Dancer follows own beat to revitalize performing arts

Dancer follows own beat to revitalize performing arts

Kunang Helmi, Contributor, Ubud, Bali

Ramli! The Heart of Sutra

James Murdoch, foreword

Sutra Dance Theatre

in association with Silverfish Books, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2004

160 pp

This delightful pictorial biography of contemporary Malaysian
dance icon Ramli Ibrahim, who founded the Sutra Dance Theatre
company in 1983, is an indispensable reference book. It is a
must, not only for those interested in Southeast Asian dance, but
also for dance connoisseurs and erudite readers.

Ramli! The Heart of Sutra, inspired by Ibrahim's 50th
anniversary in May 2003, was made possible by sponsorship from
the HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad Foundation. It was also the
foundation's first project.

Illustrated by a beautiful collection of remarkable black and
white photography by four renowned Malaysian photographers, the
biography is framed by an analysis of Ibrahim's career provided
by long-time Bali resident, James Murdoch, a distinguished writer
of contemporary dance and music.

Ibrahim is widely quoted regarding his experiences in the
world of performing arts. Also a proficient writer on arts and
culture in Malaysia, he has written two plays, and is currently
preparing a book on the traditional Malay dance, Makyong.

Ibrahim is not only a talented dancer and choreographer -- he
has received renowned international awards like the Fulbright
Distinguished Artist 1999 as well as the Lifetime Achievement
Award at the Malaysian BOH Cameronian Arts Awards 2003 -- but is
also a skillful teacher, having trained many of the finest
Malaysian dancers over the past 21 years.

Book designer William Harald-Wong, who collaborates closely
with Sutra Dance Theatre, has produced a remarkable, balanced,
yet lively layout within the scope of the book's square format.

The first impression of the unfolding storyline is one of
dynamic rhythm as conveyed by the superb images. This rhythm is
sustained not only by the sequence of succeeding images, but also
by each individual image: even when blurred, they transcend
moments frozen in time to convey the very essence of movement and
expression.

Aside from portraits of Ibrahim performing his extensive
repertoire, the biography also includes photographs of members of
his dance company performing with or without him.

Ramli! also features those who inspired or taught him, such as
legendary Indian dancer Ram Gopal, who passed away recently.

Readers are thus able to grasp the interactive process of
teaching dance, while drawing a vivid image of the actual dance
performances.

As Murdoch points out: "There are very few dancers indeed who
have mastered the three major world dance techniques: classical
Western Ballet, Martha Graham modern technique and Indian
classical dance as in Bharata Natyam and Odissi."

The extent of Ibrahim's dance palette is readily evident in
the introductory seven pages, two of which depict his first 20
years.

Ibrahim's parents were not prepared for the extent of their
son's potential for a career in dance, although it was obvious
that he was already comfortable performing in public at a young
age. He also had a perfect dancer's physique and stage presence.
Before going to university abroad, Ibrahim watched classical
Indian dance in Kuala Lumpur, where he also learned Malay folk
dances.

Ibrahim has a mechanical engineering degree from the
University of Western Australia. However, throughout his stay in
Perth, he also studied classical ballet with West Australian
Ballet director Kira Bolusloff, who was brought up in the great
Russian classical ballet tradition. It was here that Dame
Margaret Scott, director of the Australian Ballet School in
Melbourne, spotted his talent and immediately offered him a two-
year scholarship.

Instead of finding work as an engineer, Ibrahim went back to
school, albeit one with a curriculum similar to London's Royal
Ballet Covent Garden. Later in life, this radical change in
professional direction justified his affirmation: "It is just as
difficult to be a good dancer as it is to be a good engineer or
doctor."

In Melbourne, persistent and disciplined as he would always
prove to be, he found classical Indian dancers who agreed to
teach him, despite the disapproval of his ballet teachers.

One measure of his superior ability as a dancer is the fact
that he was the only 1977 graduate of the school who was
recruited by Graeme Murphy, artistic director of the Sydney Dance
Company.

In 1978, inspired by the young Malaysian's talent, Murphy
created the role of Nijinsky for him in Poppy, based on the life
of French artist Jean Cocteau. Ibrahim's career as a principal
ballet dancer was launched -- but which also included mastering
the modern dance techniques of Martha Graham. At the same time,
Ramli performed Bharata Natyam, a classical southern Indian
dance.

In 1980, the Australian Council for the Arts made an exception
and awarded the Malaysian national a one-year grant to study in
India.

Ibrahim's Indian dance skills progressed rapidly, facilitated
by excellent teachers: studying the Bharata Natyam under Adyar
Lakshman in Madras and the Odissi under Deba Prasad Das in Orissa
province.

However, his complete dedication to dance contributed greatly
to his advancement, as shown by an extract from a letter: "...
here in Puri, I dance seven days a week. And secretly, I am going
twice a week to another guru -- Guru Deba Prasad Das, who lives
in Bhubaneswar. This means, twice a week, I would have to wake up
very early in the morning and endure the two and a half-hour trip
to Bhubaneswar in a rickety old bus -- for my eight o'clock
morning dance class."

After his year in India, Ibrahim returned to the Sydney Dance
Company for a year, touring New York and Europe, then decided to
go home to Malaysia.

Ibrahim was also drawn to choreography, and his first major
breakthrough was his 1985 creation, Adorations, in which,
according to Murdoch, "He created a way of presenting an
informative and entertaining production of Odissi without the
tiresome lecture format so many Indian dancers still use."

Despite invitations to perform internationally, Ibrahim was
aware that in Kuala Lumpur, a structure to support and provide
employment for professional dancers had hardly been established.
Driven by an overwhelming desire to provide a platform for
contemporary dance in Malaysia, as well as preserving older dance
traditions like Makyong, he founded Sutra Dance Theatre in 1983,
at a time when funding for the performing arts was almost
nonexistent.

Contacted in Kuala Lumpur recently, Ibrahim pointed out: "For
me, the name 'sutra' evokes not only the ancient Indian form of
verse, but also the Malay word for silk, besides referring to a
thread of a flower garland."

Sutra House is now a showcase center for the arts, a forum
that not only hosts dance rehearsals, performances and art
festivals, but also painting and photograph exhibitions. Its
facilities include a salon for international and
interdisciplinary discussions, a visiting artist's studio, a
library open to members and a small restaurant.

The open, sunken amphitheater in the garden can seat an
audience of 200, and has seen the likes of distinguished
Indonesian choreographer Sardono Kusumo, who performed with
Ibrahim in 2003.

Rounding off the biography is the impressive and extensive
repertoire of Sutra Dance Theatre, listed in chronological order,
together with a comprehensive list of performances and works
commissioned or premiered by Sutra Dance Theatre. This is
followed by a long list acknowledging artists, friends and
collaborators of Sutra.

It is here -- if not earlier -- that the reader fully
appreciates all the Malaysian dancer has undertaken to raise the
prestige of performing arts in Southeast Asia, and in the course
has, indeed, become the heart of Sutra.

This title is available at Ganesha Book Store, Ubud, Bali.