Dance Archives

Exploring Female Empowerment through Dance in Cambodia [Cambodia]

“During the autumn of 2016, I ventured out to Siem Reap in Cambodia to undertake a three-month artistic residency with the pioneering all-female contemporary dance company, New Cambodian Artists (NCA). I have previously worked with NCA as a contemporary dance technique trainer over a two-month period in 2015 as part of a self-funded professional development initiative. […]

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“Hearticulation” and “Speficifisfety”: Between too literal and too abstract

In March 2017, Hokkien Huay Kuan Dance Troupe morphed into Singapore Chinese Dance Theatre, receiving the highest accolade in the history of Singaporean Chinese dance. The only other professional dance company in Singapore bearing the country’s name is Singapore Dance Theatre, the descendant of the ballet group of National Dance Company. Singapore Chinese Dance Theatre’s

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Podcast 20: “The Roundest Circle”

Duration: 20 min Dr Stephanie Burridge chats with Eng Kai Er and Felicia Lim, two of the three performers from The Roundest Circle, taking place at Theatreworks 72-13 on 27 and 28 July 8pm. The performance is the result of a collaborative process along with dancer Faye Lim. Felicia and Kai Er discuss their dynamics, the democracy

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24 – 30 July 2017: Indonesia

Top Picks of Indonesia art events in Bandung, Jakarta, Yogyakarta from 24 – 30 July 2017 BANDUNG Inspyro Moves Dance Workshop, 29 – 30 July 2017, Jl. Karapitan No. 53, Bandung, Indonesia Calling all Bandung dancers! Come and join Inspyro Moves 2-day workshops where you can take various classes given by dancers from the

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Podcast 19: M1 Contact Contemporary Dance Festival 2017

Duration: 25 min The M1 Contact Contemporary Dance Festival, presented by T.H.E Dance Company, is in its 9 year. In this month’s dance podcast, Dr Stephanie Burridge chats with Zhuo Zihao, a founding member of the company. They discuss one of the highlights of this year’s festival, Borderline, a collaboration between the company and Muscle Mouth

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“Binary” at M1 Contact Festival 2017: Dream States

By Chloe Calderon Chotrani (870 words, 8-minute read) Culminating the M1 Contact: Contemporary Dance Festival 2017 at Esplanade was Binary: International Artist Showcase. It featured two exquisite pieces Broken Lines by husband and wife, Dimo Kirilov and Tamako Akiyama of Kirilov-Akiyama Dance Projects (Spain) and Zero by Humanhood (U.K) that transported the audience from the black box into

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3 – 9 July 2017: Indonesia

Top Picks of Indonesia art events in Jakarta and Bali from 3 – 9 July 2017 JAKARTA Body Out, 6 – 8 Juli, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta Supported by Jakarta Arts Council, Body Out is a Performance Art Festival taking place between 6 – 8 July. The festival features an art sharing,

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Epic Arts, Cambodia

By Ben Valentine (1091 words, 10-minute read) The Asia Europe Foundation’s Culture360 and ArtsEquator present a series of 5 co-commissioned articles that look at arts groups, artists and performances in Southeast Asia that are comprised of or address artists with disabilities. In this first article, Ben Valentine meets with Epic Arts, a Cambodian arts group that

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19 – 25 June 2017: Singapore

Showing from 23 June – 22 July @ Victoria Theatre It’s a swinging bachelor’s dream come true: three beautiful air stewardesses, each taking her turn as his girlfriend… and each happily unaware of the others’ existence. Sounds impossible? Not if you’re Bernard, our modern-day Casanova! With careful, down-to-the-minute scheming, he’s managed to keep his hectic

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19 June – 2 July 2017: Indonesia

Top picks art events in Jakarta, Bandung, and Bali from 19 June – 2 July 2017 JAKARTA This Ain’t California, 20 June 2017, 7 PM, Goethehaus, Jakarta Goethe Institut’s Arthouse Cinema is back this Tuesday with a screening of This Ain’t California by award-winning director Martin Persiel. The film tells a story of a group

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12 – 18 June 2017: Indonesia

Top Picks art events in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Solo from 12 – 18 June 2017 JAKARTA Hidup Mengalun Dendang – Pameran Sketsa S. Sudjojono, Now – 13 June 2017, Bentara Budaya Jakarta Indonesia knows S. Sudjojono as the Father of Modern Painting in Indonesia. He was the first man who introduced modernity in visual

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Podcast 16: “The Elements” by Flamenco Sin Fronteras

Duration: 23 min Dr Stephanie Burridge is joined in the studio by choreographer and dancer Bernice Lee to discuss Flamenco Sin Fronteras‘ The Elements, an original flamenco dance production that blends the traditional Andalusian form with the ancient Chinese philosophy of the five elements. This experimental fusion is characteristic of the company’s “without borders” practice,

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5 – 11 June 2017: Indonesia

Top Picks of Art Performances and Events in Jakarta and Bali from 5 – 11 June 2017 JAKARTA Mencari Hilal, 6 June 2017, 7 PM, Goethehaus, Jakarta Goethe Indonesia ArtHouse Cinema returns this Ramadan season with Mencari Hilal on this coming Tuesday. Mencari Hilal is the story of the relationship between a religious father

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Love, life and theatre [Thailand]

“Bangkok Theatre Festival Asia Focus 2017, one of four major events being organised in the field of digital, creative, culture and high-value services as part of the government’s plan to make Thailand into the international and mega-event hub in Asia, will be held at Thonglor Art Space from May 26 to June 4. One of

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Fieldnotes from The LASALLE Show Exhibition 2017

By Elaine Chiew (970 words, 9-minute read) The biggest show of the year for Lasalle College of the Arts opened on the evening of the 18th with fanfare: speeches, tinsel, music, a buffet of food, tons of people. The variety of works on show is dizzying — a cornucopia of over 800 works from the

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22 – 28 May 2017: Indonesia

Top Picks in Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Sleman and Bali from 22-28 May 2017 JAKARTA Menara Ingatan, 24 – 24 May 2017, 8 PM, Teater Kecil, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta Menara Ingatan, or the Minaret of Memory, is a music-theater performance by Teater Garasi, based on the composition of Yennu Ariendra, which combines drama, performance,

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15 – 21 May: Singapore 2017

Saturday, 20 May, 11:00am @ The Arts House SEMINAR: sgPoems 2015/16 Anthology This seminar discusses the Singapore poetry landscape based on the first publication by the Poetry Festival (Singapore). The anthology showcases poems by finalists in Poetry Festival’s competition over the last two years as well as featured poets during the festival in 2015. The

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15 – 21 May 2017: Indonesia

Top Picks in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Makassar from 15-21 May 2017 JAKARTA BBUZZSHOW@JAKARTA, Now – 30 May 2017, Galeria Fatahillah, Jakarta BBuzzShow is one of BBuzzArt’s global traveling exhibitions that provide exhibition opportunities for emerging artists. BBuzzArt is a social platform that aims to support emerging artists by connecting artists and art lovers

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Let’s Talk About Ageism and Dance [Singapore]

“At an event last week, about 30 adults came together to present a community dance. Some of them were women and men in their 70s and had never danced in public before. The excitement on their faces, the joy in the gait as they took their positions and the sheer bliss they exuded while moving

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Dancing Unashamed: ¡Walang Hiya!

By Chan Sze-Wei (945 words, 9-minute read) “There are so many taboos and judgements around our bodies and the politics they carry. Let’s take the leap to talk and dance about tough questions. Let’s be unashamed. Walang hiya.” Over two weeks this February in Manila and Singapore, a group of dancers came together to look

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Podcast 13: Classical and Contemporary Indian Dance

Duration: 25 min “When we want to talk about tradition and contemporary … I see it as a kind of a recalibration, a relocation of form in this time and this space. Watching Raka and her group, to my eye, it was very difficult to say here is where tradition stops and here is where

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An Indian Renaissance [Singapore]

“From storytelling to stage plays, feature films to fusion music, the works of Singapore’s Indian artists are taking a multi-faceted diaspora story to global audiences. Sixty years after she left India, Mrs Santha Bhaskar travelled back to her Motherland in 2015 to choreograph a dance commissioned by the Singapore International Festival of Arts. As part

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“Pallavi in Time” by CHOWK: Seductive Virtuosity

By Chan Sze-Wei (1150 words, 10-minute read) This was one of those rare occasions where I realise that I’m watching an important work of art. A discovery, a risk, a breakthrough, that will influence my aesthetic and many others’ for years to come. I unfortunately did not see Pallavi and Space, the 2016 first instalment

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24 – 30 April 2017: Singapore

Of Fear & Faith: An Original Showcase of Short Plays, 29-30 Apr, Haque Centre of Acting and Creativity Haque Centre of Acting and Creativity introduces their very first Devised Theatre Collaborative Showcase: Of Fear & Faith. Multiple stories intertwine to become one story of people, living and dying, tested by the implacable nature of life. It’s a

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Curated: Southeast Asia’s Contemporary Dancers [SEA]

Belgian-German contemporary dance choreographer Arco Renz — who recently staged Hanoi Stardust with Nguyen Duy Thành, Vũ Ngọc Khải and the Vietnam National Opera Ballet — shares his list of up and coming contemporary dancers in the region whose steps are worth following. “This mini directory of contemporary dancers from Southeast Asia is both very

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Raka Maitra discusses Pallavi in Time – I never look back [Singapore]

“Raka Maitra from CHOWK Productions (Singapore) presents a brand new piece of dance at Esplanade Theatre Studio under Esplanade’s Raga series of programmes showcasing Indian performing arts in dance, music and theatre throughout the year. After selling out performances of The Second Sunrise at Da:ns Festival in October, Raka offers Pallavi in Time. A follow-up

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17 – 23 April 2017: Indonesia

Top Picks in Jakarta, Bali and Yogyakarta from 17 – 23 April 2017 JAKARTA Pesona Sastra Jawa, 18 April 2017, 3:30 PM, Bentara Budaya Jakarta Javanese Modern literature is losing popularity and readership. Many Javanese authors had switched to write in Bahasa Indonesia to widen its readers, making Javanese literature even more rare.

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‘Bend in the River’ set to take a new twist: Khmer Times [Cambodia]

A deeply personal tale of revenge and redemption is set to return this weekend as Sophiline Arts Ensemble brings the celebrated “A Bend in the River” to Phnom Penh’s Chaktomuk Theater. While director and choreographer Sophiline Cheam Shapiro will keep the story’s original roots, her focus will be to increase the production values of the

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3 – 10 April: Singapore

28.8 by Teater Kami, 7-8 Apr, Aliwal Arts Centre Written and directed by Adib Kosnan, this play targets a specific audience of young men and women who can relate to the challenges that living in Singapore poses to them financially. The play sees the blossoming of a relationship moving into marriage, before hitting different obstacles that

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With Classical Dancer’s Death, Loss of a Cambodian Legend (via The Cambodia Daily)

Yet Sarin, a star dancer of Cambodia’s classical male masked dance lakhaon kaol, died on Saturday at Phnom Penh’s Calmette Hospital after a long illness. He was 91. He had fought hepatitis for a year, his wife Bin Van, 50, said on Monday. Born in 1925, Yet Sarin trained in Kandal province at Wat Svay

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