简体中文
(THE STAR ONLINE)It has been an eventful year for the creative industry, what with a burst of arts and literary festivals which kept Malaysians busy, month after month. From the hip Cooler Lumpur Festival and the month-long George Town Festival to the Kuala Lumpur International Arts Festival (KLIAF) and the recently concluded Other Festival (in Ipoh), there has been much to explore in terms of arts.
To keep the ball rolling, the Shantanand Festival of Arts (SFA) returns for a second year after a successful week-long run last year.
The SFA, presented by the Temple of Fine Arts (TFA), will run at the Shantanand auditorium at the Temple of Fine Arts in Kuala Lumpur from Dec 4-6.
On Dec 4, Pakistani qawwali ensemble Fareed Ayaz, Abu Muhammad Qawwal and Brothers look the part as the headlining act at the Shantanand auditorium. Blending together devotional and secular traditions, Fareed and company – a touring favourite of the Pakistan National Council of the Arts – have been bringing qawwali music to international audiences for over 30 years.
The Philippines Ballet Theatre (PBT) is another highlight at SFA. Formed in 1987 in Manila, the PBT, which is the resident ballet company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, has made a name for itself by touring with classical story ballets. It is set to perform excerpts of its hit production The Nutcracker, while favourite movements from Swan Lake, Giselle and Raymonda are bound to delight ballet fans on Dec 4.
For some homegrown cultural exposure, Rhythm In Bronze is the dynamic gamelan experience to savour on Dec 5.
The Kuala Lumpur-based group has been enchanting music fans since 1997 by raising the traditional gamelan form to contemporary new heights,
A dance performance by dancers from Srjan, a premier Odissi dance school in Odisha, India, will also take place on Dec 5.
On Dec 6, the festival will welcome southern Indian violin duo Ganesh and Kumaresh. Active since the early 1970s, the duo, once famed as child prodigies, has earned acclaim at cultural festivals worldwide by weaving together fusion and Carnatic music. Elsewhere, homegrown jazz musicians – pianist Michael Veerapen and saxophonist Julian Chan – will also be part of Sunday’s lively music programme.
The festival will end with TFA’s very own dance production, NeoMargam, on Dec 6.
Choreographed by Shankar Kandasamy, NeoMargam, explores the traditional bharatanatyam margam from a modern angle.
NeoMargam sets out to see if the spiritual content of an ancient art form can still be retained without losing its intrinsic and elemental features.
NeoMargam was also a headliner at the KLIAF’s recent dance programme.
The main SFA performances on Dec 4-6 will start at 8pm daily. Several workshops on bharatanatyam, sitar, drama, odissi, contemporary dance and violin, to name a few, will be happening from 10.30am daily at various studios in TFA. There will also be dance and music showcases at 5pm.
A minimum donation is required to attend the SFA 2015. Website: www.tfa.org.my. For more info, call 03-2274 3709 or email [email protected].
