Preview: The Silence of All Things: Thus Have I Heard by Siong Leng Musical Association

In their latest concert, the Siong Leng Musical Association is collaborating with Liu Xiaoyi, the Artistic Director of Emergency Stairs, working alongside Siong Leng Artistic Director Lin Shao Ling. Together, they will serve as co-artistic directors for a new trilogy entitled “The Silence of All Things,” using Nanyin and its practitioners as a starting point to explore the deep connections between Eastern philosophy and contemporary … Continue reading Preview: The Silence of All Things: Thus Have I Heard by Siong Leng Musical Association

★★★★☆ Review: PEARLS by Joshua Serafin (CAN 2024)

The non-binary body finds healing and solace in decolonisation and community. To be queer is to resist norms, and to live as a queer person inherently means to stand apart from the majority, incurring curiosity and perhaps even fear in others. The queer existence then is one often fraught with pain and violence, to face prejudice on account of one’s differences, and a constant search … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: PEARLS by Joshua Serafin (CAN 2024)

★★★★☆ Review: Magic Maids by Eisa Jocson and Venuri Perera (CAN 2024)

Collision course of the monstrous and magical elements of femininity, prejudice and Britney Spears. From the moment one enters the Esplanade Annexe Studio for Magic Maids, there is the sense that we are participating in something sacred or ritualistic. Hanging from the back wall is an armoury of brooms of various lengths and types, while above us, white and red string is layered and arranged … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Magic Maids by Eisa Jocson and Venuri Perera (CAN 2024)

★★★★☆ Review: TOTEM – Void and Height by Sankai Juku (CAN 2024)

Finding beauty in horror and grief, as we make meaning against the inevitable. The name of Japanese dance form butoh originates from ‘ankoku butō’, or ‘dance of darkness’. While never conforming to any specific definition, the spirit of butoh is precisely couched in the idea of resistance and counterculture, an avant garde movement that refused to use formal dance techniques, and often dealing with taboo … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: TOTEM – Void and Height by Sankai Juku (CAN 2024)

Connect Asia Now: An Interview with Joshua Serafin on healing, spirituality and the cosmos in ‘PEARLS’

Multidisciplinary artist Joshua Serafin is a force to be reckoned with. The 28-year old is already making waves across the festival circuit, with their provocative, viscerally-charged work often leaving a deep emotional impact on viewers as they reel from the sheer force of it. From performing at the Venice Biennale in 2024, to receiving nominations for the 2023 ANTI Festival International Prize for Live Art … Continue reading Connect Asia Now: An Interview with Joshua Serafin on healing, spirituality and the cosmos in ‘PEARLS’

Connect Asia Now: An Interview with Eisa Jocson and Venuri Perera on broomsticks, witchcraft and domestic work in ‘Magic Maids’

Artists and choreographers Eisa Jocson (Philippines) and Venuri Perera (Sri Lanka) may both hail from the same continent, but it took both of them being at a residency in Switzerland to finally properly befriend and begin working together. “We’ve met here and there in various places over the years, and I’ve been a fan of Eisa for some time now,” says Venuri. “But it was … Continue reading Connect Asia Now: An Interview with Eisa Jocson and Venuri Perera on broomsticks, witchcraft and domestic work in ‘Magic Maids’

Review: Hua Mu Lan by Ding Yi Music Company

Blending theatre and music to tell the story of the legendary female warrior in anti-war concert. Thanks to the popular Disney film adaptations, the legend of Hua Mu Lan has gone far beyond the confines of Chinese culture, an internationally-renowned female warrior who save her father by taking his place in the army. Something about the story of courage and ferocious tenacity never gets old, … Continue reading Review: Hua Mu Lan by Ding Yi Music Company

★★★★☆ Review: This Song Father Used To Sing (Three Days In May) by Wichaya Artamat

A closer look at ordinary life that carries on in spite of the extraordinary. Thai writer-director Wichaya Artamat claims that his play This Song Father Used To Sing (Three Days In May) is an unpolitical play. But can any play truly be completely devoid of any political attachment? Rounding off the Esplanade’s 2024 season of The Studios, This Song Father Used To Sing (Three Days … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: This Song Father Used To Sing (Three Days In May) by Wichaya Artamat

Preview: da:ns focus – Connect Asia Now (CAN) 2024 by Esplanade

In the Esplanade’s latest edition of their da:ns focus series, they’re turning the attention back to Asia with a series of programmes for 2024’s Connect Asia Now (CAN). The annual programme is a dedicated platform that sees the Esplanade supporting artists from the region and introducing their work to Singapore audiences, connecting them to each other to advance Asia’s contemporary dance scene together. This year, … Continue reading Preview: da:ns focus – Connect Asia Now (CAN) 2024 by Esplanade

★★★☆☆ Review: One Day We’ll Understand 有那么一天​ by Sim Chi Yin

Performance-lecture on biased historiography and hidden knowledge urges us to critically reconstruct our interpretations to formulate our own version of the truth. The Malayan Emergency in the late 1940s continues to remain a traumatic memory for many Chinese Malaysians, where families would recall relatives hurriedly leaving the country, or worse – hauled away for questioning over suspected Communist relations, and never seen again, at least, … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: One Day We’ll Understand 有那么一天​ by Sim Chi Yin