No ban on Singapore ballet act (5 PICS)

PETALING JAYA - The Malaysian Government has not banned a proposed ballet performance by a Singapore dance company at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac) this weekend, said Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim.

The Information, Communications and Culture Minister refuted an online media report that a permit had been denied due to "indecent" costumes.

In a series of tweets yesterday evening, Dr Rais said he "strongly urged" for the ballet performance, featuring classical and contemporary works, to be held here.

He wrote under his Twitter handle @DrRaisYatim that "The Ballet Illuminations by Singapore Dance Theatre wasn't rejected, no applications were made."

However, he later clarified that KLPac had only sent in the permit application to the ministry's Central Agency for Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (Puspal) yesterday afternoon.

An online news portal reported yesterday that a local dance organisation, MyDance Alliance, said Puspal had rejected the permit.

Meanwhile, Bernama reported a Puspal official as saying that there might have been some miscommunication by the groups claiming that the performance had been banned.

He said Puspal's committee would consider the application, adding that no problems were expected since it had approved a similar application two years ago.

There was also a notice on Puspal's website, saying the report by the online news portal was inaccurate and unfounded.

In an immediate response, KLPac executive producer and co-founder Datuk Faridah Merican said it was unfortunate that the situation had been "blown out of proportion".

She said the required documentation had been personally submitted by KLPac production manager Freddy Tan to Puspal on March 7.

Tan was advised on March 28 that the submission was rejected due to reasons of "costuming" and "foreign performers", added Faridah.

"It is obvious that there has been some serious miscommunication in the series of events that led to Puspal's verbal notification of non-approval," she said in a statement.

The production, Ballet Illuminations by the Singapore Dance Theatre, has been postponed indefinitely.