The sacred Hindu temple nestled in Batu Caves has played witness to the intersection of ancient culture with contemporary expression. It has modern dancers to thank for that. The landmark is no stranger to footfalls as it is a tourist attraction and a focal point for the celebration of Thaipusam, but having people rhythmically stepping to Major Lazer & DJ Snake’s “Lean On” is likely a first for Batu Caves.
In a wonderful video (click the ‘picture’ above to watch) by Norwegian dance crew Quick Style with Astro Battleground Malaysia dancers in tow, we see more evidence that dance truly knows no cultural nor racial barriers. Heck, why not just mash it all together?
The dance short also plays a little traditional music before the transition into “Lean On” and we get to see some basic parkour by local dancers dressed in cultural Chinese attire. The cinematography is on point and exudes atmosphere, the hip-hop choreography made clever use of their location and Batu Caves received a nice infusion of youth culture as a result of this production.
In 3 minutes and 20 seconds, Quick Style’s Suleman Malik, Bilal Malik and Nasir Sirikhan brought our country’s diversity and beauty into greater exposure on social media. However, the video’s reception wasn’t entirely positive. A quick (pun unintended) look at Quick Style’s Facebook page shows a few commentators who were unhappy with how the sacred place was treated as a dance stage. One comment, for instance, noted how the dancers shouldn’t have performed with their shoes on… and something about leggings in a temple being a no-no.
Others were quick to defend the dancers’ efforts in using Batu Caves as the backdrop for their performance, though. Overall, most agreed that the video showed great choreography and quality cinematography.
What is your own stance on this? Let us know via this poll below:
[wpdevart_poll id=”2″ theme=”1″]
If your view wasn’t represented by any of the “sophisticated” answers above, do drop us your thoughts in the comments section!
Oh, and don’t forget to check out Quick Style’s Facebook page here for more info and updates!
