Past productions of Maya Dance Theatres & Apsara Asia
1. Bophana (May 2007)
“Bophana” presented by Maya Dance Theatre Ltd is a movement-based adaptation of Asia-In-Theatre’s 2000 SITA. The story of “Bophana” highlights a woman telling a story to future women, a maternal journey of epic proportions. The collaborators- director, playwright, dancers and choreographers will deconstruct the script with lots of discussion/improvisation work. It is dance theatre, whereby various explored movements, lights, sounds and theatrical elements try to play with equal importance in the production. Dancers will be challenged to re-interpret their impulses through “navarasa” to movement expressions; primarily through Bharatha Naytam vocabulary – mudras and bhava. The director, playwright, sound and lighting designers will be challenged to collaborate with the elements to create a space for artistic expression. The story of “Bophana” will be thus re-told, and experienced by the audience through the concept of dance theatre set within contemporary theatre design.
“Bophana”, the production will be told through the concept of dance theatre, by engaging various performing arts forms such as movement, theatre, lights, music and narrative text in the form of dialogues- set between the director and the playwright in midst of the play. Their interaction within the play will also essentially contribute to the design structure of this contemporary dance theatre production. One that has been never done before!
2. Bitter Chocolate (August 2006)
Bitter Chocolate is a collection of thematically related stories told through the medium of dance, music, voice, narrative text, poetry and theatre. A collaborative production presented by Apsara Asia & World-In-Theatre, Bitter Chocolate presents a kaleidoscopic perspective on its theme in a work that marries dance, movement and theatre on a single stage.
A man, who is disturbed by the urban world, lives a reclusive life and has to live and adapt in an ever-changing environment….
A visually impaired person uses her acute sense of hearing and touch to secure her strength for living; to live in a world of sight…
A woman cries for an unknown child…and a man yearns for an unknown mother…
The stories tell of people who skirt a tight path along the fringes of a community to which they sometimes, and sometimes almost, belong.
Life is sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet, but at all times chocolate-rich.
"In Bitter Chocolate, another low-key and intimate production about ordinary people and their everyday lives, magnetic performances by World-in-Theatre founder Sonny Lim and dancers Kavitha Krishnan, Huang Yuzhu and Shanti Gomes riveted me but... (though) these did not entirely compensate for the many pieces that made up the show which still left me cold.... I liked the way elements of different art forms were infused into this anthology of work, most of which explored the richness of life and how it could be both bitter and sweet, sometimes at the same time." - Kenneth Kwok, The Flying Inkpot.
3. The End of the Beginning-Ravana (June 2005)
Ravana, the villain in the legendary Hindu epic, The Ramayana comes to life at the upcoming 27th Bali Arts Festival 2005 on 25th June 2005, at the Ksirarnawa Stage in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. For the first time, a group of Singaporean dance artistes (Juraimy Abu Baker, Veshnu, Fathurrahman Said and Kavitha Krishnan) together with two Indonesian artistes (Silvester Pamardi and I Gusti Ngurah Sudibiya) presented a contemporary dance collaboration entitled “End of the Beginning -Ravana” at the 27th Bali Arts Festival 2005. “End of the Beginning - Ravana” is a contemporary dance production that sees the collaboration between Singaporean artistes of different dance styles, (Bharatha Natyam, a classical Indian dance, contemporary modern dance and contemporary Malay dance) with their fellow Indonesian counterparts performing contemporary Javanese dance and Balinese dance.
The production, “End of the Beginning - Ravana” is an original concept inspired by the classical Hindu epic, Ramayana that features the character Ravana. Set as a prequel to the legendary epic, “Ramayana”, this production is based on the theme of human emotions, particularly those of lust, jealousy, selfishness and greed. The different characters in this production, each embodifies Man’s negative human emotions and is represented through different dance forms and styles. Kavitha Krishnan, an Indian Classical dancer and Creative Director of Apsara Asia produced and co-directed with Veshnu and Pamardi .
The production was presented through a contemporary Javanese-style musical accompaniment with rich poetry, written by Cyril Wong (Young Artiste Award Recipient, Singapore). “The End of the Beginning” is presented by Apsara Asia with support from National Arts Council, Singapore, Lee Foundation, Singapore and Bali Arts Festival 2005, Bali Indonesia.
4. The End of the Beginning (May 2004)
“The End of the Beginning” is a dance production that sees the collaboration between two renowned Singaporean artistes of different dance styles, (Bharatha Natyam and Malay traditional dance) and their Indonesian counterparts from Solo, Central Java and Bali. Based on the theme of human emotions, particularly those of lust, jealousy, selfishness and greed, this contemporary dance production features the synergies of the different dance forms from both these two countries on a single platform.
The narrative text was based on the legendary Epic “Ramayana” for the very reason that the epic “Ramayana” is known extensively throughout Indonesia and the surrounding Southeast Asian countries and its close relation to the Indonesian, Indian traditions, gave the opportunity for the dancers to explore their movements within a classical and known epic.
The main character in this story, Wiswara, is portrayed as a righteous man who initially sets out to look for a bride for his son, Dhanaraj, but later, succumbs to the evils of his desires; which ultimately ends in tragedy. His deed of looking for a bride for his son invokes his own selfish desire when he chanced upon a suitable bride. Taking her as his own, he decides to abandon Dhanaraj to begin a new life with his bride. As a result of their union, they give rise to four offsprings, (Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Vibishina and Soopanaka), who are personified as the representation of both Mankind’s good and evil traits. Eventually, Dhanaraj comes to know of his father’s marriage and confronts him. The confrontation tragically ends in Wiswara’s death and that of his bride, who took her own life as a result. The story highlights the fact that 2 characters were so overwhelmed by each other’s desires that they failed to realize the consequences of their action. Thus, depicting the selfishness of Man that leads to destructive results.
The production evolved as a process production with the strengths of the artistes further explored by the artistic director, Sylvester Parmardi from Solo, Central Java, Indonesia. Kavitha Krishnan, a dance artiste, produced the production. The 45 minutes process production was staged in both Solo and Bali, Indonesia to a full house audience.
“The End of the Beginning” was organized by Apsara Asia, an arts management and performing arts company from Singapore, with the support of Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI)-Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia and Sekolah Tinggi Seni Institut (STSI)-Solo, Central Java, Indonesia.