Rasa Unmasked

Lillian invited me for Rasa Unmasked by Sutra Foundation last Wednesday. I have heard much and have skimmed through some newspaper articles about Ramli Ibrahim, our very own Malaysian dance icon, but have never attended any of his concerts. Since there was no prayer meeting on, it being the third Wednesday of the month, and it's a complimentary ticket, why not?

Ticket to Rasa Unmasked

To be honest, we were prepared to have the performance go over our heads but there were parts which we really enjoyed. To our uninitiated eyes it appeared to be a a hotch-potch of Indian, Balinese and modern contemporary dance forms.

Cannot take photos so here's what was produced in the programme

The parts where the lady lamented on and on were super boring since we did not understand Indian, that is assuming it's one of the Indian dialects she is singing in. However, I really have to commend them for strong core muscles. Being able to keep one's balance standing on one leg whilst turning and doing stuff with the rest of the body is no mean feat.

Very Balinese

Being the typical kiam siap Penangite we refused to pay RM10 for the programme and were a bit - actually a lot - lost during the performance.

The programme we were too kiam siap to buy

We interpreted the performance as some karma rebirth story but it's actually about creation, the maya of existence and human emotions or rasa being interpreted through dance.

I found out all that when I finally laid hands on a copy of the programme which they were giving away FOC at the end of the evening. See, kiam siap-ness does pay off in the end.

This page would have helped make sense
of what was happening on stage