Preview: Happy Chinese New Year Concert 2019 by Ding Yi Music Company

Ding Yi Music Company returns this February, opening their 2019 season with their annual Happy Chinese New Year concert! Playing at the China Cultural Centre Theatre once again, this year’s edition of the festive places a stronger focus on Singaporean talent and composers, Happy Chinese New Year Concert 2019 will feature a repertoire of favourite Mandopop and classic Chinese music, from Liu Chang’s Rippling Brook Capriccio《小河淌水随想曲》to … Continue reading Preview: Happy Chinese New Year Concert 2019 by Ding Yi Music Company

Preview: 过年 The Nutcracker by The National Ballet of China

While primarily known as a Christmas ballet, you can expect the 2018 Yuletide spirit to carry on well into 2019 with the arrival of The National Ballet of China’s production of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker in January this year. Presented by MyChinaChannel, 过年 The Nutcracker performs in Singapore for the very first time at the Esplanade Theatre from 18th to 20th January 2019, and plays as part of the company’s 60th … Continue reading Preview: 过年 The Nutcracker by The National Ballet of China

Review: OFF STAGE by Emergency Stairs

All the world’s a stage, and the theatre industry especially so.  Is an actor ever really just an actor, or does their work go far beyond their prescribed ‘role’? For Emergency Stairs’ training and experimental arm Emergency Shelter’s first production, led by artistic director Liu Xiaoyi, OFF STAGE is a challenge to its ensemble of nine actors (Chanel Chan, Chong Woon Yong, Darren Guo, Zachary Ho, WahWah Hung … Continue reading Review: OFF STAGE by Emergency Stairs

Preview: OFFSTAGE by Emergency Stairs

Following their production of new work Einstein in the Carpark at the Huayi festival earlier this year, experimental theatre company Emergency Stairs welcomes audiences into their home in an industrial estate in Mattar as they present OFFSTAGE. Staged by members of Emergency Stairs’ training arm, Emergency Shelter, OFFSTAGE is an all new work that examines the various roles behind the scenes of every theatre production. From the creative team of … Continue reading Preview: OFFSTAGE by Emergency Stairs

Ding Yi and Joanna Dong Usher In the Lunar New Year with Jazz and Pizazz

Even though she’s seen a meteoric rise to fame after placing in the finals of Sing China! last year, Joanna Dong has remained incredibly humble and down to earth. “I’ve been getting so many opportunities to work with groups I never got a chance to before, and the only downside is that I’m so busy now, I wish I was able to work with some … Continue reading Ding Yi and Joanna Dong Usher In the Lunar New Year with Jazz and Pizazz

Preview: Happy Chinese New Year Concert 2018 by Ding Yi Music Company and Joanna Dong

Celebrate your 2018 Chinese New Year in style this year with Ding Yi and Singaporean jazz veteran and Sing! China finalist Joanna Dong this March! Conducted by Ding Yi’s assistant conductor, Wong De Li, Dedric, the concert marks Joanna Dong’s first-ever collaboration with a Chinese instrumental music group on stage. Listen up as some of your favourite and most familiar Chinese New Year tunes get a … Continue reading Preview: Happy Chinese New Year Concert 2018 by Ding Yi Music Company and Joanna Dong

Review: Southernmost – One Table Two Chairs Project Triple Bill presented by Emergency Stairs

After two weeks of devising, open rehearsals, masterclasses and workshops, Emergency Stairs’ inaugural Southernmost experimental theatre festival finally comes to a stunning conclusion with a triple bill. Consisting of three all new works directed by experimental theatre veterans Makoto Sato (Tokyo), Danny Yung (Hong Kong) and of course, Emergency Stairs Artistic Director Liu Xiaoyi (Singapore), the artists presented their final pieces to a public audience … Continue reading Review: Southernmost – One Table Two Chairs Project Triple Bill presented by Emergency Stairs

Review: Mountains May Depart dir. Jia Zhangke

Jia Zhangke is a legend of 6th generation Chinese filmmakers. Having made a name for himself with naturally shot, gripping social realism films, Mountains May Depart marks a new career high, delivering some of the best work Jia has done in the majority of the film. Mountains May Depart is set in Jia’s hometown of Fenyang, China and spans the course of 26 years, tracking three periods in … Continue reading Review: Mountains May Depart dir. Jia Zhangke

Artist Spotlight: Vivian Qu, Director of SGIFF 2017 Opening Film Angels Wear White

Vivian Qu has plenty of producing credits to her name and is a star in the Chinese independent film community, having produced arthouse films such as Knitting (2008), Night Train (2007) and Black Coal, Thin Ice (2014). But besides producing, the Chinese filmmaker also has a firm hand on creating her own works,  having scripted and directed her critically acclaimed debut Trap Street in 2013 and with it, becoming the first Chinese female filmmaker to … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Vivian Qu, Director of SGIFF 2017 Opening Film Angels Wear White

Preview: Wuzhen Theatre Festival 2017

Nestled in the heart of the Yangtze River Delta, just west of Shanghai, is the historic water town of Wuzhen. A remnant of the Qing Dynasty and famed as the birthplace of the celebrated left-wing novelist Mao Dun, Wuzhen has been in the last decade revitalised through tourism and interestingly, as the home of China’s pre-eminent international theatre festival. In its fifth edition this year, … Continue reading Preview: Wuzhen Theatre Festival 2017