Choreographer: Fairul Zahid

Institution: LASALLE College of The Arts, University of the Arts Singapore

Venue: Small Theatre 2, CAD Changping Campus

Time: 13:30, May 20, 2024

Event: The 7th Asian Theatre Schools Festival

Choreographer’s Statement

In my choreographic works, I encourage creativity and innovation by blending traditional elements with modern concepts, pushing the boundaries of what dance can be. This approach encourages students to develop a more diverse and eclectic skill set and explore a wider range of movements and expressions.

By celebrating diversity in dance education, we create a more inclusive space where everyone's unique talents and contributions are valued.  

I take this approach in my creation of SOPAN and GENESIS. These works show the versatility of the dancers and how these dancers, working from a contemporary dance perspective, shift their understanding towards the embodiment of different cultures.

SOPAN requires the dancers to consider how the support network of females in contemporary cultures translates into contemporary times. By physically working through the choreography that requires cohesion, balance, connection and weight support, they consider how this is a form of feminist resistance in traditional cultures and how this form of resistance might be carried into contemporary cultures that appear more individualistic.

GENESIS addresses a universal concept of judgement. While it does not take a stand on right or wrong, it considers who judges or has the right to judge and reflects on whether there are actions or consequences as a result of this judgement. While this work was first created in May 2023, it feels as if the content is becoming increasingly relevant to our turbulent times. It is however, left purely to the viewer to draw connections and interpret the conclusion of the work.

Synopsis

SOPAN

This choreography attempts to review the current status of Malay women in Peninsular Malaysia by examining the impact of Islamic revivalism and industrialization on the Malay family, kinship, and marriage system. It elucidates how religious reform and automation have had similar effects in increasing gender differences, paternalism, and misogyny, shifting the rule of bilaterality in the direction of patriarchy and considerably undermining the status of Malay women in both traditional and modern society.

GENESIS

Let the judge be Judged by the Judgement... GENESIS is about a question of human, life, and death. Every human has their own good deeds and bad deeds. Everyone will be judged during the judgment days. Every single thing that we do in our life will be witnessed by “an eye”. The eye will be a witness to all the deeds that we have done in our past life. No matter how hard we try to avoid this eye, we cannot run away from being judged. The inspiration for this piece is taken from the Bible and Quran with the phrase: “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day (Genesis 1:31)”.