The Sutra Foundation presents Dancers At Large for Merdeka

Nine dancers will commemorate Merdeka day with a colourful showcase of Odissi in a program organised by The Sutra Foundation.

The Dancers At Large showcase will take place under the artistic direction of Datuk Ramli Ibrahim from August 26 to August 28 at Sutra House, Taman Titiwangsa.

The nine dancers, Aishwaryaa, Tishaa, Harini, Yovvani, Ruphaa, Kanishha, Jevita, Ruchika and Deshna, will be participating in one of Sutra’s most ambitious performances under the Sutra Dance Outreach Programme that began in 2013.

“The nine dancers were meticulously trained female dancers in the art of Odissi. This major ancient Indian classical dance originates in the temples of Odisha in eastern India,” said Ramli.

“Immense care goes into crafting a Sutra Production, be it in terms of impeccable design input, selection of dance talent, devising sets, costumes, lighting or graphics and marrying them to the conceptual and choreographic intent to assure a flawless production,” he added.

“We rejoice in the excitement when allowed to dance, or even when learning a new dance,” said Aiswaryaa, one of the dancers.

“We came not knowing what to expect, and now, through the guidance of Datuk Ramli and Sutra, we share the same passion, which is the love of dance.

The Sutra Foundation Dance Outreach

The Sutra Dance Outreach Program provides opportunities for children and teenagers to benefit from formal classical Indian dance training.

The main objective is to provide the best teaching methods and early exposure to the exciting and creative world of Indian dance.

The young dancers come from Kajang, Rawang, Ladang Sungai Choh and Kuala Selangor, where the Dance Outreach programs are held. 

“The Sutra Dance Outreach Programme has turned out to be an effective initiative to discover potential talents outside the city centre.

The Foundation strives to reach out to the less privileged Indian communities and expose them to a more disciplined and efficient methodology of teaching dance and the exciting and creative world of Indian dance.

Through the program, Sutra hopes to develop in the youths the love for the timeless traditional values and, eventually, themselves, to be the cultural bridges for the communities and expand their talents outside of Malaysia. 

Dancers At Large, with Sivarajah Natarajan as lighting and technical director, is organised in collaboration with JCPR.

Tickets are priced at RM50. The performance will be intimate, with only 60 guests per night.

The Sutra Foundation can be contacted at 03-4021 1092.