Asia Dance Channel

The Slave Princess
28-29 August 2009
Tun Raffae Auditorium Yayasan Sabah

By Joseph Gonzales

The production of ‘The Slave Princess’ was organized by The Dance Society of Malaysia, the Rotary Club of Tanjung Aru, The Society of Performing Arts Kota Kinabalu (SPArKS) and SRJK Chung Hwa KK and Living Hope Malaysia as a fund-raising performance for SRJK Chung Hwa Building Fund, Jireh Home, and PACOS Trust.

The production of ‘The Slave Princess’ choreographed by Lee Yupin, was last staged at the Istana Budaya in November 2007 with Bryan Chan and Ellyn Chew and Suhaili Ahmad Kamil as the leads but this East Malaysia production featured a new and younger cast.

‘The Slave Princess’ is a ballet in two acts that tells of the rivalry between the two princes Yubri and Prince Raven, his brother who has a more domineering and darker personality, and thrives on the expansion of the Kingdom. It is he who has discovered riches and the slave girls that are brought to the market. The two princes battle in their differences towards the freedom and treatment of the slaves.

Prince Yubri who is the heir apparent of the Kingdom of Urak is asked by his parents to marry but he unfortunately cannot find a suitable mate although many were introduced to him. This ballet reaches a climax when Prince Yubri falls in love with a slave girl but cannot marry because of the difference of their status in life. However, as ballet stories go, she turns out to be the long lost daughter of a King of a neighbouring country and thus Yubri is permitted to follow his heart and marry her. There is a great celebration in the land.

The principal dancers for this production were Chew Zi Xin who played the slave princess while Lu Wit Chin took on the role of Prince Yubri. Both these dancers were on holiday from the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts where they are pursuing professional training and worked intensively on this production for a period of two months. While only 18, Zi Xin was the consummate professional who played her role with tremendous maturity in expression, an ethereal quality and secure ballet technique, while Wit Chin who is primarily a modern dancer handled his ballet virtuoso role with aplomb. They danced the extremely difficult ballet solos and duets with great style and confidence and brought the house down with their prowess. They shared a sincere and truthful quality that made the roles believable and have tremendous potential for the future.

The cast of the four princesses or Jewels were equally delightful - danced by Teo May Jean, Tan Sheih Mei, Ellya Sam Mun-yee and Isabelle Brouwers - each variation had panache and individuality that brought to life Yupin’s exquisite ballet choreography. They were supported by the veterans of the company Choo Tee Kuang, Low Ming Yam and Joseph Gonzales who had ironically all studied ballet together in 1984 with Elsie Mak. It was a memorable reunion for the ‘character dancers’. This East Malaysia production was supported by 18 enthusiastic dancers from the Alpha Ballet School under the guidance and strict supervision of Ms. Joan Lu, and actors from the Seri Insan School. It was especially meaningful for the younger group of East Malaysian dancers to work alongside their more senior and experienced counterparts from the West and that excitement was palpable and inspiring. The senior dancers too, took great joy in sharing the knowledge and experience and that generosity and spirit of exchange is the most enduring legacy of this production.

It was a great effort to bring a full-length ballet production to Kota Kinabalu and it was warmly and enthusiastically received by an audience that was not familiar to ballet. It was a real treat for the audience and who showed their appreciation with thunderous applause. The efforts by these volunteers and ballet mistress Goh Siew Hiong, who worked tirelessly to stage this production, must be mentioned.

The opportunity to reach a larger community of balletomanes was highly commendable. This effort is crucial in propagating the art of ballet or any art form for that matter. ‘The Slave Princess’ served not simply to entertain but to educate the audience in keeping with the aspirations of The Dance Society of Malaysia. Heartiest congratulations to Sunny Chan and his able committee who have continued to shoulder the responsibility of raising the standards of ballet performance through their annual competition and special performances such as ‘The Slave Princess’ which require selflessness and passion beyond belief. Kudos to all of them, the dancers and the teachers involved.