Passion

Passion promises to start off April with all the sultriness and expressiveness of dance. A new collaboration between choreographer Judimar Hernandez and director Joe Hasham, this dance production is inspired by Carlos Saura’s highly-acclaimed film Tango.

Venezuala-born dancer Hernandez who has been working with Malaysian artistes for the past 13 years says that while inspiration from Saura’s film made it easier to choreograph, the show is not a rehash of the movie. “We had a story to stick to but during the rehearsal process, new stories came in,” says Hernandez.

It promises to be a re-exploration, perhaps even a re-invention of Saura’s film that was most recognised for its stark visuals and set design, something that will be recreated onstage in Passion. The cast (of which Judimar herself is part) of ten dancers were put through basic Tango techniques so as to immerse themselves in the danceform. However, the tango will not be danced during the performance, only inferred.

“I am more interested in the feeling of the form, its expression, its character as an avenue to convey emotions of jealousy, desire, confrontation, power, control, rivalry, pleasure and love.” This Judimar says are the roots upon which her choreography is based, adding that the endeavour has been a passion of Hasham’s for sometime and after meeting with Judimar, it evolved.

“Joe is very focused on the story and I am more into the dance and movements. I choreographed it based on the scenes from the movie that we both agreed to explore. He gave me the direction to create the dance vocabulary suitable to the characters,” she says. The creation of this dance language was further consolidated by improvisation and movement exploration with the cast, who will not speak any form of dialogue.

As Judimar says, “The story will be told through our dancing sequences and body language.” She hopes that the audience will be able to recognize and connect with these emotions and journey with the dancers, as their movements tell the story. For fans of dance, Passion is definitely something to look forward to.

Text Priya Narayanan Photo U-En Ng & Loo Jia-Wei