ABSTRACT
Acceptance of the opportunities of transnationalism, the ability to ‘step directly onto the supranational scene’, must not be accompanied by lack of awareness of the continuing asymmetrical relations of power which exist in the transnational postmodern condition. Taking Suhaili and Shee Hoe as examples the author suggests that, for the younger generation of Malaysian contemporary dancers and choreographers, while the prevalence of overseas training continues, the hegemonic dominance of the nationalist project has waned. Through their personal transnationalist experiences, these younger artists multiply the trajectories of their identities both outwardly and inwardly, upsetting the binaries of ‘us and them’, and in the end disrupting the very concept of ‘Malaysian contemporary dance’. The approaches might suggest a lack of political awareness among the younger generation of Malaysian choreographers. Granted, while trends dictate that contemporary dance choreographers demand more and more input from dancers, this risk of muting is itself enervated.
