NUS Ilsa Tari

@nusilsatari NUSIlsaTari TikTok: @nusilsatari

Originally known as NUS Malay Dance Group under the direction of its founding tutor Mr Abdul Rahman Mawari, the group had their first performance at the NUS Welcome Convention in July 1986 at the NUS Forum. In May 1995, NUS Malay Dance Group was renamed NUS Ilsa Tari.

The word ‘Ilsa’ is derived from the Malay word ‘Asli’ to mean native, which signifies a bold new artistic direction for radical creativity in Malay Dance while acknowledging the importance of the past. Establishing strong foundations in traditional Malay Dance forms such as Zapin, Ronggeng, Inang and Serampang 12, together with the traditional Malay martial art of Silat, NUS Ilsa Tari experiments with both traditional and contemporary Malay Dance to push the boundaries of creativity and modernity. Today, NUS Ilsa Tari plays an important part in the evolution of Malay Dance forms relevant to our times by practice, discourse, performance and engagement with the next generation of artists.

Key Past Events

2023 NUS Arts Festival, Pengabdian Batin
2023  GERAK Malay Dance Symposium
2022 Rintihan Buana Showcase
2021 NUS Arts Festival, Renungan Masa Showcase
2021 Rantau Series: Alunan Samudera Symposium & Layaran Sukma Showcase
2019 Dance Exchange with Jakarta Arts Institute
2018 NUS Arts Festival, Titian Naluri
2015 Temasek Berbisik, Whispers of Temasek. A conference on the future of Malay dance (the first of its kind) was held in conjunction with the performance.
2012 George Town Festival, Perjalanan: An Odyssey
2010 NUS Arts Festival, Fitrah, Nature of Self

Awards & Achievements

2015 Production of the Year, Tan Ean Kiam Arts Awards – Temasek Berbisik – Whispers of Temasek
2015 Group of the Year, Tan Ean Kiam Arts Awards
2014 Production of the Year, Tan Ean Kiam Awards – Selamatkan Bumiku – Bumi Mereka… Langit Membelah (Save my Earth)
2010 Production of the Year, Tan Ean Kiam Arts Awards – Fitrah

Dinie Dasuki Osman

Principal Tutor

Dinie is a Malay dance practitioner. He is a dance artist, choreographer and instructor who is rooted in traditional dance and explores its contemporaries; intrigued by the moving body and the synergy between mind and body. Driven by tradition and the traditional form, he is curious about how movement relates to the state of mind.

 

Dinie has been under the tutelage of artistic director and choreographer Osman Abdul Hamid since early 2000s and has trained with regional experts like Tom Ibnur, Ery Mefri and Peter Selayan from Indonesia. As a leading member of Era Dance Theatre, Dinie takes on multiple roles including training, choreography, and conceptualisation.

 

Dinie is also an arts educator and teaches various programmes including CCAs in schools and he holds a Specialist Diploma in Arts Education by National Institute of Education (NIE) International.

Hasyimah Harith

Principal Tutor

Hasyimah Harith (Singapore) is a Malay-Muslim female artist that performs, choreographs and teaches Malay folk dance. Using her body as the starting point, Hasyimah works with the Malay traditions and eroticism, as a way to reclaim agency over her body.

Her working methods involve strategies of boosting libido such as fantasy and intimacy. Her works hope to confront and overcome the conditioned shame and grief that is often attached to female eroticism.
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Hasyimah is Company Manager of P7:1SMA (pronounced as Prisma), a dance company formed in 2016 that believes dance is a strategy, and Malay is a concept. She is a trained Visual Arts educator who specialises in teaching how to create and appreciate Art. Since 2010, Hasyimah contributes as a Malay dance instructor and choreographer at Azpirasi. She is an Artist-facilitator in the Performing Arts Faculty at ART:DIS