Dracula – Ballet at its Darkest: Joel Burke on reimagining Stoker’s classic and the rise of contemporary dance

Following its sold-out West End run, Dracula: Ballet at its Darkest arrived in Singapore with a bold reimagining of Bram Stoker’s gothic classic. Under the artistic direction and choreography of Joel Burke, the production traded traditional ballet conventions for cinematic storytelling, psychological tension and an evocative score featuring works by Bach, Mozart, Rachmaninov, Liszt and Debussy, inviting audiences into a haunting world where love, grief … Continue reading Dracula – Ballet at its Darkest: Joel Burke on reimagining Stoker’s classic and the rise of contemporary dance

★★★★★ Dance Review: Dracula – Ballet at its Darkest by BIG Live

Bram Stoker gave us Dracula. Joel Burke made him ballet. Somehow, it feels like one of the most natural reinventions of the world’s most famous vampire yet. “Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make.” Bram Stoker’s most famous line has echoed through popular culture for well over a century. Since Dracula was published in 1897, the Count has lived countless … Continue reading ★★★★★ Dance Review: Dracula – Ballet at its Darkest by BIG Live

Preview: Dracula – Ballet at its Darkest by BIG Live

If you think ballet is all tutus and fairy tales, Dracula: Ballet at its Darkest is here to change your mind. Fresh from a sold-out run in London’s West End and acclaimed seasons across Australia and New Zealand, BIG Live’s gothic reimagining of Bram Stoker’s iconic vampire tale will make its Singapore debut at the Esplanade Theatre from 15 to 19 July 2026. Part of … Continue reading Preview: Dracula – Ballet at its Darkest by BIG Live

★★★★☆ Dance Review: Elusive—A Double Bill by T.H.E Dance Company

International collaborations produce clean, thematically-resonant double bill that proves T.H.E’s dancers are still at the top of the game. Contemporary dance often gravitates towards the intangible: memory, emotion, systems of power, the invisible forces that shape how we move through the world. Elusive, T.H.E Dance Company’s latest double bill presented as part of cont·act Dance Festival, pairs two international collaborations that approach these concerns from … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Dance Review: Elusive—A Double Bill by T.H.E Dance Company

da:ns focus: An Interview with Kevin O’Hare, Director of the Royal Ballet, on legacy, live performance and reinvention

For Kevin O’Hare, director of The Royal Ballet, the long-awaited return of the world class British ballet company to Singapore this June goes far beyond just another international stop on a touring calendar. More than two decades have passed since the company last performed here, and the scale of The Royal Ballet Gala, part of the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay’s da:ns focus – … Continue reading da:ns focus: An Interview with Kevin O’Hare, Director of the Royal Ballet, on legacy, live performance and reinvention

★★★★★ Dance Review: Planet [wanderer] by Damien Jalet & Kohei Nawa (SIFA 2026)

Awe-inspiring, hypnotic dance-installation, that takes audiences on an existential odyssey through a world that’s hostile, hauntingly beautiful, and beyond our control. Some performances tell stories, but Planet [wanderer] creates a world. Surreal, unnerving, and at times profoundly unsettling, Damien Jalet and Kohei Nawa’s latest collaboration unfolds less like a dance performance than a waking dream. Playing as part of the 2026 Singapore International Festival of … Continue reading ★★★★★ Dance Review: Planet [wanderer] by Damien Jalet & Kohei Nawa (SIFA 2026)

★★★☆☆ Dance Review: Strangely Familiar《熟悉的陌生》 by T.H.E Dance Company (SIFA 2026)

T.H.E toes the line between human and machine in this visually ambitious production, occasionally overwhelmed by technology superseding the very humanity it seeks to explore.  Playing as part of the 2026 Singapore International Festival of Arts, before T.H.E Dance Company’s Strangely Familiar even begins, the world of the performance is already quietly consuming us. The soundscape hums through the theatre with an eerie, dystopian distance, … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Dance Review: Strangely Familiar《熟悉的陌生》 by T.H.E Dance Company (SIFA 2026)

SIFA 2026: Lush Life – An interview with director Ong Keng Sen on making art out of life and legacy

Before streaming platforms, before bedroom recordings, and before Singapore had any real infrastructure for popular music, there were artists like Jacintha Abisheganaden and Dick Lee, figures who carved out creative lives with few precedents and even fewer guarantees. Their songs, relationships and artistic decisions did not just define their own careers; they helped shape what it meant to be a musician in Singapore at all. … Continue reading SIFA 2026: Lush Life – An interview with director Ong Keng Sen on making art out of life and legacy

SIFA 2026: Planet [wanderer] – An interview with choreographer Damien Jalet and scenographer Kohei Nawa in search of the body’s place in the world

Strange and bewitching, Planet [wanderer] is a rare theatre production that unfolds like a dream one cannot quite hold onto. Created by choreographer Damien Jalet and visual artist Kohei Nawa, the work brings eight dancers into a shifting terrain of textures and matter, where bodies bend, sway, and reorganise themselves like reeds in the wind, caught in a fragile balance between “power and vulnerability, harmony … Continue reading SIFA 2026: Planet [wanderer] – An interview with choreographer Damien Jalet and scenographer Kohei Nawa in search of the body’s place in the world

SIFA 2026: Hedda Gabler – An interview with director Park Jung Hee on Henrik Ibsen’s universal cultural resonance

Few characters in modern theatre are as enduringly enigmatic as Hedda Gabler, a figure suspended between control and chaos, desire and restraint. In this latest staging by Park Jung-hee, Artistic Director of the National Theater Company of Korea, the question is not how to modernise Hedda Gabler, but how to encounter it anew. Rather than imposing a contemporary veneer, Park approaches the work as a … Continue reading SIFA 2026: Hedda Gabler – An interview with director Park Jung Hee on Henrik Ibsen’s universal cultural resonance