Dance, an integral part of Malaysian culture, is a favoured art form, aside from music. Being a multicultural country, Malaysian dances are just as colourful as its people where there are various traditional dances for each race, like Malay, Chinese, Indian, Sikh, Kadazan, Iban and so on. Here, Top 10 of Malaysia takes a look at its list of the top new generation Malaysian cultural dancers who have excelled and are making waves in the traditional dance arena, locally as well as abroad.
- Rathimalar Govindarajoo
Specialising in Indian Odissi, Bharatanatyam and contemporary dance, Rathimalar often partnered Ramli Ibrahim at Sutra Dance Theatre for over two decades and worked at Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company (SJDC) in London. Having toured Europe, she returned and produced first choreography work for StarStruck, leading to more and has received many accolades, like Marie Claire’s Women of Style & Substance 2011. The New York Times dubs her, “a dancer who casts a spell of the Odissi form by the fullness with which she performs it”. Collaborating with January Low for Rehab in 2014, she is currently a dance educator at Help International School and freelances, touring occasionally with SJDC.