Suara Dance
Suara Dance: Small Commission
Jiwa Movement
Various times, Sunday 7 April NEW DATE
Boiler House Stage, White Bay Power Station
Registration required for workshops
Jiwa Movement invites local and non-local youth and community to partake in dance and body percussion workshops led by Australia’s leading Indonesian dance practitioners and proud Inner Westies', Poppin Jack, Alfira & Murtala from Suara Dance.
Jiwa means ‘soul’ in Indonesian language, and through the workshops we hope to ignite, refresh or discover the jiwa in your movement, learning from the past and traditional practice to comprehend and shape the future of dance for Inner West Kids and Youth. Open to beginners, emerging and professional dancers, the workshops are set against the backdrop of the Sydney Biennale of contemporary art. Jiwa Movement is a series of three Free dance workshops and choreographic labs led by leading Indonesian Dance company, Suara Dance and Australia's most re-known Popping dance style teacher and performer Jack Wardana (aka Poppin Jack) in traditional Indonesian body percussion, contemporary and street dance.
Schedule Sunday 7 April - NEW DATE
1:00pm – 2:00pm Open (Kids, Youth and Adults welcome) workshop with Poppin Jack
Registration required
Register for Jiwa Movement workshops
Registration required
2:15pm – 3:15pm Youth workshop and choreographic lab with Suara Dance & Poppin Jack
Registration required
3:30pm – 3:45pm Special Performance by Suara Dance and participants sharing
Registrations not required
5:00pm – 6:00pm Acehnese Body Percussion with Suara Dance
(Open for Kids/Youth and adults who can sit on their knees!)
About Alfira O'Sullivan
Alfira is Artistic Director and founder of Suara Dance. Born in Perth of Acehnese-Irish descent, Alfira studied at the Institute of the Arts Yogyakarta and Surakarta, and conducted research and trained under master dance instructors in Aceh. Her Bachelor of International Studies from the University of NSW informs her cross-cultural engagements in Australia and abroad and she has completed an Honours thesis in Indonesian Studies at Sydney University, on the history and significance of Acehnese body percussion. Alfira specialises in traditional and contemporary Indonesian dance styles regularly performing at national and international festivals, conducting workshops and creating new work informed by her traditional practice.
About Murtala
Murtala, is a dancer, choreographer and actor from Aceh. Trained in traditional dance from a young age, he furthered his tertiary studies in dance, music and theatre in West Sumatra, and completed a Masters in Dance Choreography from the Institute of the Arts, Surakarta. Murtala is frequently interviewed as a scholarly reference on Acehnese body percussion and currently works as an Indonesian Creative Arts Teacher at Scotts Head Public School. Murtala has been a dance practitioner in Australia since 2008, performing and directing with Australia’s leading Indonesian Dance company, Suara Dance. With Suara, he has toured nationally and internationally, at numerous festivals and international conferences.
About Jack Wardana aka Poppin Jack
Poppin’ Jack has been dancing for as long as he can remember and has worked hard and passionately to get to where he is today. Through years of experience learning from some of the best in the world, Jack has gained knowledge, recognition and a deeper understanding of dance and art of teaching dance. Jack has been involved in the street dance community since 2002 and attended the Newtown High School of the Performing Arts. Running events to nurture and grow the Australian community Jack is seen as a major influence in building, shaping and guiding the younger generation of dancers. Jack has represented Australia at competitions in America, Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore, New Zealand and Taiwan. In 2017 Jack and his Popping team competed in the KOD Street Dance World Cup Asian Qualifier in Seoul South Korea where they beat China and Japan to gain entry into the 2018 KOD Street Dance World Cup.
Jack has delved into the study of Indonesian traditional dance and as a principal dancer for Suara Dance since 2015, Jack has toured extensively throughout Australia performing and teaching Indonesian dance at festivals, schools, communities and universities.
Suara Dance website
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Image Credits
Banner: Legs On The Wall, image by Carlita Sari Photo