Hybrid Moves, the opening of Dance Reflections 2007, marked the start to three consecutive weeks of dance performances organised by NUS Centre For the Arts (CFA).
In a bid to celebrate the opening of the Baba House in 2008, Hybrid Moves served a spectacularly visual feast of the Peranakan culture to the nearly full UCC hall. hooked finds out more...
The promotional snippet for the Hybrid Moves concert went along this line: "From the Hip Hop culture of NUS Dance Blast! to the ethnic influences of the NUS Chinese Dance, NUS Indian Dance and NUS Ilsa Tari to the contemporary feel of NUS Dance Synergy and NUS Dance Ensemble, this concert will excite audiences as each dance group refreshingly interprets elements of the Peranakan culture."
Hybrid Moves certainly lived up to its marketing hype.
The concert, with Mr. Peter Lee as the chief guest, featured six CFA dance groups - NUS Chinese Dance, NUS Ilsa Tari, NUS Indian Dance, NUS Dance Blast!, NUS Dance Ensemble, and NUS Dance Synergy.
The performance started off with "Rentak Funky" by NUS Dance Blast!, which was set in a Peranakan museum, using the groovy beats of hip hop music as complement. The dancers' clothes illustrated a robbery in the museum, where the props came alive and began dancing.
Following that was "From where I am standing" by the NUS Indian Dance, who blended the dance movements from Bharatanatyam in order to depict the inner workings of air well found in the Peranakan homes.
Our funky-dressed dancers from the NUS Dance Synergy, on the other hand, illustrated the modern Peranakan society with their vibrant dancing to the groovy music in their set piece, "Passage".
 "Nadi" by the NUS IIsa Tari portrayed the journey for self identity between the earth and the sky with Malay and Peranakan music, while "My Homeland" by the NUS Chinese Dance was comprised of four distinct pieces dramatizing a story of how the dancers came from a peaceful environment, faced a brief spell of adversity in their homeland, found harmony and made a new and better home for themselves.
The latter performance boasted one of the best dance items of the evening with its vibrant music, beautiful costumes and intricate dance movements, as well as the various formations of the dancers.
The finale dance item for the evening was "Samsara" by the NUS Dance Ensemble and fittingly so, with the grand stage setting and fantastic choreography that the competent dancers seemingly effortlessly breezed through.
Even though the performances were all individually brilliant, the lack of an emcee to properly introduce the dance items throughout the evening resulted in the audience scrambling for their program booklets several times during the show.
However, kudos to the performers and the choreographers who came up with such a magnificent display. The costume, stage and set designers, as well as the lighting engineer deserve a special mention too.
Overall, the show successfully presented the Peranakan culture in a series of stylised hybrid dance moves, which intertwined the past with the present, leaving the audience enchanted by the beauty of the long-eluded culture. HOOKED
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