A 30-member delegation from the Focus Dance Company of TNUA’s School of Dance was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in September at the invitation of the World Dance Alliance Asia Pacific (WDA-AP) to attend the group’s annual assembly.
The Focus dancers, apart from staging performances during their stay, also took part in WDA-AP’s workshops and international forums. The WDA-AP event brought together over 300 scholars and dancers from the United States, Europe, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Fiji.
The theme of the event was “Hybridity in Dance: Researching, Performing and Writing Old and New Genres.”
The participants in the event came from very diverse backgrounds, and through the event they all gained better understanding of the transition and integration of dance in different cultures, enabling their creativity.
Prof. Heng Ping, dean of the School of Dance, noted that the WDA-AP event was sponsored by several Malaysian institutions: the Cultural Center of the University of Malaysia, the National Department for Culture and Arts under Malaysia’s Ministry of Information, and MyDance Alliance.
The School of Dance started preparing for this WDA-AP event in April. The Focus Dance Company, formed by students from the Department of Dance, was assigned the work of staging three dances at the event. Their hard work – practices and rehearsals four times a week – won applause as they staged the dances at the Tuanku Abdul Rahman Hall at the Malaysia Tourism Center for three days from September 22 to 24.
On the last day of the WDA-AP assembly, TNUA Prof. Yunyu Wang was elected chairman of the body.
WDA-AP is an important dance research group of the world. The independent, non-profit, non-government body was founded in Hong Kong in 1988 as Asia Pacific Dance Alliance with a mission to serve as a primary voice and support group for dance in the Asia-Pacific region. In 1993 it changed its name to WDA-Asia Pacific.