Theatrex Asia

Velocity, where narratives are non-existent, leaving a concept of speed in movement in the dance space. In Taiwanese dance writer Zhou Zhi-Mu’s ( 鄒之牧) words in her nomination statement for the group in the 2008 Taishin Arts Award (as translated): the work has departed from the traditional narrative structure of dance, boldly using a concept as a hinge to creation, through the use of theatre design, fusing with concept and body, formulating a feast of abstract and realistic images.

There is no fair review in this world, for it is written by a biased individual, with his/her own aesthetic taste. To review Singapore theatre company Theatreworks Artistic Director Ong Keng Sen’s newest work-in-progress Red Ballerina as a non-event is in itself an uneventful endeavour. For I would be totally missing the point by going on to talk about the execution of the work by actors Karen Tan and Lim Kay Tong. How could I review a work-in-progress? It is not even completed yet. But the performance was presented to an audience, quite many of us actually, not to mention a performance run over the next one or two days. The work spoke to us. To respond to it seems fair.

In late 1993, when Lt. General Romeo Dallaire received the call to serve as force commander of the UN mission to Rwanda, he thought he was heading off to Africa to help two warring parties achieve a peace both sides wanted. Instead, he and members of his small international force were caught up in a vortex of civil war and genocide. Dallaire left Rwanda a broken man, disillusioned, suicidal, and determined to tell his story. This is his story.

The basics to dance choreography revolve around understanding the form. For a young dance company like Taiwan’s all-male dance company Horse, it is apt that experimentation should start from there. They have been successful, having won the 2008 Taishin Arts Award Taiwan’s Grand Arts Prize.

It seems that the notion of being Asian is a highly problematic label. For there isn’t one Asia, but many Asias. Unfortunately, in the western stereotypical gaze, there is one. For Asians living in this highly contentious continent called Asia, there are infinite forms of Asia. As many Asians are grappling with cultural preservation, not to mention getting involved in the politics of waging cultural hegemony on each other, how does Singapore stand in this sea of conflicts. Singapore dance company T.H.E. Dance Company, founded by Artistic Director Kuik Swee Boon, seems to be interested in finding an answer to this question.

今年三月十四日（星期日）晚间八点，定居新加坡的中国艺术家们将在南洋艺术学院剧场呈现一场钢琴伴唱《红灯记》赏析音乐会。演出地点为南洋艺术学院大剧院。| Piano Accompaniment to The Red Lantern is a Chinese music appreciation concert organised by a group of Chinese immigrants under the auspices of the Singapore Chinese Opera Museum. It celebrates the diversity of Chinese opera and music, not to mention sharing their heritage and culture with Singaporeans.

Artist Sharing Session with Chen Tong. Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, on Chinese performance art group the Long Tail Elephant Group, Guangzhou, China.
Talk to be conducted in Mandarin, with simultaneous translation in English Language.
Speaker: Chen Tong

Interpreter: Richard Chua
Date: 15 January 2010

Time: 8pm

Venue: The Back Room, Post-Museum

The talk will be made available free of charge, [...]

The closeted intellectual bigot in me told me that it would be meaningless to write a review for Chestnuts (a mainstream play, for it would have nothing for me to write about, except for frivolous acts STAGES made at the expense of others. It is with this hypocrisy I held to my heart, I was finding ways of justifying my paid trip to STAGES’ Chestnuts 2009 on 29 November: from the inane reason I wanted to know what STAGES had up in their sleeves, needing a good night’s out like the middle-class, to supporting my friends Jonathan, Terence and Keng Kiat. But I never wanted to admit that I loved the production. The truth is I am secretly in love with STAGES’ Chestnut series. I have watched many of them in the past, but never wrote down my reflections on them.