Versatile: Alex Lim doing a dip with his dance partner while cutting hair. He first incorporated dance moves into his shows in 2006. These days, he is even taking voice lessons from a coach to improve his singing skill.

Twirling, singing and snipping away at hair all at the same time. Brace yourself for Malaysia’s first ever hair concert.

SOMETIMES, life is about taking the road less travelled. Take for instance, Alex Lim, who will be producing and performing the very first hair concert in Malaysia.

It would have been much easier to just hold a normal hair show and have a predictable outcome. Instead, Lim has chosen to undertake the monumental task of not just cutting and styling hair on stage, but singing and twirling models around as well.

Why not just use a minus-one tape recording?

“That would mean accomplishing very little, as anyone can do that. For the hair concert, I will be singing and, while I confess I may not be the best singer in town, it’s entirely all my own effort. It will be a show few can imitate and which one will definitely remember,” says Lim, creative director and founder of La’ Mode Coiffure.

“The theme is Bring Sexy Back. The performance will be an explosion of music, combined with the energy of dance to express La’ Mode’s interpretation of hairstyles in a totally engaging and never-seen-before hair show. We want to show how you can wear your hair as an extension of the personality you’d like to project, and how the right hairstyle can help you feel more confident or sexy.”

The highlight of the show will be a choreographed dance which Lim performs with his model, as he cuts and styles her hair simultaneously.

The performance promises to be a fresh take on the usual hair show, offering a multi-lingual repertoire of songs accompanied by dance performed by Lim himself. Some 15 songs will be presented at the concert, including Mandarin, English, Malay and Hindi songs.

The Kuala Lumpur-born Lim, 50, who is also vice-president of the Malaysia Hairdressing Association, has been involved in dance since he was young, and his forte is jazz and modern dance.

Having enjoyed singing and dancing since his youth, Lim’s talent was recognised when he won a dance competition in his teens without any formal dance training. He has performed short segments in hair-cutting and dancing at the L’Oreal hair show held in Malaysia and for the Makarizo hair show in Indonesia. He first incorporated dance moves into his shows in 2006. Of late, he has added singing into the performance after six years. Currently, he is taking voice lessons from a coach to improve his singing skill.

He is the only hairdresser to have been nominated for the Malaysia Achievement Awards 2012 in the beauty sector. He was also conferred Asia’s Top Fashion Hair Stylist 2010 by the Asian Fashion Media Association in China.

Lim was shortlisted from among participants from 12 Asian countries after videos of his hair shows and repertoire of awards were submitted to the judges.

Then, in China, he had to perform a mandatory hair show on stage to introduce three hairstyles, and what stood out was his unique performance method in which he literally flung a petite model over his shoulders during a Latin American dance while still snipping away.

For the upcoming concert, Lim will be coming up with a list of finalists in his La’ Mode Style Icon Search which began last year, in which over 60 models vied for the award. Judging criteria consisted of acting, modelling and photogenic factors.

The La’ Mode hairdressing team will also be flexing their creativity in hairstyling during the show.

Ultimately, there will only be 20 contenders who will qualify to perform together with Lim in his concert to be held in March. The top four winners will win RM10,000 each, the next four winners will get RM5,000 and the rest will be given RM500.

“The hair concert is something that I thought of when I realised that I could combine my professional skills with my interest in dancing and singing. The hair concert requires multi-talent in hairdressing, singing, dancing and modelling, as well as styling the hair, combined with fashion and make-up. Hence, the concert is called ‘Unity 2013’.

“I hope it will be an inspiring event that will showcase creativity to the rest of the industry.”

Interestingly, Lim also dabbles in hair feng shui as he believes that there is a correlation between a person’s facial features, hair texture and characteristics.

Perhaps, what’s more telling is that he professes to be a stage performer at heart, and given his determination and spirit of derring-do, there’s no stopping Lim when he has set his sight on something he wants to achieve.

The hair concert will be held on March 17 at Publika Mall, Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur. For details, visit lamode.com.my

• Family upholds the spirit of adventure by scaling Mt Kinabalu
• The mind-body link in treating diseases
• Retirees venture into home-based food enterprises
• Ibu Robin Lim advocates natural birth
• There’s no one like Dad
• Travelling opens the window of learning
• Elderly woman's approach to selling kaya catches attention of PJ diners
• Monthly giveaway
• Looking for Malaysians with amazing stories
• Homemade spotty jars