LASALLE
by LASALLE College of the Arts & Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
15 – 17 Oct 2015 Thu & Fri, 7.30pm Sat, 2pm Esplanade Recital Studio
DA:NS TURNS
1hr 10mins, no intermission
NAFA
Festival Message Where has the time gone? da:ns festival turns 10 this year and it seems like only yesterday when we presented our first edition. At da:ns festival, our sense of time shifts. As we watch bodies move on stage, or as we ourselves dance, time as we know it, is suspended, and we become attuned to time driven by the body and its unique rhythms in movement. Over the years, we hope the festival has given you several experiences and memories that have expanded your sense of movement, and opened you up to different expressions of dance. The festival team has had the pleasure of creating this dedicated event, growing a myriad of platforms in our festival that support the development of dance. To encourage more people of all ages to try dancing, we have worked with Singapore dance studios to provide fun and easy dance lessons that everyone can enjoy both inside our rehearsal studio, outdoors along our waterfront and around Singapore. Last year, we welcomed over 28,000 participants to these sessions and the overall da:ns festival has doubled in audience size since it’s first year. To support the creation of new dance works, da:ns festival commissions, co-produces and provides residencies for artists. This has led to long-lasting relationships with artists we deeply admire for their dedication and creativity, and enabled 23 new dance creations, the majority from Asian dancemakers.
Esplanade’s da:ns festival programming team (L-–R: Marlene Ditzig, Iris Cheung, Faith Tan, Emily J Hoe, Rydwan Anwar, Christel Hon & Shireen Abdullah. Not in photo: Suhana Laila Abdul Shukur, Fezhah Maznan & Joyce Yao)
So this year, for our special 10th anniversary, we have invited several of these artists to celebrate this special occasion with us, some of whom are marking significant milestones in their own personal careers. We host the legendary Sylvie Guillem, who returns to da:ns festival with her final world tour before retiring from 35 years of dancing, while Singapore choreographer Kuik Swee Boon creates a work that brings together leading dance-makers in their 40s back to the stage. The festival would have not been possible without our supportive audience of dance lovers, the dance-makers who continually inspire us, our festival sponsors and partners who have shared our belief in the significance of dance in our lives, and our group of dedicated festival volunteers—the da:ns Kaki Ambassadors. With deep gratitude to everyone—thank you for being part of 10 years of da:ns festival together.
Faith Tan Producer da:ns festival
WELCOME MessageS LASALLE College of the Arts & Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) I am very grateful for the many years that multiple casts of LASALLE College of the Arts students have had the privilege of being presented in the da:ns festival. It has been an invaluable experience for each cast. For the 10th anniversary of the da:ns festival, the School of Dance at LASALLE College of the Arts is pleased to be representing the face of tertiary dance education in Singapore with Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. The exchange of ideas and styles has been enriching for our staff and students. Out of this exchange comes Together, specially choreographed by faculty member Albert Tiong for a cast of dancers from both institutions. In this work, he draws on their individual and collective strengths to create a kinaesthetically exciting dance. In addition to this combined work, LASALLE also premieres a touching dance-theatre work by Simona Cieri of Motus (Italy) that prompts us to consider what constitutes real human needs. Through a targeted two-week residency, our students have laughed, cried and been emotionally overwhelmed as they have been guided to consider the human condition through the lenses of their young lives. In keeping with this reflective time of SG50, Singapore’s jubilee year and in celebration of a decade of the da:ns festival, we invited rising Singaporean choreographer Foo Yun Ying to revisit one of her works, a LASALLE da:ns festival offering from the past. Her response is to recreate in the present on a new cast. To prepare for this process, students were encouraged to watch the earlier edition and contact the original cast members to learn about the work. Creating this performance has been a special journey for the cast and on their behalf I thank the Esplanade, NAFA, our Artistic Director Susan Yeung and you, for embarking on it with us.
On behalf of NAFA, I am excited to join LASALLE in producing The Next Generation together for the first time at da:ns festival. The opportunity to present together was largely because of Asia-Pacific Dance Bridge: Connectivity through Dance, organised by World Dance Alliance Singapore. The conference aims to cultivate dance connectivity within Singapore’s own dance community as well as forge alliances between dance performers, creators, academics, educators, administrators and other arts practitioners throughout the AsiaPacific region and beyond. Albert Tiong’s new dance work for The Next Generation, featuring dancers from both NAFA and LASALLE, is the ultimate testimony of “connectivity” – our ability to connect. In the past, NAFA and LASALLE presented separate productions for Esplanade’s da:ns festival. The Third Space: Contemporary Asian Explorations in Dance is NAFA’s branding of an annual showcase of its integrated dance curriculum that is focused on exploring contemporary dance as a dynamic space where Asian identity takes on multifaceted and meaningful representations through the lives and work of emerging as well as established contemporary Asian dance artists. Their choreographies reveal influences by their cultural experiences centering on Asian cultural continuity as well as accepting Western outlooks. In The Next Generation, NAFA continues to assert our strengths and distinction. In this regard, I thank Aaron Khek and Ix Wong for their reprise of In Place and Jeffrey Tan for Confluence, a new work. Their choreographies are exemplary of the East-West posture that NAFA is proud to assume.
Sincerely, Melissa Quek Programme Leader BA(Hons) Dance and Diploma in Dance LASALLE College of the Arts
Dr Caren Carino Vice-Dean (Dance Programmes) Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
Programme Order Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA)
CONFLUENCE
LASALLE College of the Arts
The pain of time
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA)
IN PLACE
Choreography Jeffrey Tan
Choreography Simona Cieri
Choreography Aaron Khek and Ix Wong
Rehearsal Director Jamaludin Jalil
Choreographer’s Assistant Martina Agricoli
Rehearsal Director Lim Fei Shen
Music Infra 6 and Infra 5 by Max Richter Dancers Fan Lin Lin (15 & 16 Sep) Yamauchi Sayaka (17 Sep) Supatchai Lappakornkul Understudies Lee Si Lei Madeline Robertson Shi Aosha Klievert Mendoza Synopsis The duet takes its inspiration from a meeting of cultures encountered in inter-racial relationships, an increasingly frequent phenomenon in our globalised society. The harmony of Jeffrey’s fluid mastery of partnering work becomes a reflection of the pleasing congruence that is actualised by the presence of trust and interdependence dictated by the complexities of partnering.
Music Napolitana and Intro by Daniele Sepe Dancers Abigail Huan Ying Chern Lee Yi Lei Jeryl Wong Xin Ping Yue Liling Sammantha Lee Ruo Yan Pamela Chin Qihui Cheryl Priscilla Low Shu Yu Sarah Amor Oh Wen Ling Nichola Lim Wan Ni Neo Jia Ling Koh Hwee Ling Synopsis The Pain of Time is related to individual and collective malaise due to the contemporary models of life where real human needs are ignored. Today, for example, approximately 250 million children are obliged to work in less than desirable conditions and more than eight million of them are considered as slaves.
Music Traditional pipa solo performed by Samuel Wong Dancers Chan Myae Ko Ko Hwa Wei An** Klievert Mendoza Supatchai Lappakornkul ** Hwa Wei An (NAFA alumnus) appears courtesy of Frontier Danceland
Synopsis Inspired by the two wellknown music pieces for the pipa depicting the Battle of Gaixia (Chu-Han Contention, 206-202 BC) from different perspectives—Shi Mian Mai Fu (十 面 埋 伏 ; Ambush from Ten Sides) and Ba Wang Xie Jia (霸 王 卸 甲 ; The HegemonKing Takes Off His Armour). IN PLACE studies the perspective of the latter, its place in history, its strategies and romantic overtone, creating a choreographic parallel of present-day struggles in the ongoing role reversals of the oppressed vs the oppressor.
LASALLE College of the Arts
COMBINED SCHOOLS
Fragments
Together
Choreography Foo Yun Ying in collaboration with performers Music Memory Pulse by Max Richter For Teda by Ólafur Arnalds Tourbillon by Julia Kent Music editor Foo Yun Ying Dancers Lee Yi Lei Jeryl Abigail Huan Ying Chern Wong Xin Ping Yue Liling Sammantha Neo Jia Ling Koh Hwee Ling Sarah Amor Oh Wen Ling Priscilla Low Shu Yu Chin Qihui Cheryl Synopsis Revisiting the past and recreating in the present. How much of the past is retained and how much has been altered? Looking at what was, is and could be, of our memories and reality. A sequel to Do you remember... created in 2011 for LASALLE College of the Arts.
Choreography Albert Tiong Music Coming Together by Frederic Rzewski Dancers LASALLE Dancers Lee Yi Lei Jeryl Wong Xin Ping Syaril Amri Bin Mohammed Tajuddin NAFA Dancers Madeline Robertson Supatchai Lappakornkul Eugenia Lau May Hui Synopsis In our journey, we have all experienced moments of love and hardship at different points in time and at different places. In fact, we have always been on the same path sharing common experiences. However, since we did not know the existence of each other, our paths moved together, parallel—never touching or crossing—until now.
Albert Tiong Albert Tiong graduated from the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts on scholarship. He was a professional dancer with Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan and guest artist with Hong Kong Dance Company. Albert was the resident choreographer and training master for Frontier Danceland up till 2011. In January 2012, Albert founded Re:Dance Theatre (RDT), a company defined by its commitment to the development and increasing appreciation of contemporary dance in Singapore and the region. Albert is a faculty member of LASALLE College of the Arts and teaches contemporary dance to NUS Dance Synergy. He has created multiple works for LASALLE that are presented at da:ns festival and The Steps for NUS Dance synergy. Other works include Whisper of the Tempest and Lost Days, fulllength works presented by RDT; the double-bill In The Light of The Day and A Moment in Time for NUS Centre For the Arts’ ExxonMobil Campus Concerts; Three of Something and Bed for M1 CONTACT Contemporary Dance Festival 2012 and 2013 respectively; Revisit the Sunflower for M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2013; Traces, a full-length work presented by NUS Arts Festival 2014, which won Production of the Year at the Tan Ean Kiam Awards 2014.
Jeffrey Tan Jeffrey Tan is one of Singapore’s most prolific and established practitioners and educators. Formerly a principal dancer, assistant Ballet Master, and resident choreographer (2004–2008) with Singapore Dance Theatre (SDT), the Master of Fine Arts graduate from Queensland University of Technology was T.H.E’s very first Associate Artist in 2013. Tan received the Singapore Young Artist Award (Excellence in Dance) in 2000 and has performed the works of George Balanchine, Goh Choo San, Graham Lustig, Nacho Duato, Jiri Kylian and Boi Sakti to name a few. He has also toured to international venues in the United States, Australia, China, London, Indonesia and Malaysia, and to festivals such as the Le Temps d’Aimer la Danse a Biarritz in France and Chang Mu Arts Festival in Korea. Testament to his versatility as a choreographer, Tan features balletic and contemporary dance forms in pieces for musicals and major events, such as the Singapore National Day Parade and Singapore Shanghai World Expo 2010. Tan’s appointment as T.H.E’s Associate Artist in 2013 marks the choreographer’s highly anticipated return to the local contemporary dance scene as well as the limitless potential of the company’s growth as Tan imparts his wealth of experience and elegant, fluid style.
Simona Cieri Choreographer and dancer Simona Cieri is the artistic director of MOTUS, a professional dance company based in Siena, Italy. She was educated in classic dance and then in contemporary and jazz dance, theatre and music. Her professional career started in 1987 when she began her collaborations with various Italian companies. In 1991, she founded the MOTUS Company and has created more than 80 different choreographies over the last 24 years. Simona is also the creator of a dance teaching method that she has used for 20 years for the stage and in laboratories, workshops and professional advancement courses in Italy and abroad. In 2000, she founded in Siena the International Centre of Art that is currently the MOTUS Company headquarter and a centre for dance education.
Aaron Khek Ah Hock Aaron graduated with a Bachelor in Fine Arts in 2000 from the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, where he majored in choreography and dance pedagogy. He represented the academy with his choreography at the 1999 International Federation of Dance Academies in the United States and the Prague International Dance Festival 2000. Upon returning to Singapore in 2001, he joined The ARTS FISSION Company. A year later, Aaron joined the Singapore Dance Theatre as outreach partner and was one of the two finalists for the company’s Young Choreographer Platform. He also performed at the grand opening of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, in collaboration with Australian installation art group Bambuco. He was Singapore’s representative at the World Dance Alliance conference held in Dusseldorf in 2002. At the end of 2002, he co-founded the contemporary dance company, Ah Hock and Peng Yu (AHPY). Currently, he is a volunteer dance teacher with the Breast Cancer Foundation, sharing his dance experience through the programme, Arts for Therapy.
Ix Wong Thien Pau Ix Wong graduated with an advanced and professional diploma in contemporary dance from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. He has performed the works of Lin Hwai-Min (Cloud Gate), Willy Tsao (CCDC) and Rosalind Newman (HKNY) in Hong Kong. He started his professional career with the City Contemporary Dance Company in Hong Kong from 1998–2000, where he danced in major roles created by Yuri Ng, Helen Lai, Willy Tsao, and Zhang Xiao-Xiong, and toured extensively in Europe. In 2000, he joined The ARTS FISSION Company as rehearsal director, choreographer and dancer. At the end of 2002, he co-founded Ah Hock and Peng Yu (AHPY). He is now an independent artist and also holds the co-artistic directorship of AHPY. He is also the resident choreographer of St. James Primary School in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
Foo Yun Ying Foo Yun Ying is an independent dance artist based in Singapore. Since graduating from the London Contemporary Dance School in 2009 with a Master of Arts while on the Shell-NAC Arts Scholarship, she has worked with several dance companies and arts institutions in Singapore, where she performed, toured, choreographed and taught dance. Past choreographic works include Just another piece (2009) and Equilibria (2010) for T.H.E Second Company; or so it seems... for the Singapore Arts Festival’s Platform Campus 2011; Do you remember... (2012), you & me. here & there. (2013) and Dream on. (2015) for LASALLE College of the Arts; Helix for Raw Moves’ R.e.P 2013; Interweave (2014) for STRUT Dance’s Short Cuts; overexposed (2015) for SOTA’s Rapport 2015; and Couch Affairs (2015) for NTU Contemp{minated}. She also participated in the WDA Global Summit 2014, ChoreoLab, where she created a work-in-progress entitled You are who you are together with who I am. Helming Dance Nucleus, an initiative under the National Arts Council, Yun Ying looks forward to working closely with independent dance artists, dance companies and organisations locally and abroad.
Samuel Wong Samuel Wong Shengmiao obtained his PhD in Ethnomusicology from the University of Sheffield in 2009 and is the artistic director and Pipa player of The TENG Company. He is the author of Impressions of a Pipa Player (2003) and QI: An Instrumental Guide to the Chinese Orchestra (2005), and is the recipient of the Outstanding Young Persons of Singapore Award 2009, the JCCI Singapore Foundation Culture Award 2009, the Henry Worthington Scholarship, the Hokkien Huay Kuan’s Arts and Cultural Bursary, the Singapore Institute of Management Teaching Excellence Award 2012 and the Ngee Ann Polytechnic 50th Anniversary Distinguished Alumni Award for Arts & Culture. He is currently a member of the Music Education Programme Advisory Committee of SIM University, Head of Research at the Singapore Chinese Music Federation, as well as a mentor for the Artist Mentor Scheme (2013 & 2014), an initiative helmed by the Singapore Teachers’ Academy for the aRts (STAR), supported by the National Arts Council. He is currently a faculty member at Buffalo-State University of New York programme in Singapore and LASALLE College of the Arts.
Creative Team LASALLE Programme Leader/Coordinator
Melissa Quek
Artistic and Rehearsal Director/ Coordinator
Susan Yeung
Rehearsal Assistants
Angel Lee Lim Ming Zhi
Production Team
nafa
Tay Huey Meng
Production Manager
Artistic Director/ Vice-Dean, Dance Programmes
Dr. Caren Carino
Editorial Coordinator/ Senior Lecturer
Jamaludin Jalil
Lighting Designer
James Tan
Lighting Design Intern
Sim Khet Kheng
Stage Manager
Mag E. Winter
Production Crew
Criscillia Tan Goh Jou Zhi Grace Tan Kyra Ann Lin De Souza Lee Xue Jing Nuur Ezma Illia Zuraimi Teo Wan Ping Wu Bingjie Yong Li Ying
Photographers LASALLE
Kuang Jing Kai
NAFA
Jeff Low
da:ns festival 2015 is made possible with the generous support of
Supporting Sponsor
LianBee – Jeco Pte Ltd
Official Wi-Fi Partner
ViewQwest Pte Ltd