What is healthy living in our fast-paced world? PAD reviews Life, Food & Health, a stunning performance that explores the internal conflict of a human body through live music, contemporary dance, and poetry.
By Hilyati Ramli & Muhanniz Mesri
The Penang dance scene is ushering in 2022 with a theatrical performance by JLDT (Jet Leang Dance Theatre) in collaboration with renowned Penang visual artist Bibichun as well as COMA, a well-known local punk rock band. Currently running at Hin Bus Depot, Life, Food & Health is funded by the Cultural Economy Development Agency (CENDANA) and supported by Hin Bus Depot, LUMA, and Utile.
Life, Food & Health focuses on current issues such as mental health and stigma in a society blinded by the nature of hard work and striving to compete in the Rat Race. When blinded by these pursuits, they forget the importance of living and tend to give little care towards their well-being, making changes in their diets that affects their health. Current society has time constraints when it comes to preparing a proper meal, and as a generation of immediate satiety, opts for processed foods as it saves considerable time.
Photo credit: Yew KH
Set on an open stage in Hin Bus Depot, this 40-minute performance consists of a live band, contemporary dance, as well as singing and narration that charms the audience to bask in the internal conflict of the human body. Showcasing four dancers, one vocalist and one text reader, the performance tries to arouse curiosity amongst the audience as to what a ‘real’ healthy lifestyle is. As mentioned by the director, Jeth Leang, “The trend of people now [is to] look into a healthy lifestyle, all these health products on liquid diets and so on… So I question myself, what’s the real healthy lifestyle?”
The original idea of the performance started with a discussion between Leang and Bibichun regarding this concept of a healthy lifestyle. From there, they decided to visualise the organs of the human body in forms of movement and set largely based on the written text. This visualisation carries through from the design of the set and costumes to sound and lighting design.
Photo credit: Yew KH
As we sit through the opening of the performance, we are jolted out of our seats with a bang as the music captivates our attention, filling the open space with rhythm and melody. While based on COMA’s previous album, the composition of the music has been rearranged for this performance.
The four acts in this performance were developed according to the structure of four human organs (lungs, kidney, liver, and heart) which are represented by dancers Teoh Kelvin, Tai Chun Wai, Yeoh Fei, and Jeth Leang. In terms of set, two significant sculptures were placed strategically on stage for the dancers to interact with during certain acts of the performance.
“We visualised our concept based on colour; each part is represented by one colour. This helps us set the mood, texture, and the feel for what we want to express,” Leang explains. The selection of bright coloured lighting greatly enhanced the representation of each act as it carried different forms of symbolisation and meanings. This also greatly impacted the three poems that formed the narrative of the performance—Blue X Lungs by Nathalynn Edward Lim, Red X Heart by Chrisalynn Lim, and Purple X Kidney by Chrisalynn Lim—which were sung by Penny Chan and read by Lio Li Pons. Besides that, Ashlynn Edward Lim, Chrisalynn Lim and Nathalynn Edward Lim also wrote Disorganisation and What They Said at Dinner which was read by Jeth Leang, Kelvin Teoh, Lio Li Pons, Penny Chan, Tai Chun Wai, and Yeoh Fei, accompanied by music composed by Alvin Neoh of COMA.
Photo credit: Yew KH
When asked about challenges faced by this collaboration, the director highlights that, in having a production that involves various forms of performing arts as well as artist backgrounds, the greatest problem is finding a middle ground in ensuring that all elements of the performance are balanced out and in harmony as a whole. “Mostly on music,” Leang adds, “due to us trying to insert classical or opera singing, spoken word, and text reading into COMA’s music.” Other than that, all four dancers have different forms of training and dance techniques which proved to be quite a challenge throughout the process as “they have to break the boundaries in order to become one.”
All in all, this performance is one that you should not miss. This stunning show engages your senses making space for you to reflect on your lifestyle choices -hopefully bringing about a positive impact towards your everyday life. There are two more shows this upcoming weekend so mark your calendars and strap up for an interesting night out at Hin Bus Depot!
Catch Life, Food & Health at 8.30pm on 16 January 2022. Tickets are available here.
There will also be an artist talk & preview at 3pm on 15 & 16 January. For more information, contact the organisers at business@jetldt.com.
Nur Hilyati Ramli is a Penang-based theatre practitioner from Melaka. A Universiti Sains Malaysia graduate with a Master’s degree in Fine Arts, she has been involved in various aspects of performance locally and internationally since 2004. She has lectured and facilitated children’s workshop performances and performing arts classes under the patronage of organisations such as Ombak-Ombak ARTStudio, Arts-ED Penang, Penangpac, College International Yayasan Malacca, Sultan Idris Education University, and People Theatre Taiwan Troupe. She is currently a theatre lecturer at the School of the Arts, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Muhanniz Mesri graduated from Universiti Sains Malaysia in 2018 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, majoring in Drama and Theatre. Having discovered that theatre is a great platform to help children gain greater self-esteem, improve social skills, and even deal with social anxiety, Muha believes she can use drama and theatre to help empower special needs children at Oaktree Resource Centre.