A Company of His Own, Badarudin Hassan
- Harun
- Aug 4, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 7, 2019
Aided by his dancers and supporters, Badarudin Hassan has persevered through multiple challenges, and ‘Artistari Gentari’ is now one of the leading Singapore dance groups
“If you have passion in life, keep pursuing it,” says Mr Badarudin, director and choreographer of ‘Artistari Gentari’.
Mr Badarudin, born in 1989, founded his company in 2013. Starting off as a dance Co-Curricular Activity (CCA) for the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), it then branched out into a group of its own, whilst still having a place in ITE. Wanting to be performer since young, Mr Badarudin set out into the world dreaming of entertaining in front of millions. Originally a member of one of the major dance groups in Singapore, Era Dance Theatre (EDT), Mr Badarudin was a passionate performer under guidance who decided to create a sub-group, with its own unique style and vision. With the desire to share and create his own works, Mr Badarudin then formed ‘Artistari Gentari’ (ATG).
ATG consists of 2 teams, both requiring a lot of manpower to manage. The student team, based in ITE and dances for school programmes, and the external team performing for clients such as weddings and even corporate events.
After they graduate from ITE, student team members can also choose to join the external team as a member.
One of Mr Badarudin’s inspirations growing up was a locally born artist, Najib Ali, most known for his hosting gigs such as ‘We Are Singaporeans’ and ‘Sinar Lebaran’. Unlike most boys whose idols growing up were David Beckham or Fandi Ahmad, Mr Badarudin aspired to do a multitude of things, like the talented Najib Ali, himself.
Mr Badarudin has a close relationship with his dancers, most calling him by an endearing name, Abang Bada which translates to ‘brother’ in Malay.
One of the youngest members, Mohd Ian Shazad, 16, sees him as a father figure. Another dancer, who has known Mr Badarudin for almost 12 years, Muhd Asri Razali, 30, is best friends with him and is now a full-time member after joining in April 2019. He says he developed an interest in “the direction the group was heading towards, in terms of artistic vision”.
ATG’s members range from graphic designers to secondary school students. All of whom view Mr Badarudin as a boss, finding him to be unique in the way he interacts with others and how he conducts his work. Most noting his perfectionist attitude and attention to detail as his most unique attribute.
Mr Badarudin believes that he is giving back to the community by passing on his experience and knowledge, such as the meaning behind certain movements to his dancers as well as performing for a variety of audiences to expose the Malay culture to the world. However, Mr Badarudin faces a common struggle amongst other dance companies in Singapore; engaging the youths to be proud of their heritage.
Admittedly, there have been multiple efforts by both the government and society to engage youths to be proud of their heritage. The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) has launched several programs and events such as the ‘Youth Conversations’ and the long-term national drive, ‘Our SG Heritage Plan’.
On the other hand, society provides opportunities for youths to earn and learn by joining independent companies such as ATG and EDT. In these companies, youths are able to have an education whilst pursuing their passion and promote their own cultures.
Despite having trouble recruiting new members due to the influx of influence from the western media, Mr Badarudin remains positive and pushes on with his vision, ‘To Create and Strengthen a New Generation of Dancers’.
When asked about the future of the company, Mr Badarudin simply replied that he will keep fighting, saying that “the struggle is real”, and that one should not stop fighting for his passion.
Mr Badarudin is confident in the survivability of his company by using various media platforms as a tool to keep up with the times and he will continue the fight for as long as he can.
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