45 Chapter 4 Forging Traditional Dance in Malaysia Joseph Gonzales, Imran Syafq Mohd. Affandi Introduction e traditional dances that are practiced in Malaysia reflect the diverse ethnic constitution of the nation of 35 million people. is breadth of dance genres includes dances of the indigenous peoples, and the migrant communities that have settled in Malaysia for more than six centuries. However, with the passage of time and urbanization, these traditional dances are increasingly less practiced and becoming seemingly irrelevant in the lives of the younger Malaysians, who are more fascinated by K-Pop and other popular genres. ASK Dance Company 1 is a private dance company based in Kuala Lumpur that has championed the preservation, revitalization, and propagation of traditional dances through its outreach projects since 2011, with the financial support of the Sime Darby Foundation, 2 the charity arm of a large conglomerate in Malaysia. rough a series of programs such as Connecting Communities, Get Malaysia Dancing, Building Bridges and currently, Forging Traditions, more than 20,000 people have been taught a few of these dances. e funding has also enabled the company of young dance artists to sustain themselves in a challenging professional landscape. With the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, Forging Traditions Beyond Borders was launched in 2020 to deliver two dances each year through online platforms. is is a milestone for dance in Malaysia. 1 www.askdancecompany.com 2 www.yayasansimedarby.com