Running as part of their da:ns focus 2023 programme, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay presents the first edition of CAN – Connect Asia Now, a weekend dedicated to contemporary works by Asian dancemakers, from 13th to 15th October 2023.

Slated to become an annual event, CAN is dedicated to supporting and platforming regional artists, gathering artists, practitioners, producers and international presenters to come together, to connect and further develop Asia’s contemporary dance scene.

Several programmes have been slated for this year’s edition, starting with Lapse by Indonesian artist Melati Suryodarmo. Known for her bold, durational solo performances, Lapse was originally released as two short films, this iteration marks its live performance premiere, and explores body and environment through evocative, visceral imagery suspended in factual absurdity. Featuring sound design and live music by Yuen Chee Wai from Singapore music collective The Observatory, Suryodarmo orchestrates movement patterns that steer the group of performers to connect by failures and the collapse of systems, while collectively attempting a new structure and alchemy of senses. Esplanade will also be presenting Fracture, a visual arts exhibition by Melati at Jendela (Visual Arts Space).

Thailand’s Kornkarn Rungsawang presents Mali Bucha: Dance Offering, which marks the work’s full-length premiere after being workshopped at various leading platforms. Combining dance, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), the work takes inspiration from an ancient ritual performed at shrines and temples in Thailand, where dance is used as a tool for negotiation by humans towards higher beings in a bid to make wishes come true. The charming dancer, hired as a messenger to access higher beings, enhances the likelihood of one’s wish fulfilment, and invites audience members to participate across both the physical and immaterial worlds.

Finally, China’s TAO Dance Theater makes a long-awaited return to Singapore with the Southeast Asian premiere of their latest works, 13 & 14. The double bill presents the two latest instalments of choreographer Tao Ye’s signature Numerical Series. In 13, the work uses the concept of a trinity to correspond to the number 13, and examines the interactions and connections formed between solo, duet and group dances, changing, ebbing and flowing as they transform.

In 14, Tao Ye presents a study of rhythm and change. How does one challenge the new context of the body? This time, Tao Ye, breaks the previous creative method of repeated cycles, and uses the ever-changing texture of movement to explore the space-time possibility between movement and stillness.

TAO Dance Theater will also be presenting a workshop that imparts wisdom about their signature movement vocabulary: the Circular Movement System. Through the workshop, participants will learn to free their body and uncover underlying possibilities, and revolve around the relaxing of one’s joints, the shifting of one’s body weight, and the idea of weightiness.

As da:ns focus continues on in 2023, get ready to experience these genre-bending, artistically daring works that continue to evoke exchanges and dialogues through this new platform, as CAN arrives this October.

da:ns focus 2023: CAN – Connect Asia Now runs from 13th to 15th October 2023 at the Esplanade. More information available here