38 malaysia tatler. august 2019
W
henrecognisedas
aGamechangerbythe
Kakiseniorganisation
atthe16thBOH
CameronianArts
Awards,ProfessorDrJosephGonzales
embracestheroleknowinghehasopened
doorsforagenerationofdancerswho
arenow‘makingit’fromNewYorkto
Berlin.“Thesearenotprivilegedchildren
fromaffluentfamilies,theywerelike
me,growingupwithverylittlecomfort.
Irecognisedthatandwantedtowork
towardstheirempowerment,”hesaid.
Fromrisingasayoungdancerinthe
1980stobecomingtheheadofacademic
andcontextualstudiesattheHongKong
AcademyforPerformingArts,Joseph
has,throughthedecades,revivedplus
revitalisedMalaydanceformssuchas
JogetGamelan,byrecognisingthevalue
ofculturalheritage.Highlightingthis
achievement,hestated,“Iinstitutedthe
ForgingTraditionsprogramwithmy
companyASKDancetoensurethousands
areintroducedtodanceheritageforms.
Itwasanextremelyrewardingventure.”
Increatingatimelinetothe
developmentofdanceinMalaysia,
heregardeditascomplicatedasits
demographicandpolitics.“Thelandscape
oftheartshascertainlychanged.There
arefarmoreperformancespaces,
residencies,artistentrepreneursandso
on,thanbefore.”Headded,“However,
thisdoesnotnecessarilytranslateintoa
deeperunderstandingandappreciation,
asbyandlargepeoplearestillworking
insilos.”
Josephisalsovocalwhenitcomes
tomisconceptionsindanceand
choreography.“Choreographyisnot
justaboutbeinginspiredbymovement
phrasesputtogetherbysomeoneelse
orfromavideo,itisaboutdeepand
meaningfulinvestigation,havingavision
andwantingtosaysomethingtoan
audience.”Asapatronofhardworkand
talentintheMalaysianartcommunity,
henamedafewoutstandingrole-models:
“KrishenJit,DatukFaridahMericanand
DatukRamliIbrahimareamongthose
whoinspireandclearthepathforthe
youngergenerationtogofurther.”CULTURAL
APPROPRIATION IN ARTS
We live in a plural society. I am
a great believer in inclusivity
and crossing cultural borders.
For me, the ethnicity of the
performer becomes secondary
or even immaterial. Deep
love and passion for a culture
that one is willing to immerse
themselves in, should be
lauded and not treated with
disdain or suspicion.GREATEST CHALLENGE
IN DANCE
While funding is always an
issue, my greatest concern
is the art that I wish to share
with my audience. My biggest
challenge is to make good
art. My biggest fear is to be
repetitive or worse, irrelevant
with my work.INFURIATING TRENDS
The K-Pop trends of hair,
clothes, cosmetic surgery, and
manufactured acts grind on
my nerves. It is a phenomenal
example of globalisation and
marketing—but good for the
Koreans. However, when
Malaysians know K-Pop stars
and music better than Joget,
it really winds me up!DANCE REVOLUTION
Renowed dance instructor and choreographer
Joseph Gonzales reveals to Aina Izzah why he has a
voracious appetite for dance, theatre and music
CONCIERGE | TATLERSCOPE