SIFA 2018: The Blues Project by Dorrance Dance (Preview)

Created by an all-star creative team consisting of tap dance extraordinaire Michelle Dorrance, acclaimed choreographer Derick K. Grant, genre-busting musician Toshi Reagon, and tap dance maestress Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, The Blues Project sees tap dancing break into the modern world set to emotive blues in an explosive fusion of American themes and styles. A multi-genre, multi-medium style performance, The Blues Project unites original live music with raw emotion and dance … Continue reading SIFA 2018: The Blues Project by Dorrance Dance (Preview)

SIFA 2018: The Hidden by Kamini Ramachandran (Review)

Unearthing the stories hidden within this age-old monument.  As Singapore’s oldest Christian church, the Armenian Church is rife with the memory of travelers and people past, its very walls pulsating with a special kind of hidden power only afforded to the oldest of structures. With such a history behind it, it stands to reason that it makes for the perfect monument to stage something brimming … Continue reading SIFA 2018: The Hidden by Kamini Ramachandran (Review)

SIFA 2018: A Dream Under The Southern Bough – The Beginning by Toy Factory (Review)

原来只是一场梦。 Inspired by Tang Xian Zu’s 16th Century Kun Opera 《南柯记》, A Dream Under The Southern Bough – The Beginning marks the first part in a planned theatre trilogy that will be staged over the next few years, and the start of an incredibly ambitious project from Toy Factory. Adapting the opera for a contemporary audience, director Goh Boon Teck and script editor Zhu Xin Chen have in … Continue reading SIFA 2018: A Dream Under The Southern Bough – The Beginning by Toy Factory (Review)

SIFA 2018: OCD Love by L-E-V Dance Company (Preview)

Enter the world of Israel based L-E-V Dance Company’s OCD Love. Based off Neil Hilborn’s famous viral spoken word poem about love lost to the speaker’s obsessive-compulsive disorder, OCD Love interprets the poem with a fierce viscerality, as dancers move to DJ Ori Lichtik’s techno beats to present an epic struggle between the head and the heart. Stylistically abstract, watch as bodies move completely in sync with each other, orbiting and … Continue reading SIFA 2018: OCD Love by L-E-V Dance Company (Preview)

SIFA 2018: Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower (Preview)

 Considered one of the foremost pioneers of the Afro-futurism movement, Hugo and Nebula Award winning author Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sowerfollowers is a sprawling, epic tale of the spiritual awakening of young Lauren Olamina, amidst a dystopian America wracked by the violence brought on by climate change, unrelenting greed, and systemic injustice. Known for her keen ear for sonic Americana, musician Toshi Reagon has been celebrated for … Continue reading SIFA 2018: Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower (Preview)

SIFA 2018: TAHA by Amer Hlehel (Preview)

Born in a village in Galilee in 1931,Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali has been through many things – he fled with his family to a refugee camp in Lebanon in 1948 before returning to Nazareth where he ran a souvenir shop and taught himself classical Arabic literature and learnt English. But through it all, he remained an unerring optimist, and in his works, celebrated the … Continue reading SIFA 2018: TAHA by Amer Hlehel (Preview)

SIFA 2018: The Hidden by Kamini Ramachandran (Preview)

Who were the people who were here before us, and what were they seeking? Were they travellers, lovers, heroes or villains? Kamini Ramachandran, Singapore’s number one storyteller and a fierce proponent for the oral tradition, is here to answer that. Besides organising Storyfest, she’s managed to make time to take part in SIFA 2018, bringing a touch of oral magic to the festival with her … Continue reading SIFA 2018: The Hidden by Kamini Ramachandran (Preview)

SIFA 2018: Housepour – A Manhattan Themed Lounge At The Heart of the Festival

As the 2018 Singapore International Festival of the Arts goes into full swing, each night, audiences fill the festival grounds as they attend the various events across each packed venue. Be it the Victoria Theatre, Esplanade or the many free events at the Arts House (now the Festival House), one would constantly be in need of a dedicated, cosy space to sit and discuss the … Continue reading SIFA 2018: Housepour – A Manhattan Themed Lounge At The Heart of the Festival

SIFA 2018: 0600 by Ground Z-0 (Review)

Silence is power in this immersive tour that summons the ghosts of the past to the National Gallery.  It’s 10pm at the National Gallery, long after opening hours have ceased, and all is quiet. It’s a little nervewracking; one becomes keenly aware of each step you take, echoing through the walls of the former Supreme Court with its high ceilings and expansive corridors. And that’s … Continue reading SIFA 2018: 0600 by Ground Z-0 (Review)

SIFA 2018: Jacob Collier (Review)

  The modern day music prodigy showcases a legion of voices and talent in spades in his Singapore debut.  Making a claim to fame via YouTube videos often receives a raised eyebrow in response. Much like the current generation of ‘influenzas’, there are times it seems like anyone and everyone can become a celebrity simply by gaining enough eyeballs for a post. But for 23-year … Continue reading SIFA 2018: Jacob Collier (Review)