Asian Rugby Sevens Series

The Swan Song Ballerina & Ballerino
Stretched over two days, 31 oct/1Nov, one of the main highlights of the Rugby match was the classical dance performance executed beautifully by the two players from Malaysia & Thailand. It was an illusion of flight that stretched beyond your vivid imagination, literally speaking. The  projectile of flight was simply sensational and [...]

Read Full Post »

Lepa Pasil Boat

Sailing the Seven Seas With the Gypsies
Lepa is often associated with the Regatta Lepa that will burst into life in the water of Semporna with a glittering multicolour extravaganza every April month.

Read Full Post »

Traditional Dances of Sabah- Magunatip

A Bamboo Curtain Call  To Bring the House Down
Magunatip, that quintessential Bamboo Pole dance among the natives of Asia.
When the  headhunters of  North Borneo are on the prowl again, you know it’s time to party and bring the house down.  

Read Full Post »

Sabah Int’l Folkdance Competition ‘09 – Sarawak

Dayaks In the Land of Hornbills
This is the Sarawak segment of the Folkdance Festival – July 7
Dayak & Iban- are these interchangeable terminologies? I wish I knew. It’s kind of complicated unless you are a Sarawakian. Even then, I bet you most of the Cats are confused themselves. To enlighten you a bit, the capital [...]

Read Full Post »

Sabah Int’l Folkdance Competition ‘09 – Negeri Sembilan

The State of Nine -the Minangkabau Country
This is the Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia segment of the Folkdance Festival – July 7
Negeri Sembilan – States Within A State-  quite simply means 9 states came  together to make up a state within the federated states of Malaysia.

Read Full Post »

Sabah Int’l Folkdance Competition ‘09 – Philippines

Tacloban Performing Art Group
 ( Leyte Dance Theatre)
This is the Philippines segment of the Folkdance Festival – July 7
 
Action! Cut! Take Five! The Overall Prizewinner!
 
Undoubtedly, they were the darlings of the night. They won the most accolades from the the judges, but like I said before my heart went out to the Javanese dance ensemble in [...]

Read Full Post »

The Kazakhs

Kazakhstanis in Borneo
A Family Album at the Folklore Festival, Kota Kinabalu
 Philippines- the Bamboo Fest next

Read Full Post »

Sabah Int’l Folkdance Competition ‘09 – Singapore

Sriwarna – Singapore
That is one short & sweet name for a dance group.
This is the Singapore segment of the Folkdance Festival – July 7

Read Full Post »

Sabah Int’l Folkdance Competition ‘09- Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia Group Riyadh
This is the Saudi Arabia segment of the Folkdance Festival – July 7
 I have a confession to make. I am not quite familiar with the Saudi folk dance and I am not quite sure what the dance presentation was about on the night concerned.  In the mean time, enjoy the Bamboo Cane [...]

Read Full Post »

Beauty Fest And the Folklore Festival

Beauty Is In The Eye of  The Beholder
This is the Beauty “Contest” segement of the Folkdance Competition- July 7
Eureka!
 This may yet be another bright idea that the festival’s bright sparks can consider. A Folklore Beauty Contest to revolutionise the folkdance festival into something totally unrecognisable from its first incarnation. I must say it was a [...]

Read Full Post »

Sabah Int’l Folkdance Competition ‘09 – Kazakhstan

On Alti Kiz (sixteen girls) – Kazakhstan
This is the Kazakhstan segment of the Folkdance Festival – July 7
Land of the Kazakh won the Best Costume category of the folkdance competition. They were the celebrities of the night for the colourful and strikingly beautiful red costunes they put on on the night. It’s a sort of a cross between [...]

Read Full Post »

Sabah Int’l Folkdance Compettiton ‘09 – Kalimantan

Majelis Adat Dayak Nasional- Kalimantan, Indonesia
This is the Indonesian Kalimantan segment of the Folkdance Festival – July 7
Dayak refers to the indigenous people residing in the island of Borneo, especially in the regions of Sarawak and Kalimantan. Their dances are usually full of symbolism and can be considered to be a type of ritual dance, [...]

Read Full Post »

Sabah Int’l Folkdance Comptetition ‘09- Java

Read Full Post »

Sabah Int’l Folkdance Competition ‘09- India

Punjab Folk Art Centre
This is the India segment of the Folkdance Festival – July 7
Bhangra, that lively & jolly folk dance originated from the Punjab region of India & Pakistan. It, without fail, always gets me going and in the mood for a Saturday Night Fever. The dance performed at the Fest somehow has that [...]

Read Full Post »

Sabah Int’l Folkdance Competition ‘09- China

Zhan Jiang Song and Dance Ensemble-  Guang Dong, China
This is the China segment of the Folkdance Festival – July 7
And of course the usual ribbons (and fans) in a Chinese dance would go without saying.  Chinese dance has its own unique vocabulary, semantics, and syntactic structure that enable a dancer on stage to fully express [...]

Read Full Post »

Sabah Int’l Folkdance Competition ‘09- Cambodia

Department of Performing Arts – Cambodia
This is the Cambodia segment of the Folkdance Festival – July 7
It was a superbly staged folkdance festival with rip-roaring dance performances coming one after another at a fast and furious pace. Spectacular is probably an understatement of the year, I believe. Showbiz Glitz is more fitting. Yah, putting on [...]

Read Full Post »

Sabah Int’l Folkdance Competition ‘09 – Brunei

Persatuan Melayu Keriam Tutong Pesaka
This is the Brunei segment of the Folkdance Festival – July 7
It was a  superbly staged folkdance festival with rip-roaring dance performances coming one after another at a fast and  furious pace. Spectacular is probably an understatement of the year, I believe. Showbiz Glitz is more fitting. Yah, putting on the glitz!
Overall, [...]

Read Full Post »

Sabah International Folklore Festival 2009

A Festival or A Competition? Whatever!
It suddenly dawns on me Kota Kinabalu is in desperate need of a top-notch auditorium theatre cum convention centre if we are to have more top perfoming acts coming to the city. And the venue has got to be in or near the city centre boundary. As it is now, [...]

Read Full Post »

Traditional Dances of Sabah- Mongigol Sumayau

A Sacred Dance to the Great Warriors
Mongigol Sumayau is a traditional ritual dance associated with the Lotud people.  Traditionally, the dance was performed during the “Rumaha” and “Mangahau” ceremonies.
The Lotuds are an indigenous ethnic group residing in the Tuaran District on the northern part of the Borneo island. They are a sub-ethnic group of the Dusunic [...]

Read Full Post »

Junior, the Rapper

Rhyming To The Living Blues & Jazz
 

Read Full Post »

Borneo Hiphop Rapper Star In The Making

Doin’ A John Travolta
 Talking  About the New Generations

Read Full Post »

B-Boying to the Street Culture

Break To The Beat, B-Boys!
Now, guys, KK (Kota kinabalu)  is slowly but surely becoming a vibrant cultural city with street acts and other cultural performances coming online by the day. All it needs now is to generate public interest and support .  And, of course, some designated outdoor venues around the city areas are provided  for the [...]

Read Full Post »

Hip Hop All the Way

Hit the Street, Jack!
  Watch the Video —->>>>
 

Read Full Post »

Sabah Harvest Festival- Break Dancers

B-Boying and the Borneo Boys
 

Read Full Post »

Pesta Kaamatan- Harvest Festival

Let the Ceremony & Fun Begin
First,  a Thanksgiving Prayer for the bountiful harvest that the Bambarayon (Spiritual Guardian of the Paddy field) has bestowed upon this blessed land that we call “The Land Below the Wind”.

Read Full Post »

Traditional Dances of Sabah- Daling Daling

Love Is In the Air
Lovey-dovey groovy kind of love. Daling Daling, a dance to woo your loved one.

Read Full Post »

Traditional Dances of Sabah- Sazau

Let’s Do the Twist
Hello? What is this? Is that the younger version of Elvis? Wasn’t he supposed to be doing the Sazau dance. Or was it Salsa?

Read Full Post »

Headhunters of Borneo- Murut

On the Cultural Warpath
Swords are now drawn and spears sharpened, primed for tthe final Battlestar Galactica of the year. ‘Tis the headhunting season. The Muruts of  Borneo are on the march once again poised for the final assaults on their enemies.

Read Full Post »

Traditional Dances of Sabah- Sumazau

Doing the Sumazau
This traditional dance, Sumazau, is invariably associated  with the tribe of Kadazandusun, a tribe that inhabits the state of Sabah. Those from the Penampang distric are especially well-versed in this sort of dance.

Read Full Post »