Unearthing the voices of a distant past.

Safuan Johari is a musician and composer from Singapore. Eddie Elliott is a dancer and choreographer from New Zealand. While the two artists’ practices seem rather distant, there is a link that makes them surprisingly good collaborators with each other – their shared respect for their own cultural inheritance, and a keen interest in the land we walk on. Those are resonant ideas that are felt in their brand new work, SUARA/ Oro Rua, which premiered at the Singapore International Festival of Arts.

SUARA / Oro Rua is a multidisciplinary work that feels like a combination of dance and song. Playing at the Singtel Waterfront Theatre, there is a sense of the dramatic, as the curtains slowly rise up to reveal Akbar Syadiq’s set – a towering rock face that spans the length of the stage, while the performers are curled up, fetal at its base. Dressed in loose, dull coloured fabric, they give the impression of being born from stone, and there is a moment of stillness, before we hear voices emerging, the performers beginning to tremble, as they ‘awaken’ from their slumber.

What follows is a form of contemporary opera, as vocalists Aisyah Aziz, Rosemainy Buang, Felicia Teo Kaixin and weish take turns to sing solos, all singing in an incomprehensible language, with echoes of both Malay and Maori. The mood is one of pain, each of them wailing, as if conjuring a voice that springs from their soul, each singer with her own unique sound and style. There is a sense that they represent the voice of Mother Earth, and while the words themselves do not make sense, one imagines that it tells of an abstract history, one where the Earth has experienced growth, separation, and destruction.

The vocalists aren’t just static performers – often they become embroiled and involved with the dancers as well, performing some form of physical theatre, emanating some form of physical pain. The dancers on the other hand, have their own choreography to perform, often moving together, showcasing a series of synchronised moves to represent traditions, the pastoral, or even wars and infighting. There are times a single dancer is spotlighted instead, as he wanders, lonely. This is a lamentation, a pulsating sense of dissatisfaction with the ghosts of the past, each of them telling their stories with their bodies. Adrian Tan’s lighting transforms the set with each segment, at times resembling a dimly lit cave, and at others, a vast canyon, allowing us to imagine different geological formations being represented.

All of this is of course set to Safuan Johari’s music. In SUARA / Oro Rua, this is taken to its greatest heights yet, atmospheric as it takes on the sounds of water dripping or replicates the sounds of murmurs in cavernous locales, mixing the electronic with the traditional, as we’re plunged into these sounds from the ground. It often calls to mind the idea of something epic, of taking a journey into the centre of the Earth, or something deep within surging up again. The sounds are complex, layered and immerse us into this world, while still allowing enough space for his vocalists to rise above it, their wails soaring and emotional to affect us as an audience.

While the overall idea feels fresh, and both Eddie’s choreography and Safuan’s compositions technically brilliant and taking their individual art forms to new heights, where SUARA / Oro Rua still requires development is in narrative thrust – as of now it feels like a lingering mood, where each segment feels too similar to be clearly distinct from the other, a consistent feeling of pain and warbling rather than showcasing development. Often, both dancers and vocalists are also competing for attention – there is almost constantly movement after the initial opening scene, and not enough pauses or moments of stillness to facilitate deeper reflection or consideration of what we’ve witnessed.

But for what it is, there remains something elemental and fundamentally resonant about what we’ve witnessed onstage with this show, and proof that as distant as cultures might feel at times, all one has to do is to feel the ground beneath your feet to realise you share the same earth, that we are connected in our shared stewardship of the land we are on. Both Safuan and Eddie have showcased work that pushes their technical and artistic capabilities to new heights, while dealing with a fresh idea of giving voice and form to the Earth before and during civilisation. Only when you gaze into the void does it gaze back, and in that, learning to better appreciate our natural history.

Featured Photo Credit: Andy Yang and Akbar Syadiq

SUARA / ORO RUA played from 24th to 26th May 2024 at Singtel Waterfront Theatre at Esplanade as part of the 2024 Singapore International Festival of Arts. More information available here

SIFA 2024: They Declare runs from 17th May to 2nd June 2024 across various venues. Tickets and full programme available here

Production Credits:

Conceived By Safuan Johari Co-Created and Co-Directed By Eddie Elliott, Safuan Johari Choreographer & Movement Director Eddie Elliott Composer & Music Director Safuan Johari Producer Cui Yin Mok Vocalists Aisyah Aziz, Rosemainy Buang, Felicia Teo Kaixin, weish Dancers Brydie Colquhoun, Bianca Hyslop, Sean MacDonald, Hannah Tasker-Poland, Tupua Tigafua, Matiu Hamuera Set Designer Akbar Syadiq Costume Designer Daniel John Williams Lighting Designer Adrian Tan Sound Designer rongzhao Production Manager Evelyn Chia (The Backstage Affair) Administrator (Aotearoa) Lance Loughlin (Waiwhakaata Performance) Stage Manager Keira Lee Assistant Stage Manager Wann Nurul Asyiqin Wardrobe Assistance Lontessa by Tessa Lont Set Assistants Aida Sa’ad, Allister Towndrow