Joseph Gonzales lives for dance no matter where he is

MALAYSIANSKINI | When it comes to dance, few people have the kind of passion that Joseph Gonzales has.

His career trajectory could have taken a very different route, but as fate would have it, the path to dancing he ultimately took has only enrichened the arts and culture scene.

A highly versatile dancer and choreographer, the 62-year-old has been a dance lecturer at the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage (Aswara) since 1994 and served as its dean of dance from 1998-2015.

In 2011, he founded and was the artistic director of ASK Dance Company.

Five years later he became the head of academic studies and postgraduate programme leader in dance at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA), one of the world’s leading performing arts schools.

Joseph holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Universiti Malaya, a Masters of Arts (Professional Practice-Choreography) from Middlesex University and a PhD in Dance Studies.

In an interview with Malaysiakini, Joseph recalled his unusual entry into the world of dance.

“I did a lot of theatre, a lot of drama when I was in primary school and high school. I used to write plays, act, and direct. I never really knew what it meant.

“I think that is the beauty of youth. You are fearless. You are never really sure if you are right, but you really don’t care. That is how I have been since I was 10.

“I loved being on stage. I loved the attention and adulation. The exploration of creativity, never knowing that it would be my career,” Joseph, who was back in Malaysia on a short break, said.

After completing his primary and secondary schooling at La Salle, Joseph got a place at Universiti Malaya to pursue a degree in Mathematics.

Coming from a place where multiculturalism was celebrated, Joseph got a rude awakening at the segregation that was going on in institutes of higher learning in the 1980s.

“I was blind. I was completely shocked at the experience that I underwent as a student. It was all about being Malay, Chinese, or Indian.

“I was stuck in the middle because, although I am an Indian, I am not a Tamil-speaking Indian. I can speak Malayalam. I was also a local boy and so I was different from the others who came from villages and smaller towns,” he shared.

He was kept at arm's length initially because he came across as being too westernised. He eventually made friends of all races at university and is still friends with them today.

“I was also saved by dance. Imagine you are 20, haven’t travelled anywhere and all my La Salle friends are studying abroad.”

Coming from a middle-class family, his father instilled the importance of education in Joseph and his siblings.

Born to dance

With a desire to travel and perform, Joseph auditioned for a musical at university and got a part.

“They brought in a choreographer and I thought her steps were not very nice,” laughed Joseph, recalling how arrogant he was.

“I thought I could do a better job and come up with my own steps. I told the director that. Who does that? And the director, bless him, said why not give it a try? It must have been so bad but he gave me that space,” he added.

This was something that stayed with Joseph because he believed in giving people the opportunity for trial and error.

“That is what I carry with me and tell my students. I tell them to try and it does not matter if they are failing. They must give it a shot.”

He joined Kesuma, a dance troupe at UM and the man running it encouraged him to pursue dance.

“My philosophy was - what was there to lose? Why not?”

At 21, he trained as a dancer and worked with dancer Ramli Ibrahim on small projects.

“As time went on I realised that this was for me,” Joseph said.

Upon graduating from university, he went to London and during that period other Malaysians there were also trying to find their way, including artist Sean Ghazi.

Joseph mused how in the 1980s, people like him, Ramli, and Marion D’Cruz travelled abroad in their hunger to perfect their skills and knowledge in the arts.

“We were obsessed, really obsessive compulsive about the arts. This generation just isn’t,” he said.

He reminisced how at the time his peers had little money. They bunked in a friend's flat, slept on the floor and lived on a minimal budget.

“We just wanted to dance. We travelled everywhere to do it. I think today, maybe I am being unfair, but young people want comfort in life.

“Maybe I am wrong. They want to rest after a project. In my time it was work, work, work. If you are on holiday, as a freelance artist, that means no work and no money. We worked as much as we could and with a lot of different people.”

He cited Lee Lee Lan, the founder of the Federal Academy of Ballet, who brought so many different choreographers and artists to Malaysia at that time and dancers like him were exposed to so many styles.

Moving to Hong Kong

After decades of establishing himself in Malaysia, Joseph decided to spread his wings.

“I think it was the spirit of adventure. I still had to explore and I wanted to see how far I could push myself as an artist and educator.

“I was with Aswara for 22 years. It was fortuitous because I was one of the few people who had studied dance overseas and they wanted people with that kind of expertise.”

Joseph’s original plan was to work in Aswara for a few years and then return to London, where he was based, for five years.

“I did not expect Aswara to be so exciting. It was a journey of learning, and discovering my roots or the roots of Malaysia with (the art form of) Bangsawan, Wayang Kulit, and Mak Yong.”

He described it as a great period of learning and he had the opportunity to be in close contact with artists such as Seniman Negara Hamzah Awang Amat (Wayang Kulit), Khatijah Awang, (Mak Yong) and Rahman Abu Bakar (Bangsawan).

In 2015, ASK held a grand graduation project where for a week students performed ballet, Bharata Natyam, and Malay folk dances. There were so many cross-cultural activities going on with students mastering dance forms of other races and perfecting them.

They managed to secure funding from government-linked and private companies. This left Joseph pondering on what else was left for him to do.

“I told myself I did not want to clock in full time. I need to push myself. I did not know how. You send out these messages to the universe,” he recalled.

After Joseph presented a paper at the HKAPA in 2014, they informed him of an opening there. He gave it a shot and secured the position.

But there were other reasons why he chose to spread his wings then. His mother passed away in 2012. So whatever emotional attachments he had that kept him in Malaysia were now gone.

“I felt this great sense of excitement going into the unknown, pushing myself and challenging myself against people who are established in an institution that is already well known.”

Of course, he missed home and had his fish out of water moments, including experiencing the Hong Kong Street protests in 2019.

“I never felt afraid. I always felt a sense of community in Hong Kong.”

Art brings us together

Despite being abroad, Joesph continues to keep in touch with the Malaysian art community and keeps a lookout for new dancers and choreographers he hopes to work with.

“I do miss it here and Malaysia’s diversity,” expressed Joseph.

He even attended a former student’s arangetram (recital) who is ethnic Chinese but studied Indian classical dance.

“These are the things that make me so happy. This is the essence of who I am and who Malaysia is. I asked myself what I really do at Aswara. It was not just creating beautiful dances.

“It was really about promoting and championing this idea that we are a multi-cultural society and finding spaces in the arts where we can look for our similarities and differences, we can grow our artistic voice using these materials without fear or favour.”

On the one hand, Malaysia has an arts scene trying to unite all and on the other, a political scene where you have politicians trying to ban cultural events and concerts.

“One of my most beautiful memories was in Aswara, in 2014 or 2015. One of my Chinese students’ father passed away. I was going to the funeral and asked if anybody wanted to come.

“The whole class ended up going to Seri Kembangan and participated in Buddhist rites.

“I thought to myself, at that moment, I had done my job of teaching these young boys and girls that you don’t have to be afraid of people of different beliefs and you don’t have to feel challenged by those who come from different faiths.”

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