Homage to the Elephant-headed God, Remover of Obstacles
River Sutra (2013)
Synopsis
River Sutra offers a stream of many genres of dances, moving away from Sutra’s overtly classical and seriously modern to something more accessible and engaging for the general audience but with enough bite of content for the high-brow.
Artistic director of Sutra Dance Theatre, Ramli Ibrahim, strives to create an atmosphere of positive energy, bringing in the cooling colours of brooks and mango shoots that signify warmth, togetherness and inclusivity of cross-cultural streams and perspectives.
Thus, River Sutra is conceived – a river of many cultural influences and cross-currents which made up the Malaysian mélange. River Sutra explores spring time moods with impressionistic dances that defy staid classification of genres. Apparent will be influences, not only of bharatanatyam and odissi, but also of Malay, Javanese and pop cultures. The Malaysian identity, as time goes by, is also evolving. What is ‘Malaysian’ is an enigma – it is neither ‘only this or only that’…
River Sutra celebrates the Malaysian cultural diversity and many sub-identities which make up that One National Identity of a Malaysia which defies absolute categorization.
Production Information
- Production / Presenting Company:Sutra Foundation
- Artistic Director / Curator / Programme Coordinator:Ramli Ibrahim; Assistant to Artistic Director: Rathimalar Govindarajoo, Nishah Govind Kumar
- Date:10-14 April 2013
- Total Showing:5
- Venue:DBKL
- State:Kuala Lumpur
Individual Dance Items
Item #1
- Title:Ganesa (Mahaganapatim)
- Item Synopsis / Program Notes:
- Choreographer:Sutra Collectives (Ramli Ibrahim, Rathimalar Govindarajoo, Nishah Devi, Divya Nair)
- Category:Indian dance
- Dancers:Jagatheyswara, Harenthiran, Gauthami, Abiramavalli, Jyostnaa, Shobna Bag, Hema Nair, Veethejay, Nalisha, Mridulla, Madhuramavalli
- Composer:Karthik
Item #2
- Title:Pibare Ramarasam
- Item Synopsis / Program Notes:
Praised be Rama, Hero of the Ramayana, whose name is the immortal nectar we drink!
- Choreographer:Sutra Collectives (Ramli Ibrahim, Rathimalar Govindarajoo, Nishah Devi, Divya Nair)
- Category:Indian dance
- Dancers:Nishah Govind Kumar/Veethejay, Geethika Sree/Gauthami, Tan Mei Mei, Divya Nair/Abiramavalli
- Composer:Karthik
Item #3
- Title:Sthai – Vasanta
- Item Synopsis / Program Notes:
Pure dance based on Odissi dance form, alluding to the joyous celebration of the spring-time play of Krishna.
- Choreographer:Sutra Collectives (Ramli Ibrahim, Rathimalar Govindarajoo, Nishah Devi, Divya Nair)
- Category:Indian dance
- Dancers:Jagatheyswara, Harenthiran, Hauthami, Abiramavalli, Jyostnaa, Shobna Bag, Hema Nair, Veethejay, Nalisha, Nalina Nair, Nithyaa, Praveena, Vanitha
- Composer:Guru Gajendra K Panda/ Shri Lakmi Kanta Palit
Item #4
- Title:Krishna Ne Begane Baro
- Item Synopsis / Program Notes:
This work, made famous by the legendary bharatanatym dance Balasaraswati, is given a contemporary interpretation. It describes the mother-love of Yasoda for her beloved but mischievous child, Krishna
- Choreographer:Sutra Collectives (Ramli Ibrahim, Rathimalar Govindarajoo, Nishah Devi, Divya Nair)
- Category:Indian dance
- Dancers:Nalina Nair, Nithyaa, Praveena, Vanitha, OR Geethika Sree, Nishah Govid Kumar, Tan Mei Mei, Divya Nair
- Composer:Karthik
Item #5
- Title:Thillana (Bharatanatyam)
- Item Synopsis / Program Notes:
Pure dance
- Choreographer:Sutra Collectives (Ramli Ibrahim, Rathimalar Govindarajoo, Nishah Devi, Divya Nair) Based on Dance Composition of Padmashri Adyar K. Lakshman
- Category:Indian dance
- Dancers:Divya Nair, Geethika Sree, Tan Mei Mei, Nishah Govind Kumar, Nalina Nair, Harenthiran, Jagatheyswara, Jyotsnaa, Shobna Bag, Abiramavalli, Gauthami, Veethejay, Nalisha, Hema Nair, Kiwashini, Praveena, Nithya, Vanitha, Ramli Ibrahim, Kavinesh Ramachandran
- Composer:Padmashri Adyar K. Lakshman with the Natya Mandir Music Ensemble (Thomas Nawratil, Georg Graf, Gerhard Rosner and Baba Prasad)
Item #6
- Title:Suasana
- Item Synopsis / Program Notes:
Improvisation on various moods, exploring the transformative effect that movement and images have on space when integrated with music and lighting design
- Choreographer:Sutra Collectives (Ramli Ibrahim, Rathimalar Govindarajoo, Nishah Devi, Divya Nair)
- Category:Indian dance
- Dancers:Divya Nair, Geethika Sree, Tan Mei Mei, Nishah Govind Kumar, Nalina Nair, Harenthiran, Jagatheyswara, Jyotsnaa, Shobna Bag, Abiramavalli, Gauthami, Veethejay, Nalisha, Hema Nair, Kiwashini, Praveena, Nithya, Vanitha, Ramli Ibrahim
- Composer:Rahayu Supanggah
Item #7
- Title:Getaran Jiwa & Lagenda
- Item Synopsis / Program Notes:
A nostalgic homage to Lari Leong, Mustafa Nor, Sudirman and Usman Awang.
- Choreographer:Sutra Collectives (Ramli Ibrahim, Rathimalar Govindarajoo, Nishah Devi, Divya Nair)
- Category:Indian dance
- Dancers:Ramli Ibrahim, Harenthiran, Tan Mei Mei, Divya Nair
- Composer:P. Ramlee & Sheila Majid
Item #8
- Title:Satu
- Item Synopsis / Program Notes:
All-embracing celebration of togetherness of he young with the more experienced.
- Choreographer:Sutra Collectives (Ramli Ibrahim, Rathimalar Govindarajoo, Nishah Devi, Divya Nair)
- Category:Indian dance
- Dancers:Divya Nair, Geethika Sree, Tan Mei Mei, Nishah Govind Kumar, Nalina Nair, Harenthiran, Jagatheyswara, Jyotsnaa, Shobna Bag, Abiramavalli, Gauthami, Veethejay, Nalisha, Hema Nair, Kiwashini, Praveena, Nithya, Vanitha, Ramli Ibrahim
- Composer:Zainal Abidin, S.M. Salim
Credit
- Lighting Designer:Sivarajah Natarajan; Assistant: Pradeep Kumar
- Set Designer:Sivarajah Natarajan; Assistant: Muhamad Suhaili
- Production Crew:Sound engineering: KRSS
- Stage Manager:Prithylasmi Selvarajah
- Publicist:Mala Chandra (Versage PR Management)
- Additional Notes:
Costume Design: Min Walker
Costume Realisation: Noble Quest
Wardrobe: Tan Mei Mei, Nalina Nair
Video Editing: Chris Khoo
Photographer: Magendran Subramanian
House Management: Cecilia Lee, Reenah Murges, Shirley Nair
Emcee: Cecilia Lee
Graphic Designer: William Harald-Wong & Associates (Moment Font Studio), Low Boon Hoe
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