Teater Tari Era

Formed in 1992, this People's Association (PA) Talents Malay Dance group is more commonly known as Teater Tari Era. The dancers perform regularly for many events and major festivals, such as Singapore Arts Festival, National Day Parade, Chingay and many more. They also perform for overseas festivals such as Midosuji Japan, Hong Kong Chinese New Year Parade, Kyongju World Expo South Korea, Surabaya Arts Festival Indonesia and many others. The group performs a wide variety of Malay dance forms, from folk to court dances as well as contemporary works.

Osman Hamid

Osman Abdul Hamid has long been an influential figure in the Malay Dance scene in Singapore. He joined the People’s Association and the former Sriwana Malay Dance Groups in 1979 and was trained by Nongchik Ghani, Salleh Buang and Mdm Som Said. His works are often presented together with live music. He has been, and still is the resident choreographer for the Malay Dance Group of People’s Association (PA) Talents since 1992. NUS Ilsa Tari, a member of the National University of Singapore (NUS) Centre For the Arts (CFA), has also flourished under his care since 1995. Osman plays an active role in the conceptualization and artistic direction for performances and productions of both associations.

Tom Ibnur

Tom Ibnur studied choreography at the Institut Kesenian Jakarta (IKJ, Jakarta Institute for the Arts) and is presently a lecturer with the Institute. He is also the Assistant Dean for the faculty of performing arts in IKJ and is the director of “TARATAK” cultural troupe in Indonesia. Tom has choreographed more than 300 performances for many Indonesian as well as foreign festivals such as the American Dance Festival, Singapore Arts Festival, Indonesian Dance Festival as well as the Festival of World Malay Arts. For his dedication and skill, Tom has received awards such as the Best Choreographer, Dewan Kesenian Jakarta in 1983 and 1984 as well as Best Choreographer, International Folk Festival France in 1993.

Johor Heritage Foundation or Yayasan Warisan Johor

Since 1988, the Johor Heritage Foundation has been established to preserve and perpetuate Malay culture, namely, Johor’s rich arts heritage in its entirety. Apart from research, investigation and studies on Johor’s historical relics, the Foundation has been preserves these resources through exhibition and performance.

Hip Hop, Jogja–style…

Founded by Zuki (from Kill the DJ) in 2003, the Jogja Hip-hop Foundation (JHF) brings different Jogja-based hip-hop crews together to collaborate and grow. Among the various crews, Jahanam, Rotra and Kill The DJ rap in the Javanese dialect and combine traditional Javanese grooves with an urban music beat.

JHF started the Indonesian poetry project in 2006 which spearheaded their success. The Poetry Battle 1 album was produced in 2007 and Poetry Battle 2 in 2008. Both albums consist of poetry and ancient literature from the 18^th century, to contemporary works. Poetry Battle's objective was to promote Indonesian poems to the youth of Indonesia. It was also an opportunity for the JHF crews to learn about the variations and sensibilities of the many different Indonesian dialects.

JHF is currently making a documentary movie titled Hiphopdiningrat; Tales of Javanese Hip-hop which is to be launched at the end of this year.