Remember the days of five stones, ibu ayam, frog and shoe? What about childhood memories of funerals turned into one big party?

This year sees a welcome return of Marion D'Cruz and Dancers in a momentous dance project since their critically acclaimed Dance Tonpu 2 in 1996. Malaysian contemporary dance pioneer Marion D'Cruz has assembled the finest ensemble of dancers in the nation to present Playground.

Together with Aida Redza, an exciting young dance artist in the Malaysian theatre scene and artistic director of Shakti Dances, Playground presents a series of stunning dances based on the themes of the magic of childhood and the mysteries of death. The stellar ensemble includes Anne James, Guna, Judimar Monfils, Michael Voon, Vernon Adrian Emuang, Petra Elaine Pedley, Azura Abas, Mohd ArifWaran, Gan Chih Pei and Briana Shay.

As the name of the performance suggests, Playground presents dance theatre focusing on childhood and other stories of the dancers. Each dancer brings his or her own tales into the rehearsal process. Marion and Aida play the important roles of co-choreographers in putting together the final product drawn from elements provided by the dancers. Not unlike a devised play in theatre, Marion and Aida put forward a series of situations and games to tease out the dances by improvisation. Stories are woven in during improvisation to add different emotional layers to the dances.

The themes of childhood, death and ritual are explored because they are closest to our hearts. No emotion is quite as strong as childhood memories invoking sights, sounds and smells that have a significant impact on us right until we die. It is a common thread in all our hearts regardless of race, colour and creed. Marion intends to tap into these memories to invoke dance and drama in the most intriguing way. Since time immemorial rituals and rights have always been a spectacle and often theatrical performance. Marion and Aida have been inspired by the colourful (and sometimes morbid) rituals to devise exciting dance theatre.

Marion's style of dance and choreography has always gone beyond coordinated movements, well-timed steps and beautiful formations. As with contemporary dance, she allows for spontaneous physical expression, gestures and movements, which are primed or inspired by internalised emotions and feelings from dancers. Aida's foray into contemporary dance is also strengthened by her recent involvement in physical theatre which emphasises movement supported by deeper emotional workings. This serves as a perfect partnership between Marion and Aida for Playground.