Singapore Dance Theatre presents and exciting week of contemporary spectacle- PASSAGES, the new creations of young choreographers Adeline Ee, Daniel Roberts, Kelvin Koh, and Kiran Kumar in a one-night-only showcase of contemporary dance, followed by the return restaging of REDOUBLED - a double bill featuring two of Singapore’s leading choreographers, Jeffrey Tan and Kuik Swee Boon. Passages presents four young choreographers who are invited to work with Singapore Dance Theatre's dancers to produce new and original dance creations, best suited for contemporary theatre space.

Leveraging on the choreographers’ individual interests and flair, and the SDT dancers’ ability to shine in various dance genres ranging from classical, to neo-classical and contemporary ballet, fans of dance can expect to be simultaneously challenged and inspired by the results of Passages!

ReDoubled explores loves lost, hopes dashed, and dreams shattered, but whispers plaintively of new beginnings that arise like the phoenix from the embers of fiery hurt and flickering pain. It is a beautifully visceral interpretation of life and the paths that it leads us to.

Jeffrey Tan revisits Sometimes "I Think I Remember" which traverses the grey area between reality and the surreal, toeing the line between hoping to remember and trying to forget, while Kuik Swee Boon premieres "Pellucid", a work centered on the theme of simplicity. It examines beauty that is clear and uncluttered and exalts all that is fresh and clean, rejoicing in the true essence of life through what is fundamental and basic.

PASSAGES & REDOUBLED will take place on 3rd November and 5th & 6th November 2010 at National Museum of Singapore respectively. Ticketing details from SISTIC.

PASSAGES

Fledgling choreographers have limited opportunities to set their works on professional dancers, but Singapore Dance Theatre (SDT) circumvents this limitation by collaborating with the National Museum of Singapore to present Passages, where four young choreographers will be invited to work with SDT dancers to produce new and original dance creations that are best suited for the black box theatre space.

Leveraging on the choreographers’ individual interests and flair, and the SDT dancers’ ability to shine in various dance genres ranging from classical, to neo- classical and contemporary ballet, fans of dance can expect to be simultaneously challenged and inspired by the results of Passages!

Catch the new creations of young choreographers Adeline Ee, Daniel Roberts, Kelvin Koh, and Kiran Kumar in this one-night-only showcase of contemporary dance.

The four fledgling choreographers went under the tutelage and guidance of Singapore Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director Janek Schergen in September this year, and each will present a 15-minute piece, featuring SDT’s professional dancers, during this performance.

The audience is invited to a post-show talk, which will be conducted with the choreographers and Janek Schergen, SDT’s Artistic Director after the performance.

Standard Ticket: $19 (Not inclusive of SISTIC charge). Children/Student/NSmen/SeniorCitizen: $15 from SISTIC.

 

Photos by Tan Ngiap Heng

The Choreographers

Adeline Ee

Adeline started professional dance training in Lasalle College of the Arts at 17. At 18, she had received a scholarship from LA Dance Connection (2005-2007) followed by a Cheng Ballet Academy scholarship (2008). In the same year she danced in “The Last Minute” by Kuik Swee Boon, representing Singapore at The Youth Festival in Macau. Upon completion of her degree, she participated in Singapore Arts Festival (2009), performing in Anna Karenina danced by the Finnish ballet.

To further her exploration in choreography she joined Sprouts (2009) and presented her work “Echo” in the finals. Her most recent performance is with T.H.E “The Emerging Choreographers II”, and Maya Dance Theatre’s “Standing in Line in Order of Height”. During her studies in Lasalle she worked with Artist such as Loretta Livingston, Melissa Quek, Cheng HsienFa and Albert Tiong. Currently, she is also part of the T.H.E (Youth) Dance Company. In the future she aspires to continue performing in both ballet and contemporary pieces.

 

Daniel Roberts

Graduated from the Australian Ballet School, Daniel was the first student in the school’s history to complete two diplomas - Advanced Diploma in Dance and a Diploma in Choreographic Studies. During his school days, he performed with The Australian Ballet's Dancers Company in Graduation Ball and The Sleeping Beauty, Act III. Daniel joined SDT in January 2009 and is involved in SDT’s production of Graham Lustig’s Cinderella, Goh Choo San’s Unknown Territory and the 2009 and 2010 season of Ballet Under The Stars. Daniel is a professional dancer with Singapore Dance Theatre.

 

Kiran Kumar

Kiran graduated with a Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National University of Singapore and was awarded the NUS Tan Ean Kiam Arts award for “Outstanding Alumni.”

As a choreographer, Kiran has choreographed several dance pieces which includes B which was commissioned by NUS Arts Festival: Though Asian Lens 2010, Expanding Body specially created a solo dance item for a participant at DanceIntense Toronto performance, Second Nature, commissioned by NUS Arts Festival 2009 and was subsequently invited by Singapore Dance Theatre to perform at the pre-show segment at Ballet Under the Stars 2009. His other works include to dance with the solo role created for Bhairav by NUS Indian Dance for the Dance Reflections season and Parallel at Grey Festival in 2008.

 

Kelvin Koh

Kelvin started dancing in 2000 under the instruction of Mr Derrick Ee and joined the People’s Association Cultural Troupe (PACT) Jazz Dance in 2001 for a year. Having no formal dance training but armed with a passion for dance, he joined NUS Dance Synergy in 2001 and subsequently became vice-president in 2002.

Under the training of Ms Gillian Tan and Mr Fan Dong Kai, he found his love for choreography and has choreographed and performed with Synergy since 2002. He participated in the Aberdeen International Youth Festival with NUS Dance Synergy as both dancer and production Manager. 2009 marked another step forward with the participation in the first ever Sprouts New Works Platform for Budding Choreographers. Kelvin's piece "the Combination" was voted most popular work in the competition.

 

 

REDOUBLED

Singapore Dance Theatre presents the restaging of Redoubled – a double bill featuring two of Singapore’s leading choreographers, Jeffrey Tan and Kuik Swee Boon at the National Museum of Singapore.

Life- A Journey of Beautiful Stumbles

Have you ever found and lost love? When was the last time your hopes were dashed? Dreams shattered? We all can relate to these, can’t we?

ReDoubled presents a dance that exemplifies life’s tapestry, idiosyncrasies and beauty in simplicity. It resonates one’s life journey- a path of beautiful stumbles of love, hopes and dreams.

Jeffrey Tan revisits Sometimes I Think I Remember which traverses the grey area between reality and the surreal, toeing the line between hoping to remember and trying to forget.

“I can be inspired by almost anything and everything. It just needs to happen at the right moment and frame of mind. For budding choreographers, be sensitive to the happenings outside your immediate influence. Observe developments in techniques and genre that are taking place in the international dance scene. Finding your own style is important.”, says Jeffrey Tan.

ReDoubled explores loves lost, hopes dashed, and dreams shattered, but whispers plaintively of new beginnings that arise like the phoenix from the embers of fiery hurt and flickering pain.

Kuik Swee Boon premieres Pellucid, a work centred on the theme of simplicity. It examines beauty that is clear and uncluttered and exalts all that is fresh and clean, rejoicing in the true essence of life through what is fundamental and basic.

Kuik Swee Boon, formerly a principal dancer with SDT as well as Spain's Compañia Nacional de Danza, saw his first full-length choreographic venture, Silence , premiere at da:ns 07 to critical success. Both have created works for the Singapore Dance Theatre and the Singapore Arts Festival. He is now Artistic Director of T.H.E. Dance Company.

Let’s celebrate life and dance and explore how our lives unfold in a world of reality and the surrealism with two of Singapore’s leading choreographers!

Standard Ticket: $27 (Not inclusive of SISTIC charge) Children/Student/NSmen/SeniorCitizen: $19 from SISTIC.

 Photos by Tan Ngiap Heng

About Jeffrey Tan

Jeffrey’s first principal role was as Franz in St. Leon and Marius Petipa’s full-length classic, Coppelia. His other principal roles include, The Prince in The Nutcracker, Good Boy in Graduation Ball, Albrecht in Giselle, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Armand in La Traviata, Anna Karenina and The Red Shoes. Jeffrey has also danced in one-act masterworks by George Balanchine, Goh Choo San, Graham Lustig, Jean-Paul Comelin, Val Caniparoli, Stanton Welch, Thierry Malandain, Nacho Duato, Jiri Kylian, Boi Sakti, Marie-Claude Pietragalia, amongst many others.

In 2000, Jeffrey was awarded the National Arts Council’s Young Artiste Award for Excellence In Dance. In 2003, he was awarded an educational grant from the National Arts Council, which he took a sabbatical to complete his Master of Fine Arts at the Queensland University of Technology.

His first choreographic attempt, Tribal Rhythm, had its inaugural performance in 1996. This was followed by Elán and Façade in 1999 and Memoir in 2001. With the desire to further explore and experiment with his choreographic abilities, he later created Un Reve Curieux and Sojournic Serenade in 2003, Last Watch of the Night and a site-specific performance at the Old Government House, Brisbane in 2004.

Other works include Duet, Trio and The Little Mermaid with Ballet Master Paul De Masson in 2005, the hugely successful production of The Nutcracker in December 2005 and in 2008, including F.U.S.E. for the 2006 Singapore Arts Festival Gala Performance, QUEST, as well as Negro Y Blanco for SDT’s Impressions season in May 2007, and Breath Of Love for Ballet Under The Stars 2007. He also performed the role of Rothbart in SDT’s first staging of Swan Lake in December 2007 and at Singapore Arts Festival 2008 in A Million Kisses to my Skin by David Dawson.

Most recently, Jeffrey is the Chief Choreographer for the National Day Parade 2010.

 

About Kuik Swee Boon

Former principal dance of Compania Nacional de Danza in Spain, Kuik collaborated with Nacho Duato as well as several renowned choreographers including Jiri Kylian, Mats Ek, Phad Naharin and Wim Vandekeybus.

Prior to leaving for Europe. Kuik danced with the Singapore Dance Theatre (SDT) since 1991, taking on principal roles in many full-length performances such as Giselle, Coppelia, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Anna Karenina, The Red Shoes, Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet. Kuik exceptional artistry led him to receive a nomination in 2003 for the Benois De La Danse

Awards. In 2007, he was awarded one of the most prestigious art awards in Singapore – the Young Artist Award from the National Arts Council.

In 2006, Kuik presented Somewhere we hear at the Singapore Arts Festival 2006. It was well-received and subsequently he was commissioned to choreograph a new work Silence (Excerpt) for the 8th Asian Arts Festival in Beijing, China. Silence was then further developed into a full-length in 2007 as a commission by the Esplanade Da:ns Festival in 2007. It was well-received by audiences and critics and was rated one of the top five dance performances in Singapore that same year.

In September 2008, Kuik founded T.H.E. Dance Company. The company inaugural full- length work Old Sounds was commissioned by the Singapore National Heritage Board. Recent works from Kuik include Pellucid, Within.Without - a four way choreographic collaboration with T.H.E. dancers and Water Bloom which was commissioned to open for the National University of Singapore Arts Festival 2009.

 

About Janek Schergen (Artistic Director, Singapore Dance Theatre)

Janek Schergen is from Göteborg, Sweden. He studied ballet with Richard Ellis and Christine Du Boulay of the Sadlers Wells Ballet, and continued at the American Ballet Center and the Harkness House for Ballet Arts in New York. In 1971 he joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the following year became a member of the Pennsylvania Ballet in Philadelphia, under the directorship of Barbara Weisberger and Benjamin Harkarvy, spending 11 years with the Company. In 1978, under the guidance of Mr. Harkarvy and Lupe Seranno, he began teaching in the School of the Pennsylvania Ballet. In addition to maintaining his career as a dancer and teacher, he began staging the works of Mr. Harkarvy for Pennsylvania Ballet and other companies.

In 1981, he was invited by Mary Day, the Director of Washington Ballet and Choo San Goh, the Company’s Resident Choreographer, to guest teach for the Washington Ballet. He joined Washington Ballet in a full time position as ballet master and teacher and toured with the Company through the Far East, Europe and South America, as well as the United States.

In 1988 he was invited to be ballet master and Company Teacher for the Royal Swedish Ballet in Stockholm, rehearsing full-length classics such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and La Bayadere, as well as works by Sir Frederick Ashton and Sir Kenneth MacMillan. In 1991 he completed his studies in written dance notation in London, receiving his certification in Benesh Movement Notation.

In 1991 he became a ballet master for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre where he rehearsed the full length classics and important additions to the repertoire such as MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations, Lynne Taylor-Corbett’s Great Galloping Gottschalk, John Cranko’s The Taming of the Shrew and Balanchine’s Apollo, Ballet Imperial, Serenade, Allegro Brillante, Concerto Barocco, Theme and Variations as well as others in the repertoire. He has staged his own production of The Sleeping Beauty for Ballet Met (1994), The Milwaukee Ballet (1995), Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (1996, 2000, 2005) Pennsylvania Ballet (1997, 2002) and the Norwegian National Ballet (2006).

In January, 1994, he was appointed Artistic Director of the Nashville Ballet, as well as Director of the company’s School. He remained with the organization for three seasons. From 1997 to 2002 he taught Company and School classes for Ballet Pacifica as well as Inland Pacific Ballet.

In addition, as Artistic Director and a Board Member of The Choo-San Goh & H. Robert Magee Foundation, he continues to stage the works of Mr. Goh for various companies in the United States, Canada, Europe, South Africa and the Far East. He has staged more than 120 productions worldwide. He is the Chairman of the Awards Committee for the Choo-San Goh Awards for Choreography which annually gives out choreographic grants to such organizations as Het Nationale Ballet, Limon Dance Company, San Francisco Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Houston Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Rambert Dance Company, Pilobolus, New York City Ballet and many others. Over the course of the last four years, 78 different grants have been made devoting more than US$700,000 to to the creation of new works of choreography through the efforts of the Foundation.

Since the establishment of the Singapore Dance Theatre in 1988 he has been staging the ballets of Choo San Goh for the Company’s repertoire. To date he has staged thirteen works for them and in December 2000 mounted the full length Romeo and Juliet for the Company. At the request of SDT he was asked to author a monograph on the career and ballets of Choo-San Goh. The book, with his text, was published in Singapore in September,1997.

From 2002-2006 he was ballet master and staff teacher of the Norwegian National Ballet in Oslo. He was responsible for rehearsal of many full length works (Swan Lake, Othello, Cinderella, Taming of the Shrew, Onegin, Sleeping Beauty) in addition to contemporary works and the most recent Balanchine repertoire including Symphony in C, Agon, Serenade and Four Temperaments. The production he created of Tornerose for NNB was broadcast on NRK television in December 2006.

With the appointment of Janek Schergen as Artistic Director in January 2009, the Company is poised for new achievements in the international and Singapore dance arena. Janek is also the Artistic Director of the Choo-San Goh & H. Robert Magee Foundation which oversees the licensing and production of Choo San Goh's ballets and the annual Choo San Goh Awards for Choreography.

 

About Singapore Dance Theatre

The Singapore Dance Theatre (SDT) was founded in 1988 by Goh Soo Khim and the late Anthony Then. Under the directorship of Goh Soo Khim, SDT has developed into a premier professional dance company that has grown from seven to 24 dancers. Over the years, The Company performs five to six seasons, including the widely popular Ballet Under The Stars (BUTS) at the Fort Canning Park.

The Company’s repertoire ranges from classical to contemporary ballet, from renowned choreographers and staging directors like Goh Choo San, George Balanchine, Nacho Duato, Jiri Kylian, Stanton Welch, Marie-Claude Pietragalla, Thierry Malandain, Mauricio Wainrot, Val Caniparoli, and Graham Lustig, David Dawson, Jorma Elo and Edmund Stripe.

With the appointment of Janek Schergen as Artistic Director in January 2009, the Company is poised for new achievements in the international and Singapore dance arena. Janek is also the Artistic Director of the Choo-San Goh & H. Robert Magee Foundation which oversees the licensing and production of Choo San Goh's ballets and the annual Choo San Goh Awards for Choreography.

SDT also actively reaches out to the public to create greater awareness of dance through outreach to schools with our Arts Education Programme (AEP), Dance Appreciation Series (DAS) jointly presented with Esplanade Co., and One@The Ballet – a new initiative to help public gain more understanding about life as a dancer at SDT. To know more about SDT, visit us at www.singaporedancetheatre.com