M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024: An Interview with the creators of Matter.Less’ forum theatre show ‘Here Where You Were’

In the 2020s, suicide rates in Singapore rose to an all-time high. Is it because we live in a fast-paced, high stress nation? Is it that it often feels like there is no way out? And even when a suicide is completed, can we summon up enough courage to go past the shame and guilt surrounding it to talk about the aftermath, and how we … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024: An Interview with the creators of Matter.Less’ forum theatre show ‘Here Where You Were’

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024: An Interview with Karine Ponties, choreographer of absurdist dance ‘SAME SAME’

Does work set us free, or does it chain us? For far too many people, between being bored to death or burnt out, it’s the latter, and the very concept of labour for survival brings to mind questions about absurd routines and the complex relationship colleagues have with each other, from resemblance and dissemblance, domination and submission, superficiality and depth. From Belgian dance company Dame … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024: An Interview with Karine Ponties, choreographer of absurdist dance ‘SAME SAME’

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024: An Interview with director Edith Podesta and choreographer Yarra Illeto on ‘THOM PAIN (based on nothing)’

To span the length of the human experience in a single production sounds like an impossibility, but when THOM PAIN (based on nothing) premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2004, critics remarked that the deceptively simple one-man show about a man and his suffering in life. Now, that show will be performed in Singapore, by students of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts’ BA (Hons) … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024: An Interview with director Edith Podesta and choreographer Yarra Illeto on ‘THOM PAIN (based on nothing)’

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024: An Interview with choreographer J’Sun Howard on ‘aMoratorium’

Starting its journey as a commission by the Art Institute of Chicago, in response to the work of visual artist Charles Wilbert White, Chicago-based dancemaker, poet, writer, curator, and all-around Renaissance artist J’Sun Howard, aMoratorium was born as a way to coalesce White’s exploration of African American history, culture, and lives. Through the dance-theatre piece, Howard explores Black male identity, visibility, temporality, and its absence, and … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024: An Interview with choreographer J’Sun Howard on ‘aMoratorium’

Dance with Me: An Interview with Converge Studios co-founder Nash Tan on Converge Recital 2023 and the dance community

Setting up a dance studio is never an easy task – not only is it already financially demanding and requires full commitment from all involved, but the highly competitive environment means that the studio has to stand out in some way above the rest, and take time to patiently build up its own community and loyal fanbase of students and dancers. One studio that has … Continue reading Dance with Me: An Interview with Converge Studios co-founder Nash Tan on Converge Recital 2023 and the dance community

★★★★★ Review: Searching Blue by T.H.E Dance Company

An invitation towards finding a better future, together. Do we exist as individuals to suffer the weight of the world, or is there a possibility of thriving through cooperation, where we learn not to live in conflict but harmoniously, seeking out solutions together? That is the story that T.H.E Dance Company’s latest production attempts to tell, with Searching Blue. Choreographed by Kuik Swee Boon, Searching … Continue reading ★★★★★ Review: Searching Blue by T.H.E Dance Company

★★★★☆ Review: Radin Mas by Bhaskar’s Arts Academy, with Sri Warisan Som Said Performing Arts

Telling the classic tale of Radin Mas through Bharatanatyam and Javanese dance. The legend of Radin Mas has been passed down for generations, the epic tale of a princess born out of forbidden love, and the subsequent trials and tribulations that followed the family long after, to its eventual, tragic conclusion of filial piety and self-sacrifice. The classics never get old, and under the collaborative … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Radin Mas by Bhaskar’s Arts Academy, with Sri Warisan Som Said Performing Arts

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024 explores pressing social issues and the ways we relate and connect to each other

Over the years, the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival (M1SFF), organised by The Necessary Stage (TNS), has undergone a variety of changes to the way it’s been run, from taking on specific themes and topics, to responding to art work. But at its heart, M1SFF has always been about one key goal – to present small scale local and international work that address key social issues, … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024 explores pressing social issues and the ways we relate and connect to each other

Preview: Kalaa Utsavam – Indian Festival of Arts 2023 by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay’s Kalaa Utsavam – Indian Festival of Arts is back this November to showcase and explore Indian and Singapore-Indian identity and culture through the performing arts. This year, the festival features some of India and Singapore’s best-known names in theatre, dance and music, who celebrate the power of stories and folklore, through both traditional and contemporary mediums. Leading Singapore comedian … Continue reading Preview: Kalaa Utsavam – Indian Festival of Arts 2023 by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

Preview: da:ns focus 2023: FL/OW – The FULL OUT Weekend

Bringing their da:ns focus 2023 programme to a close, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay is ending the year on a bang with a weekend of street dance with FL/OW – The FULL OUT Weekend. Taking place for three days in December, FL/OW promises exciting performances, workshops, battles and parties, highlighting the vibrant street dance scene in Singapore, always active and only growing each year. … Continue reading Preview: da:ns focus 2023: FL/OW – The FULL OUT Weekend