Hands Percussion is expected to reschedule its 'Collective Sounds – The Journey Home' concert at PJPac to a date later in the year. Photo: Handout
Award-winning percussion ensemble Hands Percussion’s comeback live concert Collective Sounds – The Journey Home at Petaling Jaya Performing Arts Centre (PJPac) next month has been postponed, but its co-founder Bernard Goh says this does not mean its members and collaborators will remain idle.
“We are not going to fold our arms and stop everything. As they say, 'the show must go on'. And that is what we are going to do, ” says Goh, who has not led Hands Percussion out for a concert with a live audience since last February’s Spring Fest 2020 at DPAC.
With the pre-pandemic live routine not a feasible option, Hands Percussion shifted to virtual performances and workshops last year. The multidisciplinary concert Collective Sounds – The Journey Home, featuring a choir, dance company and guest artistes, was supposed to be this year’s big return for Hands Percussion. It was scheduled to play at newly-opened arts venue PJPac from June 10 to 13.
New dates for the show will be announced when the pandemic situation permits. The current movement control order is expected to end on June 7, making it impossible to continue the show, bearing in mind a possible extension of the lockdown.
“We were really looking forward to getting back on stage, to meet our audiences, to perform. There was a lot of time and effort in planning and rehearsals.
“But with the new MCO there is really no other way but to postpone the show, to take a breath and calm ourselves and focus on what we can do, ” says Goh.
What happens to the production now?
The Collective Sounds – The Journey Home was meant to bring together music, dance, vocals and cross-cultural performances at a time when the arts and culture community is slowly recovering.
‘We have to keep ourselves going. We can’t just not do anything,’ says Goh.
From stage front to backstage, jobs were created here... a "new normal" live platform (despite a limited audience capacity) to support performers, musicians, dancers, production crew and theatre staff.
The show, with 11 new pieces, features guzheng player Sara Heng, Malay gendang specialist Matdin Hussin, traditional artiste/National Arts Awards winner Zamzuriah Zahari, soprano/theatre performer Evelyn Toh, La Voce Choir, Fresco Harmonica Ensemble, ITA Ensemble, Ask Dance Company and Hands Percussion.
A show postponement means a major disruption for the line-up of diverse artistes, many of whom will be looking at a blank calendar next month when it comes to theatre work.
With the show expected to be pushed to later this year, will there be any major changes to the scale of the production? Are pandemic-era shows expected to be flexible considering the uncertainties surrounding a live performance?
Thankfully, says Goh, the music and dance routine has already been set. In that sense, no major rehearsals are required at the moment.
“What we are doing now is rearranging the scores to make it stronger and more cohesive so that every piece is linked better. We are also planning to change some parts of the choreography to make it more SOP compliant, ” says Goh.
What that means is that the number of performers (50 originally) will also have to be reduced.
“And since we can’t meet physically, we can’t rehearse now. I mean, with the rising number of cases, it’s dangerous out there.
“But what we are planning is to have our Hands members record their drum routines at home and send it to us for review, ” says Goh.
On the educational front, Goh confirms Hand’s Percussion’s online Chinese drums and djembe classes for public schools, which started last June, will continue.
“We are also planning to do online screenings of our previous shows from the past four years. These were supposed to be released in a DVD format but we are hesitant to do this as people hardly watch DVDs nowadays. So we might just screen it online and make it a fundraiser event for Hands, ” says Goh.
Last July, Hands Percussion presented two digital shows when live performances were not allowed during lockdown. The first was a virtual mini concert titled Be Our Guest on YouTube, followed by digital concert Reflections which was streamed live from DPAC.
In January, Goh put together an online Chinese New Year show called New Year, New Hope with a team of nearly 50 individuals. Pandemic uncertainty will continue to be a huge concern, but Goh is hopeful that the MCO will be lifted in due time, giving the performing arts scene a clear path to reopen again.
“In the past year, we adjusted our pace and continued to rehearse. Never have we thought of giving up and even now, we won’t, ” assures Goh.
