Tubuh : Tanah (A double bill by Sufri Juwahir and Shahrin Johry)

TUBUH : TANAH (Body : Earth) is a contemporary dance double bill exploring identity, memory, legacy, life, death and our relationship with the world we inhabit.

Drawing from Bharatanatyam, contemporary dance and Southeast Asian perspectives, the work journeys through two interconnected states: TUBUH, the body that lives, establishes and leaves its mark; and TANAH, the earth to which the body eventually returns.

In TUBUH, choreographed by Sufri Juwahir, the body becomes a site of identity and self-establishment. Through movement, Sufri explores the ways we construct who we are, negotiate our place in the world and seek to leave something behind. What does it mean to establish a presence, to be remembered, and to create a legacy that can outlive the body? The work reflects on identity as something continuously shaped through lived experience, relationships and the traces we leave behind.

In TANAH, choreographed by Shahrin Johry, the journey turns towards return. Grounded, cyclical and ritualistic, the body confronts impermanence and the inevitability of death. At its heart is an intimate father-and-son encounter. Shahrin’s father, a retired performing artist, enters the work to share his story, memories and experiences of a life lived through performance. Their relationship becomes a meeting point between generations - between what is inherited, what is remembered and what is passed on.

Together, TUBUH : TANAH asks: What do we leave behind, and where do we ultimately belong?

Earth becomes more than a destination. It becomes a metaphor for roots, ancestry, belonging and continuity; the place from which we emerge and to which we eventually return.

Rather than presenting life and death as opposites, the work considers them as part of an ongoing cycle of existence and transformation. Through movement, memory and lived experience, TUBUH : TANAH invites audiences to reflect on identity, legacy, family and the traces we leave in one another - and in the earth we inhabit.

Dance artistes: Shruthi Nair, Shahizman Sulaiman, Eva Tey, Eve Tan, Lee Yee Ling, Mohd Sharul, Briseis Ng, Davinya Ramathas, Rhailly Rabano.

Senior artiste: Muhamad Johry

Music composer/collaborator for “Tanah” : Azrin Abdullah