10 January 2010
A young dancer-choreographer tells MAX KOH about his journey from Kelantan to the stage.
LAKSHMAN Balakrishnan, or Lex as he is known to his friends, made his presence felt in the dance theatre arena with a role in Fauziah Nawi’s Muzikal Orang Kota Baru in 2003.
The 26-year-old dancer has since been involved in productions such as Tunku The Musical, Ismail The Last Day and Chitra.
He was recently the choreographer for Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts’ (KLpac) Kaki Blue, where he incorporated traditional dance movements in a contemporary setting under the direction of Joe Hasham. The show was an audience pleaser.
“I was really honoured when Joe asked me to be part of Kaki Blue, which was quintessentially a Malaysian musical,” he says over a cup of teh tarik at the cafeteria in Aswara (National Arts Culture and Heritage Academy) where he is pursuing his Bachelor’s degree in dance.
“I had to work with my entire brain to come up with a suitable choreography,” says Lex, who was comfortably garbed in a white kurta and loose black pants, with his curly hair tied into a ponytail.
The tall and well-built guy from Kelantan says: “I started dancing even I was already in kindergarten. I remember the first dance I performed was the tarian tempurung kelapa.
“Michael Jackson and Bollywood films were a staple in my childhood and I even performed in temples.”
His family moved to Kuala Lumpur when he was eight, and at 14 Lex was enrolled in Ramli Ibrahim’s Sutra Dance Theatre where he immersed himself with the classical Indian forms of odissi and bharatanatyam.
He studied diligently until completing his STPM in 2002. Then, Lex decided to pursue dance as a career but it was not met with enthusiasm by his parents.
“At that time, my father, who was in the army, did not approve of me dancing as it does not put food on the table. In fact, it was a struggle to break him out of the mindset that boys don’t dance. But I told them that this is what I wanted to do and they respected me for it.”
His hard work had paid off as his parents now come for every one of his performances.
“They are my number one fans.”
In 2003, Lex went to Chennai where he honed his talent in odissi and bharathanatyam.
When he returned, in 2004, he enrolled himself in Aswara (then Akademi Seni Kebangsaan) for a Diploma in Dance and learnt more about classical Malay dance forms.
“Lecturers like Suhaimi Magi and Aris Kadir were important in helping me hone my proficiency in this discipline,” says Lex.
His talent in various disciplines which includes traditional Indian and Malay dance, jazz, ballet, and contemporary makes him a sought-after dancer and choreographer.
He also acted in projects such as Race by the Rather Peculiar Theatre and Istana Budaya’s Sirih Junjungan.
“Ever since young, I just wanted to become an artiste. I had nothing specific in mind, but I just wanted to immerse myself in the arts — be it dance, choreography or as a thespian.
“I am really happy with what I am doing now. Seeing how dance gets people excited make me happy,” says Lex.
“I owe a great deal to people like Ramli, Aris and Joseph Gonzales (head of dance in Aswara).
“I think the best advice I got was to never stop dreaming.”
