Meniti Cakerawala 2.0, Sutra’s landmark multi-media dance/music/theatre production successfully premiered in Kuala Lumpur, last year in December 2024 is now ready for a Malaysia Tour 2025!
Meniti Cakerawala centres on Malaysia’s prominent astrophysicist Tan Sri Mazlan Othman and her work on astrophysics and as founder of Langkawi National Observatory (LNO). In this production she is the storyteller who shares with the audience, the science and romance of the Cosmos, and our connection to it. Tan Sri Mazlan has always espoused the concept of the interconnectedness of art and science and that they are complementary and not separate.
We believe it is important we tour this production to other parts of Malaysia to reach out to new audience, especially youths around Malaysia.
The second season of Meniti Cakerawala 2.0 will hopefully be performed in at least 6 cities of Malaysia.
Meniti Cakerawala was conceived after the launch of the book Cosmic Connections at the exquisite boutique hotel Ambong Ambong (Langkawi) in 2023.
It was clear from the compelling launch that Cosmic Connections has the potential of being developed into a full scale theatre production.
Conceived now as a unique multi-media dance-theatre production, Meniti Cakerawala incorporates film, music, dance and poetry with art by Jalaini Abu Hassan, and voices by poet Muhammad Haji Salleh, dramatist Johan Jaaffar and actors Mano Maniam & Chacko Vadaketh.
Besides being inspired by the launch of Mazlan’s book, Cosmic Connections, Meniti Cakerawala reveals Tan Sri Mazlan’s contribution to the development of the Malaysia Space Agency and the Langkawi National Observatory. The public is now ready to know more about Astronomy and how our Universe came into being.
Meniti Cakerawala will have Mazlan, herself, as the story-teller par excellence, giving an expose on astrophysics, elucidating the scientific concepts behind the creation of our Universe, at the same time, entertaining us with how the cosmos has influenced our cultures and beliefs.
In her work Mazlan has always emphasised her strong belief in the notion that art and science are intimately and complementarily inter-related.
This production is an insightful and compelling exploration of how stars must die for us to exist and how ‘we are actually made of star-stuff!’
Indeed, it will blast you on a cosmic experience and may even answer your question on ‘the meaning of life!’
Sutra Foundation
Sutra Foundation, a bastion of traditional and contemporary arts bequeathed to Malaysia by Datuk Ramli Ibrahim, was established as a full-fledged Foundation in 2007. Sutra Foundation has been vital in sustaining its activities in the performing arts (Sutra Dance Theatre), exhibitions (Sutra Gallery & KamaRia Gallery) and teaching (Sutra Academy). Immense care and meticulous attention go into crafting a Sutra Production – be it in terms of impeccable design input, selection of dance talent, set design, costumes, lighting or graphics, and marrying them to the conceptual and choreographic intent to assure a flawless production.
Sutra Foundation is guided by its Board of Trustees:
Datuk Ramli Ibrahim (Chairman)
Mr Sivarajah Natarajan
Dato’ Nor Zakiah Abdul Majid
En Abdullah bin Abu Samah
Tan Sri Mazlan Othman
Dr Suresh Nair
Tan Sri Mazlan Othman
Senior Fellow, Academy of Sciences
Malaysia Emeritus Professor
Universiti Kebangsaaan Malaysia
Mazlan Othman obtained a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Otago, New Zealand, and became a lecturer at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in 1981. Seconded to the Prime Minister’s Department in 1990 to establish the National Planetarium and to head the Planetarium Division, which subsequently became the Space Science Studies Division in 1993. Appointed Professor of Astrophysics by UKM in 1994 and Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) in Vienna, Austria in 1999. Returned to Malaysia to become the founding Director General of the National Space Agency (ANGKASA) in July 2002. Attended the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School in 2005. Resumed position as Director of UNOOSA in December 2007. Appointed Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna in June 2009. Retired from the United Nations in Dec 2013. Appointed Project Director, Mega Science 3.0 at Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) 2014 -2016. Became Professor Emeritus at UKM in 2015 and was a Fulbright Scholar at the Space Policy Institute of George Washington University 2015-2016. Elected Senior Fellow of ASM in 2016 and Director of the International Science Council Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific 2017-2021. Currently, the Executive Director of the Tropical Science Foundation.
Datuk Ramli Ibrahim
Chairman, Sutra Fooundation
Ramli Ibrahim – accomplished ballet, modern, and Indian classical dancer with over five decades of performance experience under his belt is also the artistic director of Sutra Dance Theatre for which he has choreographed stunning works, bringing to the scene some of Malaysia’s brightest dance talents. Since his return to Malaysia forty years ago, he has been instrumental in the transformation of Malaysia’s dance scene, boldly charting new paths, and elevating the rich tapestry of multicultural Malaysian Dance – be it contemporary, traditional or modern. Ramli, a stalwart and revered guru himself in Bharatanatyam and Odissi, was once a student of the late Padma Shri Adyar K Lakshman and Guru Debaprasad Das respectively. He has been honoured and awarded for his many contributions and achievements in dance, including the Sangeet Natak Akademi (2011), the Padma Shri (2018) from The Government of India and the National Living Treasure award from Malaysia.
To Ramli Ibrahim “Dance is a celebration and liberation of the body, mind and soul.”
Dr Valerie Ross
Music Composer
Professor Dr Valerie Ross is a renowned composer and researcher with works premiered in major cities in Europe and the Asia-Pacific and performed at many prestigious festivals including the International Rostrum of Composers, Paris; International Society for Contemporary Music World Music Days in Warsaw, Stockholm and Essen. She has received compositional and fellowship awards from the Rockefeller Foundation, Japan Foundation and the Commonwealth Foundation. Valerie was a resident composer at the renowned Darmstadt International Institute for New Music, Germany and the Bellagio Study and Conference Centre, and a visiting research fellow at the Institute for Musical Research, University of London. Valerie was the Deputy Dean of Research and Innovation at the Faculty of Music, Universiti Teknologi MARA.
Valerie is an adjunct professor at the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage (ASWARA), Malaysia. Professor Ross is also the Director of the Centre for Intercultural Musicology at Churchill College, University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Churchill College.
Valerie strongly believes that music promotes healing and wellness. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Valerie has focused on the creation of music and audio-visual content for clinical and home-based use in the fields of complementary and integrative medicine. Continuing a long standing collaboration with Ramli Ibrahim and the Sutra Foundation, a portfolio of original compositions and audiovisual content called ‘Stellar Soundspace’ was thus created for Meniti Cakerawala.
The music comprises electroacoustic compositions using instrumental and electronic sounds created and produced by Valerie using Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro DAW systems. The live and recorded music is designed to immerse creatively with the dance, narration, story-board and staging, stimulating the aural, visual and aesthetic senses of its audience.
