THE Sutra Foundation will be presenting its “Dancers at Large” performance this August under its Sutra Dance Outreach Programme.

One of Sutra’s most ambitious performance,“Dancers at Large” feature nine graceful and meticulously-trained female dancers in the art of Odissi. Odissi, also referred to as Orissa in old literature, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originates in the temples of Odisha.

The performance is under the artistic direction of Datuk Ramli Ibrahim, founder of the Sutra Dance Theatre and  Sutra Foundation, with lighting and technical direction by Sivarajah Natarajan.

To be held in collaboration with JCPR, it showcases seven dancers from Sutra Dance Outreach Programme — Aishwaryaa, Harini, Yovvani, Ruphaa, Kanishha, Jevitha and Rucika.

The programme was established in 2013 with the intention of offering opportunities to children and teenagers (ages six to 15) to benefit from formal training in dance. 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 of the Sutra Dance Outreach Programme are chosen from Kajang, Rawang, Ladang Sungai Choh and Kuala Selangor, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur (KL) where the programme is held.

Ramli said the programme has turned out to be an effective initiative to discover potential talents outside the city centres. 

“The youths’ inherent talents would otherwise remain uncultivated and unrealised. Sutra’s investment of teaching during weekends in such areas of Kuala Selangor, Kajang, Ladang Sungai Choh and Rawang for the last seven years has paid off as we can now claim to have groomed young accomplished talents from this initiative.”

According to Aiswaryaa, one of the young dancers of Sutra on Odissi: “We dance for laughter, we dance for tears, we dance for hopes. We rejoice in the excitement when given the opportunity to dance, or even when learning a new dance. 

“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!”

Presently, several of these young dancers have started to perform with Sutra senior dancers overseas and have received favourable reviews internationally.

“Dancers at Large” will be performed on Aug 26-28, 2022, at 8.30pm at Sutra House in KL. Tickets are priced at RM50 per entry, per guest, with a maximum of 60 guests each night.

Call +603 4021 1092 or +6019 333 1092, or email [email protected]. You can also visit sutrafoundation.org.my for more information.

Each ticket sold will help Sutra to continue with its mission of discovering and training more dancers under its Sutra Dance Outreach Programme. —by TMR / Pic source: Sutra Foundation