Choreographer looks for lost scenery

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Having spent most of her life in big cities, Singaporean choreographer Angela Liong felt as if she had found a long-lost but loving memory when she saw noted choreographer-cum-dancer Miroto's Banjarmili studio.

Built right on a riverbank, with bushes and big green trees as the backdrop, for her the studio was like something out of a dream. In order to get to the studio, which is located in Kradenan village in Sleman regency -- just a few kilometers west of Yogyakarta, one has to drive through a narrow road passing traditional villages and rice fields.

"We no longer have this kind of scenery in Singapore. The 21st century has changed everything. There are no more farms, rice fields, or even villages left there," said Liong, who was born in China, grew up in the United States and is now a permanent resident of Singapore.

Along with The Arts Fission Company's crew and Singaporean installation artist Han Sai Por, Liong was in Yogyakarta to create a collaborative dance theater piece with the Yogyakartan artist's Miroto Dance Company. The work was staged at the studio on Friday night, June 21, as part of the ongoing 2002 Yogyakarta Arts Festival.

Liong is cofounder and artistic director of The Arts Fission Company, one of few full-time modern dance companies in Singapore.

The joint work, titled Borrowed Scenery, was staged in the studio's indoor and outdoor stages.

Liong said she deliberately chose this particular kind of work mainly because she wanted to rediscover and redefine the original dance space of Asian performances, and in a way, make sense of it in the context of modern times.

"The main idea is presenting a public performance in open space," said Liong, who is best known for her unconventional performance spaces.

She added that open spaces were in fact the original stage of the region's performances, especially those of Southeast Asian countries. Even a rice field, she said, could be used as a stage.

The way people in the region presented a performance in the past was very communal; it implied the way they communicated with people. A performance became something people shared together in a very natural situation; a kind of relaxation for those who watched it together. Although they might not know each other at the beginning, they would eventually become friends because of watching the performance presented in that particular way.

"It's quite different compared to today's condition. Privacy becomes a very city's thing. Even neighbors don't know each other. If you have the money, then you buy the ticket, and you can watch the performance all by yourself," Liong said.

It was these considerations that had motivated Liong to rediscover what was for her a lost performance space.

"I also want to work with other artists from different regions in Indonesia in a collaborative research to explore a new Asian dance theater language," Liong said. She added she came with a sincere and open mind, wanting to offer and share what she has with local artists and see what they had to offer.

"It's not about your culture is better than mine, or I am more superior. I don't have such preconceived ideas. I accept differences," said Liong, who says she has felt just like a gypsy, having to move to other countries every few years before she finally settled down in Singapore.

At present, she is in the middle of preparing a proposal to conduct a research that links the history of Singapore with the Indonesian Bugis ethnic community. Once it is finished, she plans to transform the research into a creative work.

However, it is not the first time for Liong to come to Indonesia. In fact, her husband Liong Shie-Yui, an associate professional with the National University of Singapore, whom she married in 1976, was an Indonesian who grew up in Jakarta.

"I often come here to accompany my husband, lecturing at Gadjah Mada University," said Liong who claims to have had the chance to learn Indonesian culture, including Javanese and Balinese dances, as part of her effort to understand more about her husband's cultural background.

Liong moved to Singapore at the end of 1983 to work with the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) as a choreographer and has been involved in pioneering work there ever since.

In 1989, she was invited by the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) to set up the first diploma dance program in Singapore -- a really big challenge for her. She gave up her job with SBC, leaving a very good salary, to set up the dance diploma program at NAFA.

"I noticed there weren't enough professionally trained dancers back then in Singapore. With the diploma program, I thought, we would at least produce good dancers to provide for the demand of the community and to deliver high standard dance," she said.

She started the program with only eight students. Now, some 50 new students join the program every year.

She was involved in another pioneer project when in 1998 she was invited to establish the first Bachelor of Arts dance degree program at La Salle-SIA College of the Arts and was appointed dean of the performing arts.

She stayed at the college for only three years because she felt it was the time for her to be involved in more creative work with the Arts Fission Company, which she cofounded in 1994, or two years before she resigned from NAFA for the same reason. With her working full time, the Arts Fission Company is able to present at least four major performances a year and countless arts education programs for Singaporean schools. Previously, it could only present one major performance a year.

"Many of my students had set up their own companies and develop the arts. But, then where was I? I was still here, getting away and away from what I really wanted to do. So here I am, at last."