Front Row

The percussionist is on his annual visit to the country bringing his African rhythms to music lovers and other musicians at his favorite venue. Taking a break from his schedule--the rehearsals and soundcheck--Mokhtar Samba the percussionist drops by the studio to tell about documenting African rhythms, launching of his latest CD and being a senior musician.

Listen to our previous interview with Mokhtar Samba here: An African Jazz Project

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When asked about what his art means or what he wants to communicate through it, the artist Cheong Laitong often responds, “It’s up to you to catch it.” We’re catching him instead and sitting him down in our studio to point us in the direction of where his art has come and where it is going so that we can catch it on our own.

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An artist residency with an exhibition “inspired by the belief that individuals live with the problem [free will] and so of choice; and balancing between two or more parallel realities - physical, ideological, emotional and illusionary. Expectations may not be met due to the asymmetry of information while objectivity is almost never achieved in our decision making process.”

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Supported by an industry of writers and illustrators of children’s books, Big Wooden Horse has another production in KL titled ‘The Way Back Home’. The last time the company was in town, it played ‘Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus’. What’s the scariest thing about performing for pre-school children? What is the worst that could happen? We’ll hear what the actors have to say.

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Three from Sirius Quartet tell about being musicians who teach and at the same time play professionally, compose and record music. But how do professional musicians continue to learn? They reveal how being in a group, they get to learn from each other. Sirius Quartet is in the country teaching masterclasses, but they will also perform. The musicians take the occasion to explain the quartet’s sound, kind of music it produces and the experience it tries to impart.

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Documenting other women through photography becomes the vehicle for the photographer to explore issues of identity, beginning with herself. She tells of her displacement from Malaysia, to the United States and eventually settling in France and how this modern nomadic life precipitates questions of Who am I? What are my roots? Do they matter? Armed with a clunky 19th-century viewfinder camera she dialogues with her subjects to both learn about them and collect pieces of her fragmented self. She reveals, “When I left Malaysia at 14 all the pieces of me just exploded.”

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This dance tradition from the Dominican Republic has evolved and is now practiced and celebrated all over the world. And being in the world, this international dance fuses the traditional with the contemporary, originating in new steps and moves. Our guests detail the dance tradition and show how bachata is related to Salsa, Merengue, Zouk and Kizomba.

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Stephanie Van Driesen has played the sassy Sally Bowles in ‘Cabaret’; she was also in ‘Othello’ as Desdemona. So you know, this graduate, from LaSalle College of the Arts in Singapore, sings, dances and acts. This time around she has put together her own show and performing it all by herself accompanied only by a pianist. As she looks at Marilyn and then herself. Stephanie tells of her fascination with Marilyn and the reflection she sees there.

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Local theatrical works based on local contexts continue to emerge on our stages. There is ‘MUD’ a musical about Kuala Lumpur; and there was another about Chow Kit. Now comes ‘Cheras the Musical’ with book by June Tan and presented by Five Arts Centre. The writer and musical director give the inside story.

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Back from the USA after a six-year stint, Sean Ghazi, tells about the life of the performer and gives a tip or two about life on the international stage. He and Ida Mariana detail their upcoming concert as one in which they both drop their smooth crooning styles of voices like warm milk to belt out Broadway musicals with big finishes. Hear them sing live, a cappella.

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