March is here!

What is CAKE PROJECT?

CAKE PROJECT is a micro crowd-funding project by Toccata Studio which aims to build a strong and diverse network of local art practitioners and audiences. It started as a nostalgic idea of wanting to recreate the atmosphere of Sunday afternoon chit-chat with tea and cakes among friends and family where one could bounce ideas about each other. The current version of CAKE PROJECT is a better structured one where ideas can be turned into projects with the money from the audience and arts community. 

Who goes to CAKE PROJECT? 
People who want to share and realise their creative ideas and people who want to see new things come to live and help artists realise their projects! 
• Dreamers (presenter): eager people who have creative ideas and want to realise them! (We welcome all art practitioners, professional and amateur alike!)
• Audience (voters): people who want to see and hear new, creative things and support them.

How does CAKE PROJECT work?
CAKE PROJECT happens bi-monthly on odd months (i.e January, March, May etc). There is a PRIZE POT in a corner of Toccata Studio where people can contribute any amount CAKE PROJECT. Admission to CAKE PROJECT is at a minimum of RM15 per person, which adds on to the accumulated amount in the PRIZE POT, which will go to the winner at the end of the day. In return, audience and presenter will both enjoy tea and a slice of homemade cake sponsored by kind aunties in the neighbourhood.
• Each presenter is allocated 15 minutes of the floor: 10 minutes for presenting their idea + 5 for a quick Q&A session.
• At the end of the presentation period, each person is entitled to one (1) vote of their choice.
• Votes will then be collected and counted by Toccata Studio while everyone enjoys a slice of homemade cake with coffee or tea.
• Occasionally there may be performances or talks by special guests; sometimes past winners of CAKE PROJECT will return to share the progress of realising their project.
• The project with the most votes wins, and is the recipient of all the money in the PRIZE POT. 

If you would like to come to CAKE PROJECT as a Dreamer, do not hesitate to contact us. Submit a simple write up (no more than 200 words) about your idea/project to etoccata@gmail.com.

If you would like more information before making a decision, do not hesitate to contact us:

phone: 016－3618504 / email: etoccata@gmail.com.

please browse our YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC-KwEQ28-k

Fans and friends of FUGU, take note! 

FUGU has returned and will be playing at Good Friends Cafe 10th March. 

Date/Time: 10/3/2015 (Tuesday), 8.30pm 

Venue: Good Friends Cafe, 15 & 17, Jalan SS 15/8a, Ss 15, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor

Admission by minimum donation of RM30 

Early birds pay RM25 with special gift! (before 5/3/2015)

Call/text 016-3618504 or email etoccata@gmail.com to get your seats now!


Please browse our youtube website to watch the teaser if you've missed it.

Here is the youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzp1oSHStEo

Happy Merdeka Day!

It's the long Merdeka weekend! What are your plans?

Here at Toccata Studio we're busy with the last bits of preparation for the art exhibition next week (come to the opening! It's 6/9/14, a Saturday), and also for the 14th Cake Project! Have you checked out our Cake Project page on Facebook recently? We post stuff about creativity and inspiring things regularly! Go now!

The Rakyat Post compiled 5 of this year's Merdeka ads and this below is our favourite! Go check the rest of them out, if you like!

::::::::

Once again, Happy Merdeka Day! 

And have a great weekend. 

Thanks for reading. (: 

It's Mid July!

It's Dance=Music Series: Moonlight! 

Today is the second show for Dance=Music Series: Moonlight! Will you be joining us? It's at 3pm, at Toccata Studio, 19b, Jalan SS2/55 47300 Petaling Jaya (above Poh Kong SS2). We had an amazing show last night, with rather enthusiastic young members in the audience. It is always a pleasure to have children be exposed to the arts; their curiosity and wonder know no bounds!  

July has been busy and fulfilling, so far! In the first weekend we had Cake Project #13, where three dreamers submitted their proposals for a chance to kick start their projects; Lee Siew Min's idea, Art Elongation, is to connect the community to art by gathering people together to draw and paint on the same canvas. Second presenter, Teo Wey Herng, wants to organize a workshop titled Building Blocks for children to teach them about stories and the art of story telling. Third presenter is dancer Lee Ren Xin, whose proposal B.E.D. is a piece of dance theatre discussing the ideas and stories about resting and beds. 

 Lee Siew Min: Art Elongation

Teo Wey Herng: Building Blocks.

Lee Ren Xin: B.E.D 

 The audience listening in rapt attention.

The vote! Our cake sponsor did an amazing job 

with the Hummingbird cake, yum! 

Stay tuned for more updates about events! Thank you for reading. (: 

Today we're sharing a TED Talk that inspires us! Watch it, or save it for a Saturday afternoon, and come join us on Sunday. (click on the quote to get to the TED talk!)

1. Béatrice Coron is a papercutter artist who tells stories with layers of papercutting. 'But the result is always to have stories. So the stories, they have a lot of possibilities.' She became an artist only at 40 years old! Art and creativity has no age limit, friends! 

What do Creative People Say?

5 days to CAKE Project #13! Today we bring you 13 quotes on creativity by those of the creative ilk! 

Edward de Bono of 6 Thinking Hats says: 

We need creativity in order to break free from the temporary structures that have been set up by a particular sequence of experience. 

Edwin Land, the co-founder of Polaroid tells us to not fear failure: 

An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail. 

Controversial performance artist Marina Abramovic is a bit stern, but speaks the very truth: 

Your ego can become an obstacle to your work. If you start believing in your greatness, it is the death of your creativity.

Classic Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe (really, she needs no introduction) reminds us of the humanity in creativity: 

Creativity has got to start with humanity and when you're a human being, you feel, you suffer. You're gay, you're sick, you're nervous or whatever. 

The great American poet of the 1920's T.S. Eliot remind us how anxiety is absolutely normal:

Anxiety is the hand maiden of creativity. (x)

Contemporary dancer and choreographer Twyla Tharp reminds you to make creativity (creating) a habit:

Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is the result of good work habits. 

Yo-yo Ma, a world renown cellist and the founder of the Silk Road Project, says this about creativity: 

Passion is one great force that unleashes creativity, because if you're passionate about something, then you're more willing to take risks.

The powerful and inspirational African-American civil rights activist, Maya Angelou (may she rest in peace and power), believes that creativity is an innate quality:  

Everybody born comes from the Creator trailing wisps of glory. We come from the Creator with creativity. I think that each one of us is born with creativity.

Beyonce Knowles (who needs no introduction, the Queen Bee of pop music!) says creativity is her life: 

If I weren't performing, I'd be a beauty editor or a therapist. I love creativity, but I also love to help others. My mother was a hairstylist, and they listen to everyone's problems - like a beauty therapist!

Impressionist painter Henri Matisse reminds you to be courageous about your art: 

Creativity takes courage. 

Ken Robinson, who writes about creativity and finding one's passion says this: 

Creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value. It is a process; it's not random.

Yoko Ono, a musician, artist and most known for being John Lennon's (of the Beatles) second wife, says this about her music: 

I always believed that my work should be unfinished in the sense that I encourage people to add their creativity to it, either conceptually or physically. Back in the 1960s, I was calling for 'Unfinished Music,' number one, and number two, with my artwork - I was taking unfinished work into the gallery. And that's how I was looking at it.

We'll end this post with another quote from dancer and choreographer Twyla Tharp, who reminds us that creativity is for everybody: 

Creativity is not just for artists. It's for businesspeople looking for a new way to close a sale; it's for engineers trying to solve a problem; it's for parents who want their children to see the world in more than one way.

We'll stop here, for now. Hope you've been appropriately encouraged and motivated reading these quotes; we'd love to see you this Sunday, whether as part of the audience or one who comes forward with a proposal. Though if you do have a proposal, send it to us (etoccata@gmail.com) immediately! 

Quotes taken from brainyquote.com. Check them out if you need extra motivation! 

Six days to a CAKE project Sunday!

CAKE Project #13 is less about cake and more about creativity! (We still love cake, though. We love cake. A lot.) Creativity comes in many many ways, yet when we go seeking for it, it is more often than not, very very evasive. We end up procrastinating and waiting for the elusive 'inspiration'. How do we be productive and creative at the same time?

At Brainpickings (one of our favourite websites), Maria Popova and cognitive scientist Alexandra Horowitz discusses productivity, and to a certain extent, the art of looking and observing, a skill all creative people need.

When you look closely at anything familiar, it kind of transmogrifies into something unfamiliar — the sort of cognitive version of saying your name again and again and again, or a word again and again and again, and getting a different sound of it after you’ve repeated it forty times. 

Click through to read/hear more about the conversation!

A Week to Cake Project #13!

Hello friends, July is closing in and we're already in the middle of 2014! How time has flew, indeed. Today at Toccata we're at the last legs of preparation for the first Dance Dance Dance showcase (it's tonight!), an initiative led by dancer and choreographer Steve Goh, where dancers can come together to learn and connect with each other in contemporary dance. Hope to see you tonight! 

July also means another Cake Project session! It's the 13th this time around, and we're hoping that this particular number won't jinx the number of proposals we might receive. *fingers crossed* If you have a proposal or an idea that needs funding or just a proper hashing-out or an audience - who isn't family or friend - to maybe give you feedback, send us your proposal already! We can't wait to hear you out (and maybe vote for you so you can realise your dreams). 

We'll be posting creativity-related stuff this entire week both on Facebook and here, so stay tuned! Meanwhile, enjoy the slideshow of pictures from past Cake Project afternoons. (: 

Cake Project #11

19b, Jalan SS2/55, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

CAKE PROJECT is a combination of CAKE + creative ideas kick-off point funding project.

What is Cake Project?
• A combination of CAKE + CREATIVE IDEAS kick-off point micro-funding project which aim to build strong, generous and diverse network of local art practitioners and audiences.

Who is attending?
There are two groups of people at the event:
1) Group ONE – those who have a creative idea to propose (participants/presenter)
2) Group TWO – those who support creative ideas who comes in as voters (audiences/voters)


How it works?
1)
During the event, every person will be asked to donate a minimum of RM15, which goes to the PRIZE POT. In return, you’ll share a piece of homemade cake and coffee/tea, at the same time eligible to vote for ONE creative idea.
2)
- People from Group ONE – Creative art practitioners including artists, musicians, writers, performers, filmmakers, dancers, designers and the like, will present their creative idea one group by one group. (10 minutes presentation + 5 minutes Q&A session per group)
- People from Group TWO – voters will vote for ONE creative idea they would like to support.
3)
While votes are being collected, everyone will enjoy a piece of cake with coffee/tea
4)
Occasionally there will be performances or talks by special guests, OR return of past winners to share the progress of their winning project.
5)
Winner announcement - The one who get most votes wins the PRIZE POT.


Please submit your ideas not more than 200 words to etoccata@gmail.com by 28th February 2014.

For more information please call 016－3618504 or email to etoccata@gmail.com.

Cake Project #10

Great opportunity to kick start your creative ideas!

What is Cake Project?
• A combination of CAKE + CREATIVE IDEAS kick-off point micro-funding project.
...
Who is attending?
• People who support arts, people who are passionate about life, people who loves creativity, people who are interested in making the society a better place.
• There are two groups of people at the event:
Group ONE – those who have a creative idea to propose
Group TWO – those who support creative ideas who comes in as voters
*Public participation and discussion encourage the success of Cake Project.

How it works?
• During Cake Project, every person will be asked to donate a minimum of RM15, which goes to the PRIZE POT. In return, you’ll share a piece of homemade cake and coffee/tea, at the same time eligible to vote for ONE creative idea.
• People from Group ONE – Creative art practitioners including artists, musicians, writers, performers, filmmakers, dancers, designers and the like, will present their creative idea one group by one group. (10 minutes per group)
• People from Group TWO – voters will vote for ONE creative idea they would like to support.
• Occasionally there will be performances or talks by special guests, OR return of past winners to share the progress of their winning project.
• Votes are collected – the one who get most votes wins the PRIZE POT.

Please submit your ideas to etoccata@gmail.com by 29th November 2013, Friday.

For more information please call 016－3618504 or email to etoccata@gmail.com.

Cake Project #9

CAKE PROJECT #9

Organizer            ：TOCCATA STUDIO

Date                      : 6th October 2013

Address               ：19B, SS2/55, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Phone no.            ：016－3618504

Email add.           ：etoccata@gmail.com

Facebook            ：toccata studio

Website               ：www.toccatastudio.blogspot.com           

Coffee + Cake, what’s more?

What is Cake Project?

• A combination of CAKE + CREATIVE IDEAS kick-off point micro-funding project.

Who is attending?

• People who support arts, people who are passionate about life, people who loves creativity, people who are interested in making the society a better place.
• There are two groups of people at the event:
  Group ONE – those who have a creative idea to propose
  Group TWO – those who support creative ideas who comes in as voters
• Public participation and discussion encourage the success of Cake Project.

How it works?

• During Cake Project, every person will be asked to donate a minimum of RM15, which goes to the PRIZE POT. In return, you’ll share a piece of homemade cake and coffee/tea, at the same time eligible to vote for ONE creative idea. 

• People from Group ONE – Creative art practitioners including artists, musicians, writers, performers, filmmakers, dancers, designers and the like, will present their creative idea one by one.
• People from Group TWO – voters will vote for ONE creative idea they would like to support.
• Occasionally there will be performances or talks by special guests, OR return of past winners to share the progress of their winning project.
• Votes are collected – the one who get most votes wins the PRIZE POT. 

Cake Project #8

Kick Start Your Creative Ideas!

Cake of the day, sponsored by Aunty Nancy, yummy!

CAKE PROJECT - a non profit micro funding event that kick start your creative ideas! 

Arts enriched. Be inspired.

Presenter SowYee giving her speech.

Presenter KimLee (Winner of the day) presenting her idea. 

Presenter Zoe Tan telling us her idea.

Guest Performer: Platform 11

Toccata Studio

Toccata Studio, 19B, SS2/55, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Creativity needs your support!

Cake Project #5 

点子计划＃5 

让梦想绽放

CAKE PROJECT 

is a combination of CAKE + 

creative ideas kick-off point funding project.

Organiser：TOCCATA STUDIO

Address：19B, SS2/55, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Phone no.：016－3618504

Email add.：etoccata@gmail.com

Facebook：toccata studio

Cake Project offers an opportunity to the creative community to make possible ambitious projects for future development. This bi-monthly events aim to build a strong, generous and diverse network of local art practitioners and audiences. Public participation and discussion encourage the success.

How it works?

• Artists, musicians, writers, performers, filmmakers, dancers, designers and the like, all are welcome to submit proposals to be considered for funding. 
• At the event, every person will be asked to donate a minimum of RM15, which goes to the prize pot. In return, you’ll share a piece of homemade cake and coffee/tea, at the same time eligible to vote for ONE proposal you think has the best creative idea.
• Each participant who has submitted proposal is required to make a brief presentation on his/her submitted idea. Occasionally, there may also be performances or talks by special guests.
• At the end of the event, votes are counted. The winner receives the prize pot (the evening’s donations) and will be invited to present the outcomes of their project at the next event.

So, you can participate by sending in your proposal, present your idea, hear the other ideas and vote on your favourite;

OR

You can join as a voter, listen to new ideas, enjoy a piece of cake and coffee/tea and vote on the idea that you like most to see it happen.

Either way everyone gets to vote.

If you would like to submit an idea, deadline for submission is at 12 noon last Sunday of every even numbers month in order to participate at the following month. (i.e. April, June, August…) If you would like to attend this event, it will be held at 3pm on first Sunday of every odd numbers month. (i.e. May, July, September, November…)

Submission of proposal for CAKE PROJECT

We welcome creative ideas of any art forms.

How to submit a proposal?

• All proposal submission to be hand in to TOCCATA in person or send by email toetoccata@gmail.com

• Winner of CAKE PROJECT must premier their project in the said proposal at TOCCATA within one year from winning date. TOCCATA studio will invite past winner to attend coming Cake Project from time to time to follow up the progress of their project.

• Same proposal cannot be resubmit continuously on the following session. (i.e, if your proposal does not win on May 2012 session, you can only resubmit from September 2012 onwards)

• All proposal submission must reach TOCCATA before 12 noon on last Sunday of the even numbers month to participate for CAKE PROJECT on the first Sunday of next odd numbers month.

Thanks to our cake sponsor Aunty Nancy.

点子计划 ：一项让创意点子揭开序幕的微资金计划

主办单位：TOCCATA STUDIO

地址：19B, SS2/55, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

电话：016－3618504

电邮：etoccata@gmail.com

面子书 ：toccata studio                    

点子计划旨在提供原创社群一个让创意出发的平台。这项每两个月举办一次的计划目的在于建立艺术从业者与观众群之间巩固、定期而直接的关系。在点子计划实行下，艺术从业者与观众群有更多机会接触、互动与了解，让广大群众有更多机会深入跟进与全面追击艺术创作的完整过程。

点子计划如何操作？

• 我们欢迎画家、音乐家、作家、演艺家、电影制作人、舞蹈家、设计师, 摄影师等任何艺术领域从业者呈交简短的创新点子计划，以便从中考虑出席点子计划微资金实行日的候选人。

• 在点子计划微资金实行日，我们邀请广大群众出席参与。所有出席者必须以至少十五零吉的最低捐款为入门通行价，所有款项将被收入捐款箱。每一位出席者都将获得一片自制蛋糕与咖啡或茶。与此同时，每一位出席者都将自动获得投一票的权利。

• 候选人将受邀请分别介绍各自的创新点子计划。在介绍的休息时间，将会有简短的特别嘉宾演奏。聆听所有候选人的创新点子计划之后，所有出席者须决定投出手上的一票给于最欣赏的创新点子。

• 点子计划微资金实行日的最后一个阶段，所有投出的票将被计算。得票最高的创新点子计划将获得捐款箱内的现款，作为该计划揭开序幕的第一笔微资金。获奖人也将受邀参与未来的微资金计划实行日，以便所有出席者能跟进该计划的进行，体验从零开始至完成一项创意艺术计划的整个过程。

您如何参与点子计划？

您可以呈交简短的创新点子计划，成功成为候选人即将受邀到创新点子计划实行日介绍您的创新点子计划，出席聆听各个候选人的创新点子计划，投出手上的一票。

或

您可以以投票者身份出席创新点子计划实行日，享用一片自制蛋糕，咖啡或茶，聆听各个候选人的创新点子计划，选择您最希望看到的计划，投出手上的一票。

无论您以任何身份出席，您都有投出一票的权利。

如果您想要呈交简短的创新点子计划，截止日期为每个双数月份（例：四月、六月、八月等等）最后一个星期日中午十二时。如果您想要出席点子计划微资金实行日，时间日期定于每个单数月份（例：五月、七月、九月等等）的第一个星期日下午三时正。

如何呈交简短的创新点子计划？

• 我们欢迎任何艺术领域任何形式的创新点子计划。所有参与的简短创新点子计划必须亲自呈交 TOCCATA 或电邮 etoccata@gmail.com

• 创新点子计划微资金的得主必须在获得微资金当日计算起一年之内首演该计划。

• 已呈交的同一创新点子计划如果不成功成为候选人，必须等到相隔两个月之后才能再度呈交。
  （例：如果您在五月呈交创新点子计划而无法成为候选人，下一次再度呈交同一计划的月份将是七月或以后。）
• 所有参与的简短创新点子计划必须在每个双数月份的最后一个星期日中午十二时之前呈交 TOCCATA STUDIO，以便参与下一个单数月份第一个星期日的点子计划微资金实行日。

Toccata Studio

19B, SS2/55, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. 

Cake Project #3

Winner of Cake Project #3

Congratulations to our winner of Cake Project #3 -  

Okui with her proposal "As if Home?"

huge thanks to our cake sponsor "this&that Cafe" for the yummy tiramisu, 

if you would like to place an order or pop in to the cafe, 

please visit 

http://www.facebook.com/clickacake 

for more information.

Thanks to our guest performer of the day, Lai Chee and SOUBi SHA http://www.facebook.com/SouBiShaPusatTarianRoseQiangWeiWuTaShe

Okui - Winner of Cake Project #3

Butoh performance by Lai Chee

Toccata Studio

19B, SS2/55, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Dreams

Cake Project #3

Next CAKE PROJECT 

2nd September 2012, 3pm
THANKS to our cake sponsor: THIS & THAT CAFE, 

1-39, Jalan Puteri 4/6,  Bandar Puteri 

47100 Puchong, Selangor.

点子计划 ：一项让创意点子揭开序幕的微资金计划

主办单位  ：TOCCATA STUDIO

地址 ：19B, SS2/55, 

47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

电话  ：016－3618504

电邮 ：etoccata@gmail.com

点子计划旨在提供原创社群一个让创意出发的平台。这项每两个月举办一次的计划目的在于建立艺术从业者与观众群之间巩固、定期而直接的关系。在点子计划实行下，艺术从业者与观众群有更多机会接触、互动与了解，让广大群众有更多机会深入跟进与全面追击艺术创作的完整过程。

点子计划如何操作？

• 我们欢迎画家、音乐家、作家、演艺家、电影制作人、舞蹈家、设计师, 摄影师等任何艺术领域从业者呈交简短的创新点子计划，以便从中考虑出席点子计划微资金实行日的候选人。

• 在点子计划微资金实行日，我们邀请广大群众出席参与。所有出席者必须以至少十五零吉的最低捐款为入门通行价，所有款项将被收入捐款箱。每一位出席者都将获得一片自制蛋糕与咖啡或茶。与此同时，每一位出席者都将自动获得投一票的权利。

• 候选人将受邀请分别介绍各自的创新点子计划。在介绍的休息时间，将会有简短的特别嘉宾演奏。聆听所有候选人的创新点子计划之后，所有出席者须决定投出手上的一票给于最欣赏的创新点子。

• 点子计划微资金实行日的最后一个阶段，所有投出的票将被计算。得票最高的创新点子计划将获得捐款箱内的现款，作为该计划揭开序幕的第一笔微资金。获奖人也将受邀参与未来的微资金计划实行日，以便所有出席者能跟进该计划的进行，体验从零开始至完成一项创意艺术计划的整个过程。

您如何参与点子计划？

您可以呈交简短的创新点子计划，成功成为候选人即将受邀到创新点子计划实行日介绍您的创新点子计划，出席聆听各个候选人的创新点子计划，投出手上的一票。

或

您可以以投票者身份出席创新点子计划实行日，享用一片自制蛋糕，咖啡或茶，聆听各个候选人的创新点子计划，选择您最希望看到的计划，投出手上的一票。

无论您以任何身份出席，您都有投出一票的权利。

如果您想要呈交简短的创新点子计划，截止日期为每个双数月份（例：四月、六月、八月等等）最后一个星期日中午十二时。如果您想要出席点子计划微资金实行日，时间日期定于每个单数月份（例：五月、七月、九月等等）的第一个星期日下午三时正。

如何呈交简短的创新点子计划？

• 我们欢迎任何艺术领域任何形式的创新点子计划。所有参与的简短创新点子计划必须亲自呈交 TOCCATA 或电邮 etoccata@gmail.com

• 创新点子计划微资金的得主必须在获得微资金当日计算起一年之内首演该计划。

• 已呈交的同一创新点子计划如果不成功成为候选人，必须等到相隔两个月之后才能再度呈交。（例：如果您在五月呈交创新点子计划而无法成为候选人，下一次再度呈交同一计划的月份将是七月或以后。）
• 所有参与的简短创新点子计划必须在每个双数月份的最后一个星期日中午十二时之前呈交 TOCCATA STUDIO，以便参与下一个单数月份第一个星期日的点子计划微资金实行日。

Toccata Studio

19B, SS2/55, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.