Batik Retailer Hosts Dance with Percussion and Furniture

Symphony in Three Movements
23 October 2009
Artist@Jendela KL, CapSquare

By Bilqis Hijjas

In an echoing empty shoplot, Diana slides about on a Jendela KL table around which Christy walks, slapping its sides. Diana hides behind a Jendela KL curtain, while Christy plays a few sparse beats on her drum. Diana rolls on a Jendela KL rug, kicking her feet, while Christy shunts a bucket of nails across the floor. Finally, Diana frolics upon a Jendela KL couch while Christy shoulders her steel drums before leading the two out the door to be followed by the audience, Pied Piper-like, into the Jendela KL showroom next door.

This short performance by percussionist Christy Yeoh Sing Yuin and dancer Diana Moggie-Arriega, christened 'Symphony in Three Movements', is the first dance offering from the corporate social responsibility program of Jendela KL. Previously Jendela Batik, the company has recently rebranded itself to include homewares in addition to clothing, and now presents the Artist@Jendela KL series at its showroom in CapSquare.

CEO Faisol Abdullah effuses about his desire to help budding artists “retail and repackage” their art to allow more people to enjoy it. Dance, he feels, adds content to a space. He is delighted with what Christy and Diana had created, saying, “The joy I feel from seeing someone express their passion is amazing.” Diana's passion, in particular, he compares to that of Malay dance choreographer Azanin Ahmad, both of them intent on making their own iconoclastic way to shake up the apparently moribund Malaysian dance scene.

Diana, or Didi, Moggie-Arriega, is currently finishing secondary school and is a student of Federal Academy of Ballet. Following on from this “powerful dance performance exploring the relationship between note, motion and utility” (in the form of furniture) she dreams of becoming a choreographer.