November!

The holidays are near! And we've returned from London and ready to put on new performances. Check out the shows below! 

Polka Dot Playground returns to Toccata Studio this 5th November!
 Join us for an evening of interactive and invigorating music! 

Featuring musicians:
Alubakhan Gideon Chen (guqin)

Jimmy Zhai (percussion)

Ng Chor Guan (theremin & laptop)

Venue: Toccata Studio, SS2

Date/Time: 5 November 2014, 8.30pm

Admission by minimum donation of RM25

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=UGFoa804fPA

The 10th installment of Dance=Music Series is here! Beyond Future features two dancers whose passion is with hip hop and newer dance forms.
 Catch Jau Huei and Syaffiq Hambali this 8th & 9th November!

Venue: Toccata Studio, SS2
Date/Time: 8th November, 8.30pm / 9th November, 3pm
Admission by minimum donation of RM25


Don't miss these wonderful showcases of Malaysian contemporary art!
Call/text 016-3618504 to reserve your seats now! 

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. (: 

Dance=Music Series #7 UMBRELLA

Dance=Music Series #7 UMBRELLA



Dancer: Abby Chan , Cai Ying(Hong Kong)
Music: Ng Chor Guan

Date: 27 May & 28 May
Time: 830pm
Venue: Toccata Studio 19 B, SS2/55 , 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Admission: Minimum donation RM25

Contact : 016-3618504
Email: etoccata@gmail.com
Blog: www.toccatastudio.blogspot.com

Presented by Toccata Studio

Dance=Music series 5 "REFLECTION"

DEAR ALL: 
please note, 18/1/2014 830pm show is SOLD OUT. however, you can still catch the show on 19/1/2014, 3pm. see you ! 

“Reflection” has a subtle charm. It brings us to observe the world from the other angle. It brings us to imagine the space and sphere that we are living. How dance and music implicated each other. Perhaps, they are each other’s reflection. Let’s explore the dance and music through their “reflection”! Date & Time: 18 Jan 2014 (Saturday), 830pm Venue: Toccata Studio, 19B, SS2/55, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. Admission: minimum donation RM20 Contact: 016-3618504, 014-2486248 Blog: http://toccatastudio.blogspot.com/ FB: Toccata Studio Dance=Music Series 5 is going to present “Reflection” with local young talented dance artist Lee Ren Xin together with local famous music composer Ng Chor Guan. A collaborative performance between contemporary dance and improvisation music will bring the audiences an unprecedented performance For more information about “Reflection” performance, please call 016-3618504. 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=w1wdxNCSKU8

Ren Xin tributes her love for dance to Michelle Lo.
While performing and choreographing for The Human Expression Second Company in Singapore, Ren Xin studied at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. She went on to complete her BFA at the Purchase Conservatory of Dance, and then danced with LeeSaar The Company in New York in 2011/2012. Ren Xin has presented her own works in Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and the USA, and has performed in works by Wong Jyh Shyong, Choi Myung Hyun, Kuik Swee Boon, and Shen Wei, amongst others. Back home, she recently performed in the Asia Pacific Impro! and d'MOTION Festival. While conditions are tough, Ren Xin finds it makes more sense to make work in the context and community of home. Ren Xin credits her experience of improvisation and instant performance to Keith Henessy, Miguel Gutierrez, and Kathleen Hermesdorf. For her, improvisation is a state, just as performance is a state, just as living is a state, just as Selangor is a state. Just, had to do that.

NG Chor Guan, www.ngchorguan.com

Ng Chor Guan is one of Malaysia’s most sought-after music composers and sound designers.

In 2011, British visual arts pioneers The Light Surgeons develop “Super Everything” for which he is composer, musical director and theremin player, was performed again at the Houston Cinema Art Festival in Houston, USA, in November 2012, and toured the United Kingdom in March 2013. 

His music have been presented all over the world including the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen in Germany, Asian Contemporary Theatre Project in Japan, NyobaKan Butoh Festival, Silk Road Hong Kong Arts Festival, Hong Kong International Arts Carnival, Surabaya Performing Art Festival, The Studio Singapore, Sydney Fashion Week, Hong Kong Cultural Ambassador Program, George Town Festival and more. His works have also been performed in France, Holland, Italy, Canada and Korea.

Chor Guan introduced groundbreaking concepts that have revolutionised the way audiences interact with the music or even participate in the performance. One of his most successful concepts is Mobile Phone Orchestra (MPO). In Malaysia, MPO was performed in George Town Festival, Melaka Art and Performance Festival and Toccata Studio Earth Hour. In 2012, he was invited to perform MPO at The Playable City Sprint at Bristol, UK organised by the British Council and Pervasive Media Centre. He was one of five Asians selected to represent the continent. He was then invited to Korea to perform MPO at the opening ceremony of the 7th Global RCE Conference organised by UNICEF. 

Chor Guan co-founded Toccata Studio, a hub for arts. Here, he launched New Music Series and Dance=Music series. The aim of these series is to cultivate a new cultural language for Malaysia that unites various media, musical disciplines and traditions.

Chor Guan’s film music was awarded Grand Prize in both the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival (France) and Art Film Fest (Slovakia). In 2011, he was awarded a scholarship by Goethe Institue.

Chor Guan also lectures at University Malaya and New Era College. He has also produced 11 albums.  

Dance = Music Series #3

SHIFT AND CHANGE

Poster - Shift & Change

What makes us want to change the situation?

What makes us move the belief-conversion?

What makes us want regime change?

You would rather choose to stop at the origin, or another chance?

Come and witness a combination of dance and music to annotate SHIFT and CHANGE by using dancer body languages.  

Date & Time: 30 May 2013 (Thursday), 9pm

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

Admission: minimum donation RM20

Contact: 016-3618504, 014-2486248

FB: Toccata Studio 

DANCE=MUSIC SERIES 3, “SHIFT AND CHANGE” 

a collaborative performance between contemporary dance and improvisation music. 

This performance will be held on May 30 (Thursday), 9pm at 

Toccata Studio, 19B, ss2/55, Petaling Jaya. 

Local famous contemporary dancer Aida Redza together with 

local young music composer Ng Chor Guan 

will bring the audiences an unprecedented performance. 

Aside from traditional and fixed choreography, 

“SHIFT AND CHANGE” an experimental improvisation performance in 

dance as well as in Music will show the infinite possibilities through arts. 

Aida is one of the most intense and controversial dancer from Malaysia. 

Her performances, both in local and international, has been varied, 

but always bearing Aida's unmistakable stamp of dream, play, 

resistance and revolution.

Toccata Studio, which promotes arts, music and culture primarily, 

is not only a platform for musicians but it is also a place for 

various forms of music and arts. We welcome everyone to join us in our

 effort of creating awareness of arts and join us in supporting our promotion

 for music and arts.

For more information about “SHIFT AND CHANGE” performance, 

please call 016-3618504 or 014-2486248. 

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=gk4yapnp5zY

Photo #1 by Alvin Shen

Photo #2 by Alvin Shen

Toccata Studio

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

Dance = Music series

Double Yellow Line

双黄线

Yellow Lines - Poster

DANCE= MUSIC SERIES 2: DOUBLE YELLOW LINES By 

Rebecca Wong (Hong Kong) and Ng Chor Guan (Malaysia) 

Date & Time: 26 March 2013 (Tuesday), 8pm 

Venue: Toccata Studio, 

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

Admission: minimum donation RM20 

Contact: 016-3618504, 014-2486248 

FB: Toccata Studio 

Aside from traditional and fixed choreography,

 “DOUBLE YELLOW LINES” an experimental improvisation performance 

in dance as well as in Music will show the infinite possibilities through arts. 

The theme “DOUBLE YELLOW LINES” was originated from two artists 

who grow in two different lands, which is Hong Kong and Malaysia. 

Double yellow lines – road marking that distinguish things into two parts, 

isolate the two space and indicate a strong and clear contrast between each other.

 “DOUBLE YELLOW LINES” in this DANCE=MUSIC SERIES 

is a conversation between two different cities and pace of life in a busy and quiet space. 

Rebecca Wong (Hong Kong) 

舞蹈=音乐系列（二）之“双黄线” 

由我国著名音乐家黄楚原和香港青年舞蹈家黄碧琪联合演出 

日期、时间：3 月 26 日 晚上 8 时 

地点：Toccata Studio, 

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

入场：最低乐捐 20 零吉

 联络：016－3618504，014－2486248 

面子书：Toccata Studio 

抛开传统规模式的编排方式，尝试充满实验性多样化的即兴演出，

于“双黄线”擦出全新非凡的火花。 主题“双黄线”起源于两个生长在

不同土地上的黄氏艺术家。双黄线区分了车道，隔离了两个空间， 

形成了明显的差异与对比。舞蹈=音乐系列之“双黄线”讲述两个不同的城市，

不同的空间，不同的步伐； 一个在马来西亚和香港， 

一个音乐和舞蹈，一个繁忙和宁静的对话。

期待透过艺术对这有趣的对比展现无限可能性与乐趣。

Photo #1

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

 PHOTO #1

 

PHOTO #2

  

PHOTO #3

 

PHOTO #4

Dance = Music Series

"Resonance" 

Reviewed by Richard Chua

Photo #1

《共鸣》是马来西亚籍音乐、听觉艺术家黄楚原与舞蹈家林保旭两人在

各自艺术实践上，以听觉元素 （不单只是音乐）以及身体律动作为起点的艺术创作。

林保旭的舞作由个人的体验出发，而黄楚原的听觉艺术则从一个类似学术性质的剖析，

将音的不同元素拆开，针对林保旭的身体进行适当的切入及改造。

在艺术的领域上，古时称为前卫、实验性创作，但在今时今日，

已不在是一种高不可攀的剧场体验；所以，这种创作常被喻为

”小众创作 ” 中的 ” 小 ” 之定义需要再作检讨；此作品应当小，

就因重点不在于景观性 (Spectacle) 的呈献，而是在动作／律动、质感、观点

以及观众的视角，各个不同的层面上进行解析、并加以实验。

当然，每个艺术创作者都知道，一个所谓前卫／试验性的演出有可能是接下来

主流演出的新趋势，但是在这个新趋势还没未来临之前，

小众演出所关注的是艺术创作上的创新、进步。 

《共鸣》之创作，重点在音乐、音律、音符上的转变，加上不同音素之交杂，

与身体之细微动作结合而衍生的有机 (Organic) 剧场体验。

林保旭在身体上的功课，不只顾及音的部分

（脚趾扭动时所产生的音以及呼吸间所产生的气音、气息）

也在寻找他身体上不同质感的可能（Texture) ；

黄楚原则在音符缝隙间寻找能与林保旭契合的听觉元素，

让作品有加强、复合、提升之作用。

这是我们在艺术与美学之学习上所谓架构以及塑造的过程。

这些创作的元素整合起来后，最终想要达到的目的就是要与观众建立一种联系 －

一个剧场感官的联系。 作品最漂亮之处，莫过于林保旭在亲子（人性）美学上

所给予观众，在情感上的联系，以及黄楚源在调整观众情感、

情绪感官上的作曲（设计听觉元素）策略。

观众的情感波动，在最基本的人身（林保旭个人的身体）层面出发，

到林保旭与女儿林子茜之有机 (Organic) 互动所即兴创作出来的动作／行动，

都在在刺激观众理性与感性上的塑成。当然镜子作为表演者与观众之返照的策略，

其恰当处不在话下，也让观众有了自省的机会，并运用另一角度来重新观看

演出及检视自己。 在作品的质感上，空间也占了一席之位。

位于马来西亚 (Malaysia) Petaling Jaya, SS2 的 Toccata Studio，

为私密表演空间也提供了观众一个安全的剧场体验实验室，

场地的限制（尤其是支撑着店屋的柱子）都成为了创作的素材。

空间的窄小度，也让观众能清楚地看到身体上细微的动作。

空间小，也让音素有绕梁之感觉，让音的部分充分地展现它在作品里的潜能。

很多时候，观众都不晓得空间在自己的赏戏感官上的影响，从紧绷到宽敞，

人的身心以及情绪都会因剧场里元素的调配而改变。

Toccata Studio

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

Feedback from audience

We LOVE feedback
from audiences!

This is what   Yong Shuang Chow said about 'RESONANCE' of dance=music series : 

I attended yesterday night's show. 

Throughout the show the music surprisingly caught my attention 

as much as the dance movements, just as what the series itself says: dance=music. 

AS a dancer I always think that it is music that ignites movements. 

Never thought that the relationship could happen the other way round, 

or rather mutually. A simple and comfortable corroboration where sound 

and movements interact 'organically', if there is such a word. 

I was also very touched to see Qian Qian's improvisation session.

 Overall very interesting and I love it. :)

For those who missed RESONANCE show, 

we have dance=music series coming up next in march, stay tuned. 

Toccata Studio

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

Dance = Music Series

RESONANCE 共鸣

Resonance's Poster

A collaborative performance between contemporary dance and music
共鸣， 一场融合即兴现代舞及现场即兴音乐演出

Date日期: January 18 and 19, 2013
Time时间: 8pm
Venue地点: Toccata Studio 

19B, ss2/55, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Admission乐捐: minimum donation RM20
Contact联络: 016-3618504

Contemporary dancer Leng Poh Gee (Head of Department <Dance> Cultural Center, University Malaya) together with music composer Ng Chor Guan will bring to the audiences this unprecedented performance. Aside from traditional and fixed choreography, “RESONANCE” an experimental improvisation performances in “Dance = Music series” to find resonance between dance and music.

由我青年名舞蹈家林保旭（马来西亚大学舞蹈系主任）和我国著名音乐家黄楚原联合演出。抛开传统规模式的编排方式，尝试充满实验性多样化的即兴演出，擦出非凡的火花。舞动的肢体，流动的音乐，寻找舞蹈与音乐之间的共鸣，观察并且聆听身与心的共鸣。

Resonance - Figuring out how body and sound talk to each other in a very organic way.

Toccata Studio

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