Front Row

The filmmaker and an activist has organized a three-day Refugee Festival which will include an exhibition, film-screening, performances and food. She wants us Malaysians to become aware of these communities of refugees in our country, right in our midst, not recognized by our government and often employed illegally. But in such positions these refugees are vulnerable.

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The actor and trainer, Oliver Senton, was in Kuala Lumpur, brought in by a performing group to train young would-be participants in musical theatre.  He gives a brief history of The School of Night and its manifestation in the 20th century under the guidance of Ken Campbell, who is described by The Guardian as “one of the most original and unclassifiable talents in the British theatre of the past half-century.” High praise. Oliver Senton also demonstrates some of the exercises used by this fraternity to train actors to quiet the nagging negative voice that impedes improvisation.

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Hands give inspiration and birth to works by the artist Yau Bee Ling. She relates her growing up years and other  stories that gave her the inspiration to depict on canvas.  Hands, as appendages, are our natural extensions to touch and to connect with each other--other human beings with hands--and the surrounding physical world. Hands can create. Bee Ling illuminates further the spiritual aspect of hands through these new works which mirror her  journey, searching and exploring deeper and more meaningful connections.

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The proverbial complaint from the public often is that ticket prices to concerts are expensive, what more when the performers are unknown quantities (or of uncertain quality). The musicians justify and explain why tickets to a classical music festival is high and at the same time share the program that they will be performing in the Johor Bahru Classical  Music Festival 2016

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A relatively new percussion group has come on the scene, distinguishing itself from other groups by focusing a little more on the visual technologies and incorporating them into the company’s drumming performances. Our guests tell about the company’s upcoming show ‘Carpe Diem’ and of how it is using projection mapping to provide a visual feast that accompanies the audial feast.

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The Soorya India Festival will be held in Kuala Lumpur with Odissi exponent Uthara Mano; Bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer, Meenakshi Srinivasan, both from India; and local artists from Temple of Fine Arts Malaysia. Our guests give pointers to explain the differences among these dances, which include a Katha performance.

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At the opening night of the Malay adaptation of Macbeth, Front Row producer, Lim Soon Heng spoke to theatre virgin, Muhammad Haniff, and theatre regular, Tina Carmillia, about what they thought of Dato' Seri.

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Our guest who is appearing this weekend in the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas as the featured soloist met with Front Row to talk about an artist’s honesty and what falls on this performer’s shoulder when on the stage. He also comments on the audience and what they could do to help themselves, though the responsibility lies primarily with the musician.

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The jazz pianist and the musician-sound engineer, tell about the production of a music CD. They give us a look into the process and explain how a band can be larger than itself in the studio. They also express why in theory one kind of performance should not cannibalise the other.

Find out how to buy their latest album on the WVC - Malaysian Jazz Ensemble page.

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The husband-and-wife team, after more than two decades in the UK, now back in the country, are featuring dances that they choreographed for "From Soho to Shinjuku • Half Man Half Myth – A Double Bill", and in one of which Ming Low is dancing in. They tell about dancing and how dances can tell stories and relate experiences, and at the same time avoid cliches of dance vocabularies.

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