang". Pada saat yang 

sama melalui pandangan sebagai penari dan koreografer dalam dunia seni tari 

Melayu Singapura, saya sangat mengetahui konvensi dan tabu tentang bagaimana 

Lenggang seharusnya dilakukan. Isu gender menjadi penting karena konvensi 

gender yang kaku dan narasi heteronormatif tentang pacaran antara remaja pria 

dan wanita. 

Saya menunjukkan beberapa contoh dari buku-buku panduan tari yang diterbitkan 

pada awal 60-an tentang tarian sosial Melayu dan tarian pasangan yang 

dikoreografikan. Di dalam buku tersebut, notasi dari ikon sepatu ballroom 

menunjukkan tempat di mana kaki harus bergerak tetapi tidak ada indikasi tentang 

bagaimana anggota tubuh bagian atas seharusnya diletakkan. Namun, deskripsi 

gerakan tangan dan lengan ditulis sebagai teks. 

Salah satu buku petunjuk berjudul “Chara Menari Ronggeng 

dan Mak Inang” (1965), memberikan contoh ini. Di dalam 

buku itu tertulis bahwa, 

Diharapkan bahwa Lenggang wanita dapat menunjukkan 

kualitas seorang perempuan Melayu yang ideal yang sopan, 

rapuh dan berhati-hati dari setiap gerakannya. Dia 

mengambil ruang yang lebih kecil sehingga gerakannya 

tidak boleh besar (tidak sebesar rekan prianya), dia tidak 

melihat langsung ke arah rekan prianya tetapi dapat 

memperlihatkan tatapan sesekali - sebagian besar matanya 

diarahkan ke bawah. Pinggul merupakan asetnya yang 

paling penting, dia mengendalikannya dan melakukan 

manuver sesuka hati - sejauh mana gerakan pinggulnya 

akan memberikan gambaran yang dikenakan padanya. 

Gerakan pinggul halus menggambarkan wanita suci, lain 

kata gerakan kuat yang dapat memberi kesan seorang 

Lenggang pria mengabil ruang yang lebih besar dengan 

ayunan lengan yang lebih lebar dan gerakan telapak kaki 

yang agresif. Dia memusatkan perhatian pada rekan 

wanitanya yang memberikan kesan bahwa rekan wanita 

tersebut adalah ‘apel dari matanya’ (wanita yang 

dicintainya). Gerakannya berkisar dari gerakan tajam yang 

ditemukan dalam Silat, seni bela diri Melayu, dan berubah 

menjadi cair ketika ia mengkomunikasikan kasih sayangnya 

kepada rekan wanitanya melalui gerakan-gerakan dekoratif 

yang menggambarkan mekarnya bunga. 

“Saat menari tolong jangan biarkan tangan menjadi kaku. 

Menari berarti bergerak dengan seluruh tubuh dengan 

anggun. Jadi ketika kita bergerak maju dengan kaki kanan, 

tangan kanan harus bergoyang ke belakang, seolah berjalan. 

Tangan kiri kemudian harus bergoyang ke depan, ketika kaki 

berada di depan seperti yang disebutkan. Saat bergoyang 

tangan, bahu harus mengikuti arah tangan yang bergoyang. 

Setiap kali kita mengayunkan tangan kita, pastikan tangan 

ditekuk sedikit. Jangan membuatnya terlalu lurus, sehingga 

2 

tidak terlihat kaku.” (2) 

Selain itu, disarankan juga bahwa, “langkah-langkah para 

wanita mirip dengan para pria. Satu-satunya perbedaan 

adalah ketika langkah awal pria berada di sebelah kanan, 

para wanita akan mundur ke belakang. Wanita perlu 

3 

melakukan tarian dengan anggun”. 

2 

“Waktu menari jangan-lah di-biarkan tangan kita kaku sahaja. Menari bererti bergerak dengan keadaan seluruh tuboh 

kita lemah-gemalai. Jadi apabila kita maju sa-langkah ka-hadapan dengan kaki kanan kita pula hendaklah di-hayunkan 

ka-belakang, sa-akan2 kita berjalan. Tangan kiri pula hendak-lah di-hayunkan ka-hadapan menurut langkah kaki 

kanan ka-hadapan tadi. Waktu menghayunkan tangan, bahu kita hendak-lah ikut ka-arah tangan yang di-hayunkan. 

Apabila kita menghayunkan tangan biar-lah tangan kita di-bengkokkan sadikit. Jangan terlampau lurus, supaya tidak 

kelihatan kaku” 

3 

“Gerak langkah bagi penari perempuan pun sama juga dengan gerak langkah untok lelaki. Hanya yang berlainan ia-lah 

apabila lelaki memajukan langkah pertama ka-hadapan dengan kaki kanan, penari perempuan mundor dengan kaki 

kiri sa-langkah ka-belakang. Hendak-nya penari perempuan melakukan tarian ini dengan lemah lembut”(2) 

55 56

Element#2 






Ethnochoreolog, Mohd Anis Mohd Nor (1993) menulis, 

“Dalam semua jenis tarian sosial Melayu penari laki-laki tidak diizinkan menari 

seperti perempuan. Keindahan tari Melayu menempatkan penari laki-laki sebagai 

pelindung dan pendukung penari perempuan. Meskipun tangan mereka tidak 

saling bersentuhan, pasangan menari memberi kesan bahwa ada pemahaman 

melalui eksekusi gerakan dalam tarian. Kompetensi penari laki-laki terletak pada 

gaya tingkah laku yang bangga dan gagah dan tidak meniru keanggunan wanita ... 

Langkah-langkah dan gerakan pergelangan tangan penari pria diperbesar dengan 

kedua tangan terbuka lebar ke sisi tubuh dan bergoyang seolah mencoba 

mempertahankan ruang dansanya agar tidak diterobos oleh para pesaingnya”. (33) 

4 

Saya menggunakan kata-kata ilmiah Mohd Nor untuk memikirkan apa artinya 

melakukan Lenggang secara holistik (bukan hanya konsentrasi gerakan kaki) dan 

pada saat yang sama mengkritisi bentuk dengan pengalaman unik saya sendiri 

dalam melakukan Lenggang. Saya bertanya apakah deskripsi Mohd Nor tentang 

kinerja gender-kaku dalam tarian sosial dan seni tari Melayu menyediakan ruang 

bagi seseorang yang tidak selalu setuju dengan penerapan tingkah laku gender 

yang kaku di tubuh. 

Saya mungkin setuju dengan peran gender yang kaku ketika pasangan menari 

bersama-sama tetapi dalam kasus seorang penari laki-laki diperbolehkan menari 

solo (yang sebenarnya bukan konvensi dalam tarian Melayu karena sebagian besar 

tarian dilakukan secara kolektif), bukan seharusnya tidak ada konsesi untuk inklusi 

gerakan yang dapat dianggap "perempuan" tanpa harus dianggap sebagai tabu? 

Selain itu, jika tindakan seperti itu dilihat sebagai pelanggaran, lalu di mana kah kita 

menempatkan tradisi pertunjukan yang didasarkan pada seni kinerja dan tata rias 

lintas gender? 

4 

“Dalam kesemua jenis tari pergaulan Melayu penari lelaki pula tidak dibolehkan menari seperti seorang wanita. 

Keanggunan tari Melayu telah meletakkan mertabat penari lelaki sabagai pelindung serta pendamping penari wanita. 

Walaupun masing-masing tangan tidak bersentuhan dengan bahagian tubuh penari saingan, kedua-kedua penari 

seolah-olah kelihatan bersefahaman dalam perlaksanaaan gerak dalam tari. Kejaguhan penari lelaki terletak kepada 

gaya kelakuan yang megah dan jantan dan tidak yang meniru keayuan gemulai wanita. … Langkah dan lengangan 

tangan penari lelaki sentiasa menguak dengan membuka lebar-lebar kedua tangan ke samping tubuh beserta hayunan 

seolah-olah mengepung ruang tarinya dari di cerebohi oleh lawan…” 

57 58

Element#2 






Cross-dressing dalam sebuah pertunjukan adalah hal umum 

dalam tarian dan teater dunia Melayu. Pertunjukan komunitas 

kerabat seperti komunitas etnis di Jawa, memiliki contoh cairnya 

gender. Ethnomusicolog, Christina Sunardi, memberikan contoh 

historis dari pertunjukan-pertunjukan ini di awal Indonesia dalam 

bukunya, “Stunning Males and Powerful Female: Gender and 

Tradition in East Javanese Dance”, daftar kebiasaan laki-laki yang 

melakukan peran perempuan di Ludruk, teater Jawa Timur yang 

populer; laki-laki yang memperankan perempuan dalam tarian 

Banyuwangi abad ke-19 yang disebut Seblang; tradisi laki-laki 

yang menampilkan tarian perempuan Jawa Tengah dari abad 

Saya melihat peran saya sebagai provokator penting untuk terus 

mengguncang kaidah-kaidah gender yang kaku yang telah 

menghambat pemahaman inklusif terhadap bentuk-bentuk seni 

yang mendukung pertunjukan dan pakaian lintas gender. Oleh 

karena itu dengan adanya penggabungan bahan arsip dan 

penyelidikan, adalah relevan bagi saya untuk terus bekerja dan 

mengeksplorasi batas-batas yang membatasi apresiasi kita untuk 

gagasan-gagasan alternatif dan cara kerja yang “berbeda”. 

Hal ini merupakan teka-teki yang rumit. Saya memunculkan isu 

cross-dressing karena ini adalah tindakan yang melibatkan 

perwujudan karakter / gaya gerakan lawan jenis (penari laki-laki 

yang mewujudkan karakter/tingkah laku wanita atau penari 

wanita yang mewujudkan karakter/tingkah laku laki-laki). 

Indonesia dan Malaysia telah menghasilkan kepribadian laki-laki 

yang dikenal karena tindakan tari lintas gender dan/ atau perilaku 

kefemininan mereka: Didik Nini Thowok; Rianto; dan Rosnan 

Abdul Rahman. 

Setelah residensi intensif tersebut, saya sempat memikirkan tentang materi 

penelitian yang saya peroleh untuk penelitian ini. Saya merefleksikan mengapa 

saya sangat fokus pada Lenggang, terutama ketika menari solo, tidak relevan bagi 

saya untuk menggunakan frase gerakan ketika saya berimprovisasi. Saya 

menyadari segera setelah itu saya menggunakan Lenggang sebagai objek analisis 

untuk memikirkan apa artinya bagi tubuh Unik untuk mewujudkan 

peran/pertunjukan gender yang kaku dan bagaimana sifat tubuh Unik dapat 

menantang batas-batas ini. Saya melihat pembelajaran Lenggang sebagai 

pengetahuan dasar yang diajarkan kepada penari amatir dan dalam pembelajaran 

frasa gerakan, proses transmisi diisi dengan pengetahuan tentang norma-norma 

gender dalam tarian. 

Sumber/Referensi 

Hamzah, Daud. “Chara Menari Ronggeng dan Mak Inang [Ways to Dance the 

Ronggeng and Mak Inang]”, Penerbitan Federal, 1965. 

Mohd Farid, Muhd Noramin. “Serampang Dua Belas: Discourses of Identity in the 

Contemporary Practice of a Malay Courtship Dance in Sumatra.” Master Thesis, 

Roehampton University, 2016. 

Mohd Farid, Muhd Noramin. “Tarian Melayu: Negotiating Social Memory and 

Constructing a Community through the Nation-State of Singapore.” PhD Thesis, 

Royal Holloway, University of London, Forthcoming. 

Mohd Nor, Mohd Anis. “Lenggang dan liuk dalam tari pergaulan Melayu.” Tirai 

Panggung, vol. 1, 1993. 

Sunardi, Christina. “Stunning Males and Powerful Females: Gender and Tradition 

in East Javanese Dance.” U of Illinois P, 2015. 

59 60

Element#2 


The Lenggang as Entry into 

Cross-Gender Performance 

1 

Research and Practice 

The Lenggang 

I was curious how 

this pedestrian-like movement phrase, 

immediately provides information of 

genre, gender, nationality, history, place. 

There is something more that is happening 

amidst the fluid swinging of arms, 

the pedestrian lifting of feet, 

the intricate articulation of fingers, 

the subtle swaying and controlling of hip motions. 

The expressions exchanged between 

the male and female partner 

the excitement of meeting a 

potential life-time partner, 

the first meeting that gradually turns 

bashful moments into a familiar story 

of courtship in the Malay world. 

by Soultari Amin Farid 

I came into the residency with the ambitious intention of 

investigating about the Lenggang, a typical movement 

phrase found in various Malay dance genres such as the 

Asli, Inang and Masri. My curiosity on the subject came 

about when I had a conversation with one of my dance 

juniors about the Lenggang. While attempting to find a good 

one-word English equivalent to the Lenggang, I realise that 

we were unable to do so. Why? Because inherent in this 

“walking-like” contralateral motion, at times lateral in the 

case of Asli, it is a movement phrase that is steeped with 

symbolisms that complexifies and transcends its functional 

purpose of just a mere dancing representation of “walking”. 

Amidst the fluid movement of limbs, and the rhythmic lifting of feet according to 

the percussive beats of the Malay traditional drum, there lies inherent conventions 

of gender, nationality, decorum and the taboo. Hence to simplify the movement 

phrase into the economy of words is in itself, I argue, an act of violence. 

I had larger questions such as how do we differentiate the Malaysian, Indonesian 

and Singaporean Lenggang? What makes the Lenggang very different? If drawing 

upon examples from the Golden Era of Malay film, how has the Lenggang evolved 

today? 

Armed with these loaded curiosities, I shared them with my fellow residents, 

Haizad, Fauzi and Ayu, as well as our mentors, Helly Minarti and Alfian Saat, about 

this topic. Through the intensive discussions about the practice of our forms, 

questioning identity, transmission processes and the role of gatekeepers, it was 

fascinating to see how my frame of mind and initial question has changed. I 

decided to ponder a little harder about my experience as a dancer in the local art 

world. 

1 

Parts of this paper has been adapted from my Master (Mohd Farid 2016) and PhD research (Forthcoming). 

61 62

Element#2 


The Lenggang as Entry 

into Cross-Gender 

Performance Research 

and Practice 

by Soultari Amin Farid 

I questioned about my queer self in performing the Lenggang 

especially since I contend that my effeminate nature gives me 

access and competency to perform the gendered variations 

of the “Lenggang”. At the same time via an emic lens as a 

dancer and choreographer within the Singapore Malay 

dance art world, I am very informed about the conventions 

and taboos of how the Lenggang should and should not be 

performed. The issue of gender takes prominence because 

of its gender-rigid conventions and the heteronormative 

narrative of the courtship between an adolescent man and 

woman. 

It is expected that the female Lenggang demonstrates the 

qualities of an ideal Malay woman who is demure, fragile and 

cautious of her every movement. She consumes smaller 

spaces thus her movement should not be big, i.e. not as big 

as her male counterpart, she does not look directly at him 

but offers occasional glances of interest -- most times her 

eyes are directed downwards. Her hips are her most 

important asset, she controls it and manoeuvres it at will – 

the extent of her hip motion provides labels to be imposed 

on her. The subtle hip motions depict a chaste woman as 

oppose to vigorous motions which may give the impression 

of a woman who is wild and flirtatious. 

I showed examples later from dance manual books published in the early 60s of 

Malay social dances and choreographed couple dances. Within the book, notation 

of ballroom shoe icons showed where the feet should move but there was no 

indication about how the upper limbs should be. Instead the descriptions of hand 

and arms gestures are written as text. 

One of the manuals entitled “Chara Menari Ronggeng dan 

Mak Inang” (1965), provides this example. In the book it is 

written that, 

“when dancing please do not allow hands to be stiff. 

Dancing means to move with the whole body gracefully. So 

when we move forward with right feet, the right hand must 

sway to the back, as if walking. The left then must sway to 

the front, when the feet is in front as mentioned. When 

swaying hands, the shoulder must follow the direction of the 

hand that is swaying. Whenever we sway our hands, ensure 

2 

that the hands are bent a little bit. Do not make it too straight, 

2 

so that it does not look stiff.” (2) 

In addition, it is advised too that, “the steps of the ladies are 

similar to that of the gentlemen. The only difference is when 

the gentlemen’s initial step forward is on the right, the ladies 

will step left backwards. It is necessary that the ladies 

3 

perform the dance gracefully” (2). 

The male Lenggang is executed big with wider swinging 

arms and rigorous feet motions. He focuses is vision on his 

female counterpart giving the impression that she is the 

apple of his eye. His movements ranges from the sharp 

motions found in Silat, Malay martial arts, and turns fluid 

when he communicates his affections to her through floral 

gestures depicting the blossoming of flowers. 

2 

“Waktu menari jangan-lah di-biarkan tangan kita kaku sahaja. Menari bererti bergerak dengan keadaan seluruh tuboh 

kita lemah-gemalai. Jadi apabila kita maju sa-langkah ka-hadapan dengan kaki kanan kita pula hendaklah di-hayunkan 

ka-belakang, sa-akan2 kita berjalan. Tangan kiri pula hendak-lah di-hayunkan ka-hadapan menurut langkah kaki 

kanan ka-hadapan tadi. Waktu menghayunkan tangan, bahu kita hendak-lah ikut ka-arah tangan yang di-hayunkan. 

Apabila kita menghayunkan tangan biar-lah tangan kita di-bengkokkan sadikit. Jangan terlampau lurus, supaya tidak 

kelihatan kaku” (2) 

3 

“Gerak langkah bagi penari perempuan pun sama juga dengan gerak langkah untok lelaki. Hanya yang berlainan ia-lah 

apabila lelaki memajukan langkah pertama ka-hadapan dengan kaki kanan, penari perempuan mundor dengan kaki 

kiri sa-langkah ka-belakang. Hendak-nya penari perempuan melakukan tarian ini dengan lemah lembut” (2) 

63 64

Element#2 






Ethnochoreolog, Mohd Anis Mohd Nor (1993) menulis, 

“in all types of social Malay dance the male dancer is not permitted to dance like a 

woman. The beauty of Malay dance posits the male dancer as the protector and 

supporter of the female dancer. Even though their hands don’t touch each other, 

the dancing couple gives the impression that there is an understanding through the 

execution of movement in dance. The competency of the male dancer lies in the 

style of mannerism that is proud and manly and does not mimic the gracefulness 

of the woman… The steps and wrist motions of the male dancer is enlarged with 

the both hands opened widely to the sides of the body and swaying as if trying to 

4 

defend his dance space from being invaded upon by his competitors” (33). 

Cross-dressing in performance is a common occurrence in the 

dance and theatre of the Malay world. Performances of kindred 

communities such as the ethnic communities in Java, have gender 

fluid examples. Ethnomusicologist, Christina Sunardi, provides a 

historical sampling of these performances in early Indonesia in her 

book, “Stunning Males and Powerful Females: Gender and 

Tradition in East Javanese Dance”, listing the customs of males 

performing female roles in Ludruk, an East Javanese popular 

theatre; males personating females in a 19th century Banyuwangi 

dance called Seblang; the tradition of males performing central 

Javanese female court dances from the 18th century till the 20th 

century; and the possibility of females performing male characters 

in the masked dance of Cirebon, just to name a few (20-21). 

I use Mohd Nor’s scholarly words to think through what it means to perform the 

Lenggang in holistic manner (rather than just concentration of foot movements) and 

at same time critiquing the form with my own embodied queer experience of 

enacting the Lenggang. I ask whether Mohd Nor’s description of the gender-rigid 

performance in social and art dance of Malay dancing provides space for someone 

who does not necessarily agree with the imposition of rigid gender mannerisms on 

the body. 

I may agree to the rigid gender roles when a couple dances together but in cases 

when a male dancer is allowed to dance solo (which is actually not a convention in 

Malay dance since most dances are performed collectively), should not there be 

concessions for the inclusions of movements which may be deemed “female” 

without having it be relegated as taboo? In addition, If such an act is seen as a 

transgression, then where do we place performance traditions which predicated on 

art of cross-gender performance and dressing? 

4 

“Dalam kesemua jenis tari pergaulan Melayu penari lelaki pula tidak dibolehkan menari seperti seorang wanita. 

Keanggunan tari Melayu telah meletakkan mertabat penari lelaki sabagai pelindung serta pendamping penari wanita. 

Walaupun masing-masing tangan tidak bersentuhan dengan bahagian tubuh penari saingan, kedua-kedua penari 

seolah-olah kelihatan bersefahaman dalam perlaksanaaan gerak dalam tari. Kejaguhan penari lelaki terletak kepada 

gaya kelakuan yang megah dan jantan dan tidak yang meniru keayuan gemulai wanita. … Langkah dan lengangan 

tangan penari lelaki sentiasa menguak dengan membuka lebar-lebar kedua tangan ke samping tubuh beserta hayunan 

seolah-olah mengepung ruang tarinya dari di cerebohi oleh lawan…” (33) 

This is definitely a complex conundrum. I bring up the issue of 

cross-dressing because it is an act which entails the embodying of 

a character/movement style of the opposite sex (male dancer 

embodying a female character/mannerism or female dancer 

embodying a male character/mannerism). Indonesia and Malaysia 

have produced male personalities who are known for their 

cross-gender and/or effeminate dance acts: Didik Nini Thowok; 

Rianto; and Rosnan Abdul Rahman. 

After the intensive residency, I had time to think about the research 

materials I have acquired for this investigation. I critically reflected 

on why I am very focus on the Lenggang, especially when in 

solo-dancing, it is not pertinent for me to employ the movement 

phrase when I am improvising. I realized soon after that I was using 

the Lenggang as an object of analysis to think through what it 

means for the Queer body to embody rigid gender 

roles/performance and how the nature of the Queer body may 

challenge these boundaries. I see the learning of the Lenggang as 

foundational knowledge taught to amateur dancers and in the 

learning of the movement phrase, the transmission process is filled 

with knowledge about the gender norms in the dance. 

65 66

Element#2 






Saya melihat peran saya sebagai provokator penting untuk terus 

mengguncang kaidah-kaidah gender yang kaku yang telah 

menghambat pemahaman inklusif terhadap bentuk-bentuk seni 

yang mendukung pertunjukan dan pakaian lintas gender. Oleh 

karena itu dengan adanya penggabungan bahan arsip dan 

penyelidikan, adalah relevan bagi saya untuk terus bekerja dan 

mengeksplorasi batas-batas yang membatasi apresiasi kita untuk 

gagasan-gagasan alternatif dan cara kerja yang “berbeda”. 

Sumber/Referensi 

Hamzah, Daud. “Chara Menari Ronggeng dan Mak Inang [Ways to Dance the 

Ronggeng and Mak Inang]”, Penerbitan Federal, 1965. 

Mohd Farid, Muhd Noramin. “Serampang Dua Belas: Discourses of Identity in the 

Contemporary Practice of a Malay Courtship Dance in Sumatra.” Master Thesis, 

Roehampton University, 2016. 

Mohd Farid, Muhd Noramin. “Tarian Melayu: Negotiating Social Memory and 

Constructing a Community through the Nation-State of Singapore.” PhD Thesis, 

Royal Holloway, University of London, Forthcoming. 

Mohd Nor, Mohd Anis. “Lenggang dan liuk dalam tari pergaulan Melayu.” Tirai 

Panggung, vol. 1, 1993. 

Sunardi, Christina. “Stunning Males and Powerful Females: Gender and Tradition 

in East Javanese Dance.” U of Illinois P, 2015. 

About 

Soultari 

Amin Farid 

Soultari Amin Farid is a choreographer, arts educator 

and researcher from Singapore. He is currently based in 

London where he is a PhD candidate in Theatre, Drama 

and Dance studies at the prestigious Royal Holloway, 

University of London, UK. His recent choreographic 

credits in UK & Europe include: Bhumi (Edinburgh 

Fringe Festival, UK); (Mis)fits (Footprints Festival, UK); 

Maa, What If… : The Mother in Tagore’s Poems 

(Commissioned by Mora Ferenc Muzeum, Hungary) 

and Unity in Diversity (University of Szeged, Hungary). 

Some of his notable works as Artistic Director in 

Singapore include:Touch: Identite (Collaboration with 

Sonic Artist, James Lye, and Hip Hop Artist, Fasihah); 

Mother Earth: Diminishing (Commissioned by Temasek 

Arts Centre, Temasek Polytechnic); GAIA: Pudar 

(Supported by Malay Heritage Foundation & the Malay 

Heritage Centre); and Padi Kuning [Yellow Paddy] 

(Supported by National Arts Council Polytechnic 

Initiative). Amin’s academic investigations into 

postcolonial theory and anthropology provides the 

impetus for him to produce artistic works which 

constantly questions and challenge the normative 

notions of class, ethnicity, identity and gender. Amin 

believes that young arts practitioners must take 

ownership of their cultural traditions but must also 

become leaders in creating artistic works that are 

innovative and relevant to an evolving landscape. 

67 68

Element# 2 


Apa kegunaan 

diri saya? 

Apa kegunaan diri saya? Apa yang saya wakili? 

Apa sesungguhnya arti tradisional dan kontemporer bagi saya? 

oleh Norhaizad Adam 

Dari tahun 2004 dan permulaan saya sebagai seorang penari Melayu Singapura di 

Azpirasi, saya sering mengingat berlatih di sebuah studio di pusat komunitas 

setempat. Saya ingat mengalami dilema dengan harga diri saya. Seringkali haus 

untuk mencari pengakuan dari ahli-ahli tarian Melayu. Selalu aktif mendengarkan 

sebagian besar kekhawatiran yang bias dan menyerahkan diri pada panggilan 

tugas yang tidak masuk akal semua atas nama ‘keikhlasan’, yang diterjemahkan 

sebagai ketulusan. 

Setelah saya membedah karya-karya saya dan desain koreografinya, istilah 

'ditengah' sering muncul sebagai motif yang berulang.Hal itu secara sengaja 

membentuk bagian dari praktik artistik saya. Saya menantang diri saya sendiri 

untuk mengatasi masalah tersebut menggunakan pandangan yang kuat dan tak 

berdaya. Saya mulai mempertanyakan berbagai aspek pasangan seperti 

tradisional - kontemporer, panggung - di tempat, pemain - penonton, salah – 

benar. 

Ketidaknyamanan kadangkala diperlukan. Jadi, saya menggunakan rasa 

ketidaknyamanan itu. Saya menggunakan pengalaman saya yang menyenangkan 

dan juga penderitaan untuk mengumpulkan kata kunci visual dalam membentuk 

praktik artistik saya. Saya bangga dalam mendengarkan dan mempercayai naluri 

saya. Saya tidak tertarik untuk memberontak, mematahkan norma-norma dan 

menjadi kontroversial. Saya tidak ingin karya-karya saya tampil sebagai sarana 

yang mementingkan diri sendiri karena saya adalah pribadi yang tertutup. Jadi, 

sebagai strategi yang berbeda, saya menghubungkan ide-ide saya dengan isu-isu 

di Singapura. 

Kredit foto: Bernie Ng 

Karena mudahnya dipengaruhi and tanpa disadari, saya 

sendiri telah menciptakan 'beban' sebagai seorang penari 

tradisional Melayu. Ini terbukti dari tanggapan-tanggapan 

yang berbeda terhadap karya saya: dorongan, kehati-hatian, 

perasaan khawatir, motivasi, dan kesalahpahaman dari 

perspektif murni tradisi dan budaya Melayu. 

69 70

Element# 2 


Apa kegunaan diri saya? 


Kata Kunci Visual yang direkam dari Silat 

Duduk dengan fasilitator dan seniman di 

ELEMENT#2: Residensi Bahasa Koreografi: 

● Drama sosial, proses sosialisasi 

● Tubuh sosialis 

● Transit dan transmisi 

● Melayu Transnasional, kritik nasionalisme modern 

● Konsep rumah 

● Bagaimana saya memiliki tubuh kontemporer ini? 

● Hak bumiputra 

● Teks, Extratext, Paratext, dan Metatext 

● Performativitas yang ironis 

● Demokrat dan kehendak Mayoritas 

● Hak minoritas juga penting 

● Budaya Pop Melayu Singapura 

● Negosiasi tarian sosial atau pertemuan sosial Melayu 

● Kebisingan suara Asiatic: manajemen, penjajah, gatekeepers, dll. 

● Ketegangan antara Mayoritas dan Minoritas 

● Koreografi sebagai latihan kritis 

● Diaspora memiliki kekuatan, ekonomi dan uang 

● Nasionalisme telah mempengaruhi apa itu bahasa Melayu? 

● Translokal ketimbangTransnasional 

● Tanggung jawab artis tradisional lebih berat daripada selebriti populer 

● Kompleksitas minoritas 

● Daniel: Apa hubungan menari dengan Anda sekarang? 

● Ming Poon: Seberapa jauh Anda bersedia pergi? Temukan Instrumentalisasi 

Anda 

● Orientalisme 

● Normalisasi 

● Identitas minoritas 

● Tubuh Melayu sebagai tubuh simpati 

Pasal 152 

Untuk residensi ELEMENT#2 di Dance Nucleus, firasat saya 

mengatakan bahwa Pasal 152 dari Konstitusi Singapura akan menjadi 

alat yang diperlukan untuk menyusun proses penemuan dan ide saya. 

Dalam perspektif saya sendiri, artikel ini dimaksudkan untuk melindungi 

hak-hak kaum minoritas di Singapura dan mengedepankan 'posisi 

khusus orang Melayu'. 

Saya ingin sekali membayangkan keadaan yang sebenarnya dan 

mungkin mengungkap klausa tersembunyi yang keluar melalui 

celah-celah yang ada. Saya ingin tahu apakah kata-kata yang dimuat 

seperti ‘yang berkecukupan’, ‘yang berkekurangan’, ‘mayoritas’ dan 

‘minoritas’ dapat muncul dalam percakapan sehari-hari orang-orang 

Singapura dan konteks sosial, ekonomi dan politik Singapura saat ini. 

Dari sudut pandang saya, saya mempertanyakan tentang diaspora 

Melayu di zaman modern. 

Bagaimana nasionalisme dan tradisionalisme selama pemerintahan 

kolonial mempengaruhi apa artinya menjadi orang Melayu? 

Apa artinya menajdi seorang Melayu di Singapura? 

Apa artinya menjadi seorang Melayu di Malaysia? 

Apa artinya menjadi seorang Melayu di Indonesia? 

Apa kekhawatiran dan kelalaian minoritas Melayu di Singapura? 

Saya membayangkan ulang Artikel 152 dengan mengubah skala 

minoritas menurut demografi sosial, politik dan ekonomi di Singapura. 

Kemudian, saya menyadari bahwa kekhawatiran dapat secara langsung 

mempengaruhi saya. Namun, ada ketegangan antara mayoritas dan 

minoritas sebagai seniman Anak Melayu Singapura. Saya memetakan 

pemikiran saya tentang perbandingan status minoritas yang berbeda. 

71 72

Element# 2 




Tabel 1. Tingkatan Organisasi Sosial 

MAKRO 

MESO 

MIKRO 

Dunia 

Regional 

Negara 

Provinsi/kota 

Komunitas Wilayah/kecamatan 

Desa 

Rumah tangga/keluarga 

Individu 

Pasal 152 yang sebenarnya diambil dari Konstitusi. Dimulai pada 

tanggal 9 Agustus 1965 

Minoritas dan posisi khusus orang Melayu 

152. - (1) Ini akan menjadi tanggung jawab Pemerintah untuk 

senantiasa peduli dengan kepentingan ras dan agama minoritas di 

Singapura. 

(2) Pemerintah akan menjalankan fungsinya untuk mengakui 

posisi khusus orang Melayu, yang merupakan penduduk asli 

Singapura, dan karenanya akan menjadi tanggung jawab 

Pemerintah untuk melindungi, menjaga, mendukung, membina 

dan mempromosikan politik, pendidikan, agama, ekonomi, sosial 

dan budaya minat dan bahasa Melayu. 

Berdasarkan penelitian tingkat organisasi sosial, saya menggambarkan 3 tingkat 

status minoritas: 

1) Tingkat Makro – Dalam Dunia & Benua: Orang Melayu Singapura vs Melayu di 

Kepulauan Melayu 

2) Tingkat Meso – Dalam Komunitas: Warga Melayu vs Warga Singapura 

3) Tingkat Mikro – Dalam Rumah Tangga / Keluarga dan Individu: Melayu 

Kontemporer vs. Melayu Tradisionalis 

Konsep Rumah (Rumahku) 

Naluri pertama saya adalah berfokus pada level Mikro. Saya membuat analogi 

dengan Pasal 152 ketika saya mengetahui bahwa saya mengendalikan percobaan 

head-heart. Mempertanyakan relevansi saya sebagai minoritas dalam komunitas 

minoritas. Saya merasa terhibur oleh penjabaran ironis ini. 

Artikel 152 versi Norhaizad Adam 

Minoritas dan posisi khusus penari seniman kontemporer 

Melayu 

152. - (1) Akan menjadi tanggung jawab komunitas tari Melayu 

untuk secara terus menerus memperhatikan kepentingan 

minoritas kontemporer di Singapura. 

(2) Komunitas tari Melayu harus menjalankan fungsinya untuk 

mengakui posisi khusus dari praktisi kontemporer Melayu, yang 

merupakan penduduk asli Singapura, dan karenanya akan 

menjadi tanggung jawab komunitas tari Melayu untuk melindungi, 

menjaga, mendukung, menumbuhkan dan mempromosikan ide 

mereka, tesis, koreografi, latihan, gerakan kosakata dan bahasa 

dan penampilan mereka. 

73 74

Element# 2 




Dengan menggunakan komunitas saya sebagai landasan 

kerangka kerja koreografi saya, saya akan mengamati secara 

dekat pertemuan sosial Singapura khususnya budaya 

seremonial dan komersial. Saya menganggap ini sebagai 

diaspora Melayu dalam konteks bangsa, dan diaspora memiliki 

kekuatan, ekonomi dan penganut. Saya tertarik untuk 

menempatkan tubuh kontemporer Melayu saya dalam proses 

sosialisasi ini dan memperlakukannya sebagai dramaturgi 

sosial. 

Bagaimana saya menggunakan tubuh kontemporer Melayu ini? 

75 76

Element# 2 


what is the point of me? 

by Norhaizad Adam 

What is the 

point of me? 


Imperfection is necessary. Thus, I feed on insecurities. I use 

my pleasant and afflicted experiences to collect visual 

keywords to shape my artistic practice. I take pride in 

listening and trusting my instinct. It is not in my interest to be 

rebellious, break the boundaries and to be controversial. I do 

not desire for my works to appear self-indulgent as I am a 

private person. So, as a divergent strategy, I relate my 

ideations with the affairs in Singapura. 

What is the point of me? What do I represent? 

What does the traditional and the contemporary really mean to me? 

From 2004 and in my humble beginnings as a Singapore Malay dancer in Azpirasi, 

I fondly recall rehearsing in a studio in a local community centre. I remember 

experiencing dilemma on self-worth. Often hungry to seek affirmation from Malay 

dance gurus. Always actively listening to mostly biased concerns and giving in to 

senseless call of duty all in the name of ‘keikhlasan’, translated as sincerity. 

Impressionable and unconscious, I myself had created my 

‘baggage’ as a Malay traditional dancer. This is evident from 

listening to disparate responses to my works: encouragement, 

caution, misgivings, motivation and misconceptions from a 

purist perspective of Malay traditions and culture. 

After I dissected my works and its choreography design, the 

term ‘in-between’ often crops up as a recurring motive. 

Threading this along, it purposively forms a part of my artistic 

practice. I challenge myself to zoom in on issues using 

powerful and powerless lenses. I begin to question binaries 

such as traditional - contemporary, stage - on-site, performers 

- audiences, wrong - right 

Photo credit: Bernie Ng 

77 78

Element# 2 




Visual Keywords recorded from Silat Duduk 

with facilitators and artists at the ELEMENT#2: 

Bahasa Koreografi Residency: 

● Social dramaturgy, process of socialization 

● The socialist body 

● Transit and transmission 

● Transnational Malay, critics of modern nationalism 

● Concept of home 

● How do I own this contemporary body? 

● Bumiputra rights 

● Text, Extratext, Paratext and Metatext 

● Performativity of the ironic 

● Democratic and Majority will 

● Minority rights is important too 

● Singapore Malay Pop culture 

● Negotiation of Malay social dance or social gathering 

● Noise of the Asiatic soundscape: management, coloniser, gatekeepers etc. 

● Tension between Majority and Minority 

● Choreography as critical practice 

● Diaspora has power, economy and money 

● Nationalism has affected what Malay is? 

● Translocal rather than Transnational 

● Responsibility of traditional artist is heavier than popular celebrities 

● Minority complex 

● Daniel: What’s the relationship of dance to you now? 

● Ming Poon: How far are you willing to go? Find your Instrumentalization 

● Orientalism 

● Normalisation 

● Minority identity 

● Malay body as sympathy body 

Article 152 

For the ELEMENT#2 residency at Dance Nucleus, I knew by 

instinct that Article 152 of the Singapore Constitution will be a 

necessary tool for the crafting of my discovery and ideation 

process. In my perspective, this article is intended to protect the 

rights of minority races within Singapore and puts forth ‘special 

position of the Malays’. 

I am curious to imagine in between the lines and maybe uncover 

a hidden clause that seeps through cracks in the wall. I wonder if 

loaded words such as ‘privileged’, ‘underprivileged’, ‘majority’ 

and ‘minority’ can come out in an everyday Singaporean 

conversation and Singapore’s current social, economic and 

political context. 

From my standpoint, I question about the Malay diaspora in modern times. 

How nationalism and traditionalism during colonial ruling affects what being a Malay is? 

What does being a Malay in Singapore mean? 

What does being Malay in Malaysia mean? 

What does being a Malay in Indonesia mean? 

What are the concerns and negligence of Malay minorities in Singapore? 

I reimagined Article 152 by changing the scale of minority 

according to social, political and economic demographics in 

Singapore. Then, I realize that the concerns may directly affect 

me. However, there is an air of tension between majority and 

minority relevance as an Anak Melayu Singaporean artist. I map 

out my thoughts on the comparisons of different minority status. 

79 80

Element# 2 


Table 1. Levels of Social Organisation 



The real Article 152 extracted from the Constitution. Commencement 

9th August 1965 

MACRO 

MESO 

MICRO 

World 

Region 

Nation 

Province/city 

Community District/town 

Village/suburb 

Household/family 

Individual 

Minorities and special position of Malays 

152.— (1) It shall be the responsibility of the Government 

constantly to care for the interests of the racial and religious 

minorities in Singapore. 

(2) The Government shall exercise its functions in such manner as 

to recognise the special position of the Malays, who are the 

indigenous people of Singapore, and accordingly it shall be the 

responsibility of the Government to protect, safeguard, support, 

foster and promote their political, educational, religious, 

economic, social and cultural interests and the Malay language. 

The Norhaizad Adam version of Article 152 

Based on studies of levels of social organisation, I visualise 3 levels of minority 

statuses: 

1) Macro level – Within World & Continent: Singaporean Malays vs Malays in the 

Malay Archipelago 

2) Meso level – Within Community: Malay Citizens vs Singapore Citizens 

3) Micro level – Within Household / Family and Individual: Contemporary Malays 

vs Malay Traditionalists 

Concept of Home (Rumahku) 

Minorities and special position of Malays contemporary 

dance artist 

152.— (1) It shall be the responsibility of the Malay dance 

community constantly to care for the interests of the 

contemporary minorities in Singapore. 

(2) The Malay dance community shall exercise its functions in such 

manner as to recognise the special position of the Malay 

contemporary practitioners, who are the indigenous people of 

Singapore, and accordingly it shall be the responsibility of the 

Malay dance community to protect, safeguard, support, foster 

and promote their ideation, thesis, choreography, rehearsals, 

movement vocabulary and language and their performances. 

My first instinct is to focus on the Micro level. I created an analogue to Article 152 

as I find comfort in knowing that I am in control of a head-heart experiment. 

Questioning my relevance of being a minority in a minority community. I feel amused 

by this ironic juxtaposition. 

81 82

Element# 2 




By using my community as the foundation of my choreographic 

framework, I will observe closely at Singapore social gatherings 

particularly the ceremonial and commercialised culture. I 

consider this as a Malay diaspora in a nation context, and 

diaspora has power, economy and followers. I am interested to 

place my Malay contemporary body in this process of 

socialization and treat it as a social dramaturgy. 

How do I own this Malay contemporary body? 

AbouT 

NORHAIZAD ADAM 

Norhaizad Adam is a dance artist based in Singapore. 

Currently, he is the Artistic Director of P7:1SMA (Prisma), 

a contemporary dance company rooted in the wisdom 

and embodiment of Malay philosophy, tradition and 

histories. Trained as a Traditional Malay dancer and now 

exploring contemporary ideations. His curiosity leads 

him to explore the equilibrium between traditional and 

contemporary, yet relating to his urbane living. He 

desires to create works that connect and questions the 

complexity of feelings. Investigating the essence of 

human conditions and interventions. Norhaizad is an 

avid coffee drinker, fond of aromas and believes in the 

philosophy of balance. 

83 84

SCOPE is Dance Nucleus’ open platform for artists’ informal 

presentations. Associate members of Dance Nucleus as well as other 

invited guests conduct discussions, workshops, jams, readings, 

screenings, open studio and work-in-progress showings as ways to 

articulate their practices and to foster discusive exchange. 

In FUSE#2, three projects that were presented in SCOPE#3 are 

featured: 

Ming Poon (Berlin/Singapore) was invited to a residency at Dance 

Nucleus as a collaborative effort with the Nanyang Academy of Fine 

Arts (NAFA). Ming choreographed a new work with the students of 

NAFA for this year’s da:ns Festival at the Esplanade. ‘Unison’, the 

resultant work based in the iconic image of the Tank Man who 

protested at the Tiananmen Incident, was presented at SCOPE#3 as 

an exposition of Ming’s creative proposal and pre-rehearsals 

preparations, while in FUSE#2, he provides here some reflections and 

notes post-premiere. 

SCOPE # 3 

ABOUT 

SCOPE#3 is Shanice Stanislaus’ (Singapore) second presentation 

at Dance Nucleus this year. Over 2018, she has been developing ‘La 

Mariposa Borracha’, a community performance project that sees her 

collaborating with caregivers of people with terminal illness through 

clowning as an interactive and movement practice, in order to 

approach the idea of the ‘sick body’ in performance. In FUSE#2, she 

documents her working process for the year, as she prepares to go 

further with the project in 2019. 

Lee Mun Wai (Giessen/Singapore) and Lee Ren Xin (Kuala 

Lumpur/Singapore) reconvened to further develop ‘There is 

Speficifisfety’ for SCOPE#3, a work that began in 2017 before Mun 

Wai left for his post-graduate studies in Giessen, Germany. The 

updated iteration of the performance work also saw a touring 

presentation to the Five Arts Centre in Kuala Lumpur. Here, Mun Wai 

and Ren Xin share their individual notes and reflections on their 

collaborative encounter. 

85 86

SCOPE#3 

about ‘Unison’ 

by Ming Poon 

Unison 

● A dance term commonly used to describe a group of people 

dancing together with the same movements and moving at the 

exact same time. 

● A choreographic device that organizes human bodies to move in 

synchrony. 

The research looked at the body politics of the individuals within a unison. 

These questions form the basis of the research. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

What do we have to do in order to be in unison? 

Is dancing in unison a force of unity, or is it a form of 

conformity? 

Are we empowered by being in unison or merely hiding 

behind it, abdicating our responsibility? 

When unison turns into forced homogeneity, how do we 

create space for individual voices and alternative existence? 

Footage of the Tank Man at Tiananmen Square in 1989. 

For this research, I worked with 16 dance students from NAFA. 

The movements used in the unison were based on the footage of 

the Tank Man at Tiananmen Square in 1989. Other than my 

interest in its choreographic composition, I chose the Tank Man 

because for me, his actions embodied the quintessential conflict 

between the individual body and the collective body, expressed 

through the refusal of an individual to stay within the collective and 

the disruption he caused to the hegemonic power. The idea was 

to use the Tank Man as a starting point for us to look at the political 

potential contained within the individual body. In addition to that, 

in executing the movements in unison, the students were also 

confronted with the body politics involved in the choreographic 

device of unison and the role they play in their participation of it. In 

a society like Singapore, where social unity, cohesion and order 

are prioritized over other social values and are meticulously 

engineered and maintained, I wanted to find out the students’ 

relationship to these values and where were their personal voices. 

I employed unison as a base from which to start a discourse about 

the wider socio-political context that the students lived in. 

As the research progressed, it became clear to me what the students’ relationship 

to being in unison was, whether as a choreographic device or a social apparatus. 

So I decided to shape the end performance in such a way that it portrayed the 

students’s state of mind and their predicament. Through the experience of these 

young people, I hope the performance would capture a glimpse of the zeitgeist of 

Singapore in 2018. 

87 88

SCOPE#3 

About ‘Unison’ by Ming Poon 

Notes From The Residency 

Day 3: Embodying the Tank Man. 

Our 3rd day trying to embody the movements of the Tank Man. 

Other than the political context, we are also studying his 

movements from a choreographic angle. After watching the 

footage repeatedly, I have come to the conclusion that it is an 

example of very good choreographic composition. It has very 

nuanced musicality, makes great use of level and space, and 

plays with contrasts, tension and suspense very effectively. The 

Tank Man's movements show very clear intention, economy of 

effort, groundedness and a precise yet unpredictable musicality. 

Day 4: Social reality has entered into the rehearsal space. 

Today I received news that the footage of the Tank Man cannot 

be used in the performance. The reason being that some 

audience members might be offended by it.* This new 

development brings the research questions closer to home for 

the students. 

● What do we have to sacrifice in order to stay in unison (as a society)? 

● Are we empowered through our unity or made to conform? 

● What are the consequences if we fail to stay in unison with the rest of the society? 

● Most importantly, where do we go from here? 

The students were asked to think about their role as artists/dancers and how they 

would like to respond to the situation. 

* Note: A few days later, the school further clarifies that the use of the footage may 

cause problems for the students from China. 

Photo credit: Ming Poon 

89 90

SCOPE#3 

About ‘Unison’ 

by Ming Poon 

Day 7: Disempowering of movements. 

Dancers learning to move in sync to texts, instead of the 

Tank Man video. The text describes the physical actions of 

the Tank Man. The image of a group of dancers moving in 

sync to texts gives a different meaning. It now feels more 

militant and mechanical, because the human intention 

behind the actions is no longer there. They are reduced to 

movements for movements' sake. The power of the Tank 

Man's movements has been uprooted, appropriated and 

tamed, so that they are safe for public viewing and 

consumption. 

Day 12: Tank Man or the Tank. 

I ended the residency by asking the students to what purpose 

they intend to put their training and knowledge and what roles 

they play as dancers. 

When the time comes, will you become the Tank Man or the 

Tank? 

Thank you all for your commitment and believing in the process. 

It is interesting to see how dancers are co-opted to be agents through which 

movements become disempowered in this situation. 

Day 10: Tank Man is closer to home than we think. 

I brought up the on-going court cases of both Seelan Palay 

and Jolovan Wham for discussion. It made the students 

realize that the theme of the Tank Man is still relevant and 

happening today. While the tank does not take on any 

physical form, it is not less present and felt. 

We discussed these questions: 

● Are you aware of the power under which you operate as artists? 

● How do you as artists and individuals negotiate with this power? 

● What can you do to change the situation? 

The students had no answers to the last 2 questions. They have never thought or 

been asked to think about them. The sense they gave was a mixture of frustration 

and resignation. It became very obvious that they were badly equipped to deal 

with these issues as future dancers and dance artists. 

About 

Ming Poon 

Ming began his career as professional dancer in 1993, 

and started to develop his choreographic practice in 

2010. He sees movement not only as a physical 

activity, but also as a social and political one. To move 

is to relate and to strive for change. His approach to 

dance is one where there are no dancers, only people 

in a constant process of negotiation as they reach out, 

converge, meet and separate. His performances 

explore themes of vulnerability, intimacy, peripherality 

and failures. They are interactive in design and often 

require the collaboration of the audience or performers. 

By interrogating and shifting the politics of their body, 

he hopes to bring about an embodied and empathic 

relationship to his works. 

www.mingapur.de 

91 92

SCOPE #3 

LA MARIPOSA 

BORRACHA - the process 


Do you stop dancing when you become ill? 

‘La Mariposa Borracha’ began as an investigation on the theme of the exhausted 

body. This a particularly relevant question to me both as someone who loves to 

dance while experiencing the impact of sickness taking a toll on my physical body. 

In the past three years, this issue struck me hard after losing dear friends and after 

watching them struggle with illness both physically and mentally. I then became 

curious to explore the effect of illness on the body, the relationship, almost like a 

dance-like battle with sickness and the fight to get better through movement and 

laughter. 

Of course, I didn’t want this to be a work where we focus on the 

negative aspects of sickness instead I wanted to present the 

journey, the ups and downs, the surprises, the dissonance and the 

emotional roller coaster that often accompanies an illness. Sick 

people don’t need to be reminded that they are sick and hence, I 

wanted this to be an experience, almost like a painkiller. This 

concept came about when I was in a clown class and was in 

immense pain but found laughter to relieve or distract some of that 

pain away. Supported by research showing the effectiveness of 

humor in pain relief, the art of clown became an important guiding 

principle for the work. The work would also not function without 

humor and a little party because often with suffering, I found it 

important to embrace the celebratory aspects in life. 

Photo credit: Shanice Stanislaus 

Le Jeu as a research tool 

My research in Dance Nucleus focused on how do we find the greatest pleasure 

in the way we move despite the experiences of illness or exposure to illness 

(caregivers, watching others suffer with illness) that may influence the way we 

move. 

‘Le Jeu’ (The game) became an important philosophy and tool in exploring this 

concept. This is often used as a foundation for clown work and training, created 

by clown master Philippe Gaulier. In this work, I was interested in using the 

principles of Le Jeu to explore creating choreography. In the Gaulier mode of 

thinking, pleasure can only be achieved by playing and the only way to play is by 

creating a game. The game has a set of rules in it in which, we find ourselves 

abiding by it, breaking it or creating new rules. In the first half of the year, we 

explored the creation of games that could help us generate movements, 

emotions and eventually choreography to explore this journey of illness. 

93 94

SCOPE #3 

LA MARIPOSA BORRACHA -The process 


What became fun, simple games that would usually induce much laughter would 

be flipped to explore an emotional scenario/a situation in an illness setting. The 

lightness we had with ‘Le Jeu’ allowed us to safely tap into unpacking the emotional 

complexities with discussing and researching illness as a journey allowing us 

always the opportunity to return to the laughter that begins the games. 

Exploring with the local community 

After researching on our own in a group of 4 with individuals who 

experience illness and individuals who are caregivers, we decided to 

take the investigation to local communities who may better add to 

our curiosities. 

We worked with the Singapore Association of Mental Health (Youth 

Reach) and Caregivers Alliance using Le Jeu as a tool to explore the 

journey of illness along, how that translates into the body and the 

dissonance of illness in their own lives. It was an amazing time 

getting to know these individuals, playing and dancing with them. 

Through the games, we uncovered how one can move with great 

pleasure despite a physical and mental illness or even the limitations 

of having to always stay home to be a caregiver, especially as for 

some of these individuals it was their first time dancing. 

In terms of exploring the journey of illness the stages of the Kubler Ross model was 

often brought up. The Kübler-Ross’ model was based off her work with terminally 

ill patients and has received much criticism in the years since. Mainly, because 

people studying her model mistakenly believed this is the specific order in which 

people grieve and that all people go through all stages. Kübler-Ross now notes that 

these stages are not linear and some people may not experience any of them. Yet 

and still, others might only undergo two stages rather than all five, one stage, three 

stages, etc. 

Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance were the common 

emotional states that were brought up by almost all the participants through the 

games played. However, they would also bring up various other emotional states in 

their journey of illness that were never explored by Kubler Ross and also rarely 

acknowledged in many academic and formal conversations of illness in institutions. 

These states of Playfulness, Encouragement, False Hope, Emotional Disconnect 

(numbness) and the Celebration. It was only through these games we managed to 

uncover the emotional significance of these stages that were nuances to be added 

to the current Kubler Ross stages. 

These new discoveries added to the work helping us reframe this journey of illness 

we would present exploring the dissonances between the phases or the 

development of the phases in a real-life scenario when one has to deal with illness 

in their own personal lives. 


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SCOPE #3 



Choreographic research in slum 

communities 

After the first two years of writing and performing this work, I 

wanted to take this investigation outside of my own personal 

experience. I wanted to find the communities where this work 

would resonate and present a narrative that belonged to a 

larger community. In the past year, I have been very lucky that 

the work has taken me to communities of individuals who 

experience physical illnesses, mental illnesses and their 

caregivers whose narratives have greatly informed the 

narrative of the work. 

The research of the work also took me to the poorest of 

communities internationally, from the Kibera slum in Nairobi, 

Kenya to the Battambang slums of Cambodia where illness 

was the everyday narrative of the individuals who live 

amongst unpiped sewage and piles of loose trash, with a 

constant exposure to cholera, typhoid, malaria and various 

It was in my time in these communities in the past three years, I found the power of 

dance and community to keep everyone going despite the harshest of conditions in 

their poverty. 

Music and dance was the one tool that kept these 

communities together. In the past three years, I studied each 

community intensely and found the similarity between both 

slum communities in different parts of the world, they all 

celebrated life in music and dance despite the harshness that 

their environment brought, even in its widespread illness. 


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Even in their mode of movements, hugely similar, there was a certain uninhibited 

groove and bounce to the movements. There was a certain aerobic styled structure 

to all their popular dances where everyone in the whole village would leave their 

homes and come dance out in the school/plaza where the popular songs would 

play. From grandmas in Kibera to little children in Battambang, the desire to move 

and dance despite having no shoes or some being very ill was extremely present. 

While these famous set dances are not carefully choreographed technically, their 

movements carried a sense of their soul and ritual which can traced back to tribe 

communities in the past which now have evolved into popular culture in slum 

environments. No one taught dance there. Dance was raw, it was pleasure. It was 

a communal celebration in response to the harsh reality of death and illness. 



This was a philosophy that grounds the choreographic work and 

has been key in the genesis of the work and why we still dance 

despite illness. 

The work continues to redevelop and grow as it has been 

evolving since July 2016 and it is set for a restage in 2019. My 

hope is to keep researching this work of what it means to be ill 

on the deepest and most sincere level. With every community or 

individual that has helped to co-create this work, it has 

constantly reminded my team and I of what we are constantly 

unearthing; the importance to feel this myriad of emotions, the 

connection to our own humanity through laughter and play and 

the importance to connect, grief and even celebrate with others 

especially in the darkest of times. 

‘My body is now beginning to be falling apart, but I will do it to the end.’ 

- Marina Abramovic 

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SCOPE #3 



AbouT 

Shanice Stanislaus 

Shanice started as a performing artist with Flamenco 

Dance Theatre company, Flamenco Sin Fronteras, and 

has since worked internationally with esteemed 

practitioners such as Antonio Vargas, Sue Samuels and 

Alberto Velasco in New York and Spain. She is an 

international Zumba Fitness presenter for Move to 

Empower, supported by the United Nations. Her work 

includes developing and training new choreographers 

and dance instructors in impoverished communities 

internationally. She is the founder of Creatives Inspirit, its 

mission to nurture a community of socially responsible 

artists and creative changemakers. She is also a 

film-maker and has had her films premiered at the Guam 

International Film Festival, Info Cinephone Festival, 

Evolution Mallorca Film Festival and Colortape Festival 

Australia. 

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SCOPE#3 

There Is 

Speficifisfety 

- The Work As Scribed Text. 

by Lee Mun Wai 

In this written contribution to FUSE#2, I would like to use this 

opportunity to (finally dare to make an attempt to) write about this 

work. I would like to (finally dare to) transfer some of my thoughts 

and feelings (a lot of them still very hazy) about There Is Speficifisfety 

into words. 

It is about encounter and what an encounter produces. 

This is the first time that I have embarked on a creative journey 

where it has been so hard for me to say in words what exactly it is 

about. Of course I know it is about something. But for a long time I 

had been hiding behind the convenient disguise of pretending that 

this work has no about-ness to it. How can that be? 

Perhaps I find it difficult to write about the work because its 

about-ness is so different from the previous works I had done. 

Previous works sought to describe or analyse certain world-views or 

topics using the contemporary dance form. Thus, choreography, 

movement and the bodies in space served to make these topics 

visible to the audience. 

With the Speficifisfety project however, the focus falls directly on the 

act and the situation itself – the very encounter between Ren Xin 

and I so to speak. It is the first time a project I am involved in ended 

up being about itself and nothing else but its very self. 

As the project began taking shape from 2016, Ren Xin and I soon found out that 

with every meeting or rehearsal, we were trying to find ways to encounter each 

other. Though we both share a great interest in each other’s practices and bodies 

of work, it is clear that our approaches are very different. 

Initially, this created some minor personal crises. I was not used 

to this non-deterministic way of working, where each rehearsal 

/ meeting began and ended with as many, if not even more, 

options, directions and unanswered questions. My headspace 

and my being were constantly splintering off in different 

directions instead of streamlining themselves into a sense of 

organised linearity. The questions that arose from our process 

kept looping back to ourselves and our encounter. We were 

questioning all our working habits and the personal practices 

that each of us had grown used to. 

Rehearsing not to determine or foreclose, but instead, to learn how to navigate and 

negotiate. 

Because of the way we were working, the very meaning of rehearsal – what was 

being rehearsed – changed drastically. No more was I rehearsing in order to set in 

stone a certain kind of spatial, temporal and bodily organisation that would be 

replicated on stage for the audience. No more was I rehearsing in order to make 

invisible a process wrought with surfeit and hiccups. Instead, rehearsals were 

about honing a sensitivity towards our encounter. Rehearsals were about learning 

how to tune in to the plethora of sensorial and tactile information arising from our 

encounter; which ones to listen to, which ones to discard, which ones to ignore, 

which ones to develop. Rehearsals were about learning how to negotiate our 

partnership actively throughout the work. Rehearsals were less about attempting 

to flatten unevenness and difference in favour of showing a smooth, uninterrupted, 

culminated singularity, and more about training our bodies to readily face the 

clashes and disruptions arising from the meeting of two very different bodies. 

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SCOPE#3 

There Is Speficifisfety 



Some questions I posed to myself during rehearsals include: 

What are the ways of acknowledging the other bodies? 

How many relations can I handle? 

What is the nature of each relation? 

How am I gazing? 

How am I being gazed at? 

What is moving the body? 

What am I acknowledging? 

When do shifts happen? 

What happens when a shift happens? 

How long does it take for a thing to become something else? 

The answering of these questions then becomes the doing of the dance. 

The answering then becomes the performance. 

One thing that was mentioned a lot in our rehearsals was the idea of 

a mode of inhabiting and a mode of achievement. These modes 

were modes of performance and they could be treated as opposite 

ends of the spectrum that Ren Xin and I were modulating ourselves 

within. A large part of what I have described above – about learning 

how to listen, navigate and negotiate – exists closer to the “mode of 

inhabiting” end of the spectrum. That is not to say that the “mode of 

achievement” end is not important. We soon realised that the work 

would tend to meander unendingly and uninterestingly if we only 

parked ourselves on the end closer to “mode of inhabiting”. Perhaps 

it might then be of interest to unpack the idea of what constitutes as 

“uninteresting”. What did it mean to say that a part of our dance was 

uninteresting? Uninteresting to whom? To us? To the audience? And 

by subsequently trying to negotiate these uninteresting parts, what 

kinds of pressures could we have been acquiescing to? Were we 

giving in too easily to a kind of conventional mode of watching? What 

alternative strategies did we have to get around these uninteresting 

parts? Could one of the strategies have been staying steadfast in 

this uninteresting part, to resist the want to get rid of it as soon as it 

appeared, in order for something to organically appear later on? 

Occupying either end of the spectrum was not useful to the work. 

Instead, we were modulating appropriately within the spectrum 

throughout the work, understanding that at some points, it would be 

necessary for certain situations to peak, and at others it was 

imperative to dissolve something that had been going on for some 

time even though it felt like it had some relevance. Indeed, the 

knowledge of how and when to employ these strategies of 

negotiation were honed during our rehearsals. 

I see you see her see them see us see me. 

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SCOPE#3 

There Is Speficifisfety 



Throughout the work, the various modes of inhabiting 

between Ren Xin and I allowed the audience to have varying 

degrees of concentration and viewing. Because of these 

varying degrees, everything in the performance space 

became visible. Our performance created a keen sense of 

attention not only towards Ren Xin and I, but to the entire 

space as well. Sometimes, when the encounter between 

Ren Xin and I became too tedious or boring to watch, the 

audience’s gaze and attention would shift towards other 

things or people in the room. Also because, with such a high 

level of attention in the space, a small shift in any part of the 

space - be it an audience member sweeping one’s hair, or a 

sudden flicker of a fluorescent light tune - would cause 

people to divert their attention to that shift momentarily. I 

quite like this idea: that the encounter between Ren Xin and I 

was not the only thing to be looked at in this performance. 

Our encounter could also serve as a thing or a gesture to 

make other aspects of the space, or other people, visible to 

the audience. Yes, at times, Ren Xin and I were undoubtedly 

the ones being watched, but there were also a lot of 

instances where we were acting as conduits to redirect the 

audience’s gaze and attention to the rest of the space. 

About 

Lee Mun Wai 

Lee Mun Wai is an independent dance artist from 

Singapore. He has been spending the past 3 years 

performing in and creating works that try to speak 

about performance and choreography in a much more 

expanded sense. 

Prior to becoming an independent dance artist, he was 

one of the founding members of the Singapore- based 

T.H.E Dance Company (2008 – 2015). With the 

company, he has performed extensively in festivals 

such as Les Hivernales in Avignon, France, as well as 

the Oriente Occidente festival in Rovereto, Italy. He has 

also performed in China, South Korea, Poland, India, 

Indonesia and Malaysia. In 2014, he received the Young 

Artist Award from the National Arts Council of 

Singapore. 

He is currently pursuing his Masters in Choreography 

and Performance at the Institut für Angewandte 

Theaterwissenschaft in Giessen, Germany. In March 

2018, he performed in Claudia Bosse’s Last Ideal 

Paradise at Tanzplatform In Deutschland 2018. 

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SCOPE #3 

Notes on ‘There is 

Speficifisfety’ 

by Lee Ren Xin 

Briefly, before coming to Singapore for SCOPE#3 at Dance Nucleus: 

1. 

2. 

Meeting Mun for the first time since our show Where’s The Speficifisfety in 

July 2017: Our two bodies in present time encountering the two past 

bodies in 2017 (in the videos). Us now encountering us then. 

How to collaborate with Mun? 

Photo from Lee Ren Xin 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

Since so much is about that present time, present space, present energy, 

present history, presence, I sometimes have doubts about if I am conflating 

all things or motivation into an instant performance/composition (different 

from improvisation). And if so, what then are the two of us doing, spending 

hours together each day over a month? What (other) ways could we work 

in? What are we working on, when we work? And so, what is that work that 

will be performed on 28-30 September at KOTAK @Five Arts Centre in KL? 

It’s hard for me to orientate towards something if I’m in a place that’s open 

to everything. There is no more motivation to make the next step, to 

continue. Where’s the speficifisfety of this piece? 

What is at stake? This is also the guiding line for me to make decisions 

when performing. 

I appreciate that Mun and I are coming together with differing 

interests/inclination as we infer differently and also employ different 

research trajectory, when faced with the same task or proposition. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

In an effort to break our habitual default responses and kinetic tendencies, 

we practiced outside of our existing politics. Yet, in an effort to find 

alternatives beyond distinct polarities, are we blanding unnecessarily? That 

seek for alternative spaces may be a meaningful part in our working 

process. But just because it was what we were interested in excavating, is 

it necessarily the piece? Two years ago, I once wondered aloud in 

rehearsal, could we meet at 50-50? What does it mean to meet at 

mid-point, in terms of energy, timing, intention, pathway? Henceforth, there 

began this jokingly-serious challenge for what we think is impossible i.e. to 

meet equally. What is the work now, anyway? 

Because of my habitual practice inclination to find hard-to-lock-down 

spaces, I may be overlooking the richness of simple ways things are and 

could be, too…to just acknowledge, and also allow space for such 

polarities. 

Our principles in life are not necessarily what is desired as content of the 

piece. 

Whose desire, anyway? 

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SCOPE #3 

Notes on There is Speficifisfety 


10. 

11. 

12. 

13. 

14. 

15. 

16. 

17. 

18. 

19. 

20. 

21. 

22. 

Allow inequality. 

Post-moment or post-happening: how one re-/contextualizes it or unfold 

from that moment. 

Pre-run, I have a notion of the piece. During run, the notion of the piece is 

not useful. 

Meaning: An arrival made by all parties: Mun, Ren Xin, the audience. 

Politics: Testing and negotiating boundaries between the two bodies. 

I think sometimes when we think we know the work, and we perform with 

that notion we think is the work, the work’s life actually dies. Because we 

might just be performing an impression of the work, and so the experience 

becomes a non-situated memory of the work. I feel that impressions are 

generally set (fixed/dead) things. They feel like a mushed 

color/image/notion. So, if we work from such a place, the distinct colors or 

shades that maketh the work would be lost. 

Really, what are we doing?? 

How do we feel, about what we are doing? 

What feelings/thoughts are we encountering right now where we at, at this 

juncture? 

What is this unconvinced or non-belief that I am feeling? 

What have I been avoiding to address about this work? 

How do we want to work, for this phase, from next week onwards? 

I can’t help but notice our bodies relating to each other subconsciously 

whenever we are talking or discussing things in rehearsal. 

The following dots the 5 days at Dance Nucleus, 17-21 September 2018: 

23. 

24. 

25. 

26. 

27. 

28. 

29. 

30. 

31. 

32. 

33. 

34. 

35. 

36. 

Apart / a part of 

Synchronicity that does not come together. 

What is casual? Is that casual? Does it matter? 

Let the audience rest. Let the audience breathe. For a bit. OK. 

This is just one way. 

Why perform? There is no reason to perform. 

There is reason to perform. 

No need reason to perform. 

What do I recognize? What do we recognize? Do we recognize that we 

recognize? 

Why take risks? Because I want to please the audience. 

The need and attempt to choreograph happens whenever we are stuck. 

Bodies of thought. 

Bodies of idea. 

Bodies of ambition. 

Body of the task. 

Body of the situation. 

Body of sound. 

Body of anxiety. 

They are like bodies. Some sexy, some uncomfortable, some unidentified. 

Body within body. 

Body of this building. 

Body of this work. 

The survival program in us prescribes hierarchy to what we encounter e.g. 

prioritizing living bodies or “brain-bodies” over other (inanimate) bodies in 

the space. 

When do I refer to it as ‘the work’, and when do I say ‘the piece’? Does it 

matter? 

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SCOPE #3 



After SCOPE#3, the final week in KL: 

45. 

In this work, I sometimes feel our tasks are really not that meaningful. 

However, they are important for us as principles which we have found to 

produce or allow for results which we recognized to be desirable as 

content of the piece. I’d rather the audience not know too much what our 

tasks are. 

46. 

47. 

Sometimes, the tasks is not what the piece is. The tasks allows the piece 

to take form in real time. But they are not what the piece is about. It is 

important that we do not mistake the tasks as the piece. There are times 

when a particular task is no longer relevant or no longer works for the piece, 

because of the changed way we perceive or treat the task. Sometimes, the 

task is what the piece is. Some other times, simply just do the task. 

I wish we could be as sensitive to shifts in the everyday life as we are with 

performance. 

37. 

38. 

39. 

40. 

41. 

42. 

Simply, come together. Simply, don’t come together. 

Simply, meet. 

Photo from Lee Ren Xin 

I need to meet the audience. And allow the audience to meet us. 

When does it become a collective of people trying to figure out and arrive 

somewhere together? 

After such long conversations and working time, there is yearning for—as it 

also becomes increasingly challenging to relocate—discreteness between 

us. 

Sometimes, being too brainy forms inertia to move, to respond, to live, to 

listen. 

48. 

49. 

Observation, in retrospect: There Is Speficifisfety definitely is less playful 

and less personable than Where’s The Speficifisfety. Even the titles reflect 

so. 

I felt there is some sort of “same-zoning” happening to Mun and I when we 

came together this time to work, compared to last year. Perhaps, in future 

if we want to live this work again, we need to work differently e.g. not spend 

so much time working together, or not spend any time at all and just meet 

and perform, from whatever part of life or the world each of us is coming 

from. In other words, there is either too much shared ground right now—as 

of the KOTAK version, or there is a need to bring it even more 

extreme—allow even much more shared ground next time—then maybe, 

an inevitable fissure (desirable) can happen. Perhaps, this is also the nature 

of the collaboration between Mun Wai and Ren Xin—as of now. 

Carrying forward: 

We were very invested in the questions and laboratorial processes between us, 

but where does it go? 

43. 

44. 

If the dance is independent of music, then what would be the role of the 

music in this work? 

When is the work about sharing with the audience our journey of figuring 

out, and when is simply a closed and unspoken contract, pre-agreed-upon 

between Mun and I. 

If possible, I would like to explore with different bodies/persons in this 

work—whatever retains as “this work”. 

What is the work, beyond the two of us? 

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SCOPE #3 



AbouT 

Lee Ren Xin 

Ren Xin's current research locates in her neighbourhood 

in Malaysia. She uses walking and dance rituals as ways 

of corporeal mapping and observing what needs to 

occur subsequently in the environment and in what 

forms she can respond to facilitate it. Her interests 

include the various gaps between people who live in 

vicinity, the mythical position of the local/outsider in 

relation to the increasing migrant workers population, 

and the in/visibility and dis/appearance of women and 

women’s body in spaces. 

Prior, her work series B.E.D., supported by the Krishen 

Jit Astro Fund 2014 in Malaysia, was invited to 

presented in BO:M Festival (Seoul, 2015) and 

Festival/Tokyo 2016. She studied at Nanyang Academy 

of Fine Arts, Singapore and Purchase College (BFA), 

New York. 

115 116

About 

Dance Nucleus 

Dance Nucleus is a space for practice-based research, creative 

development and knowledge production for independent dance. 

Dance Nucleus fosters a culture of critical discourse, 

self-education, artistic exchange and practical support. Our 

programmes are designed to respond to the needs of our 

members in a comprehensive way. We build partnerships 

in Singapore, Southeast Asia, Asia & Australia, and 

internationally. 

Dance Nucleus is an initiative of the National Arts Council of Singapore. 

Team 

Artistic Director 

General Manager 

Operations Manager 

Publication Designer 

Address 

Daniel Kok 

Freddy Lai 

Dapheny Chen 

Rae Chuang 

90 Goodman Road, Goodman Arts Centre, Block M, 

#02-53, Singapore 439053 

Website 

www.dancenucleus.com 

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FUSE#2

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